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Director - Durham Online

Employer
Durham University
Location
United Kingdom
Salary
Competitive Salary
Date posted
Jun 1, 2021

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Position Type
Faculty Positions, Business & Management, Management
Employment Level
Non-Tenured Track
Employment Type
Full Time
Durham University delivers a world-renowned education underpinned by its distinctive collegiate student experience. The pandemic has accelerated the pace of digital transformation in higher education, with learners seeking and finding new ways to develop knowledge, skills and competencies. To this end, building on existing education content and expertise, Durham University is establishing a new coordinated approach to the development, design and delivery of online programmes encompassing degrees, short courses, microcredentials and CPD.

As a catalyst and enabler for new digital education thinking, Durham Online will ensure that the Durham becomes a leader in high quality, premium brand digital learning. Working in close collaboration across the University, the founding director will establish Durham Online, helping to devise its strategic direction and implementing its exciting and ambitious agenda.

Reporting to the Vice-Provost (Education), the Director will have the credibility and authority to operate at board level, the emotional intelligence to forge strong working relations with academics and senior leaders across the University and the commercial business development skills to engage expertise from external partners and service providers, as well as form partnerships with professional bodies and corporate clients.

Key to successful growth will be working in an integrative and facilitative manner and building partnerships across the University. Durham Online is akin to a start-up within a large complex organisation, and as such, the initial focus will be to ensure that existing online education endeavours and plans are supported and fully leveraged, whilst catalysing increased activity and support across the University to establish a high-quality new business that enables Durham to deliver its strategic goals.

The Director of Durham Online will be highly collaborative with the tenacity, sensitivity and strategic vision to establish a new value-creating unit within the University. Ideally, candidates will have gained experience of establishing something comparable and will also demonstrate requisite humility in recognising that Durham's culture will require adaptation of previously tested ideas. Candidates will have gained P&L responsibility, with accountability for people and resources and be able to draw on demonstrable success in building and scaling new income streams from digital education products and services.

Seeking an entrepreneurial business builder, candidates could come from a wide range of backgrounds, although experience and expertise in online learning will be an advantage. Senior managers from the digital economy, particularly those selling high value services to corporate clients as well as universities could also offer relevant skills and expertise, as could those from other spheres of EdTech innovation such as bootcamps, pathways and MOOCs. Alongside core technical skills and valuable experience gained in relevant settings, this is as much about your collaborative leadership approach and attitude to facilitating change and building long term sustainable businesses. We would therefore encourage an initial conversation to explore the opportunity further, and to enable a nuanced discussion about skills match and cultural alignment.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive and diverse community. We will actively seek and encourage applications for this role from the broadest range of society, including all underrepresented groups with particular emphasis on BAME candidates, who are under-represented in senior roles in the University.

Durham University are working in partnership with Odgers Berndtson to recruit to this post. For further information and details of how to apply, please click HERE.

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