Head of Regulatory Portfolio £79,498 - £83,299 Plus generous Civil Service defined benefit pension Bristol or London The OfS is the statutory regulator for higher education in England. Our aim is to ensure that every student, whatever their background, has a fulfilling experience of higher education that enriches their lives and careers. We do so by regulating the higher education providers on our register to make sure they are delivering high quality courses and positive outcomes for their students; where they are not, we take action. The higher education sector in England is complex and diverse and the OfS’s approach to regulation recognises this. Our new strategy signals a shift from an organisation in a start-up phase to an established regulator that understands its regulatory tools and how best to use them to shape incentives across the sector we regulate. We work to ensure that students in England enjoy higher education provision that is high quality; that their access to opportunity, success and progression is not limited by background, location or characteristics; and that providers are well and sustainably led. As part of the continuing expansion of our regulatory work and a number of internal promotions, we are now looking for a number of vital ‘Head of’ roles within our Regulation directorate. These roles are responsible for delivering the core regulatory work in relation to a specific set of ongoing conditions of registration or for a particular aspect of the regulatory system. As a Head of Regulatory Portfolio, you can expect to be leading a team delivering case work, monitoring the compliance of providers, and developing our approach to assessment, monitoring and compliance in one or more of: TEF Condition B3 Transformation: including taking forward actions from the Public Bodies Review ( Fit for the Future: Independent Review of the Office for Students - GOV.UK ) and corresponding activities Key to success in these roles will be your ability to understand and interpret complex regulatory and legal frameworks, regardless of whether or not you have previous experience working in a regulator, in order to reach fair, evidence-based judgements on complex issues. You will be equally adept at quickly adapting to working within higher education and able to learn and understand the key issues and challenges facing the sector. You will be people focused, committed to our mission of driving positive outcomes for students, and able to work at pace within complex and ambiguous environments. Regardless of the focus of your portfolio, you will be an experienced leader of people and able to demonstrate an ability to motivate, develop and deliver exceptional results through people across an organisation. You will understand the role and value of a regulator and, regardless of your professional background, show an understanding of how effective regulation works in practice. How we do things is as important to us as what we do and your approach will be underpinned by our values of Ambition, Openness, Learning and Diversity. We are interested in hearing from candidates with experience of working in relevant roles in the higher education sector, as well those who have experience of other regulators or regulated environments. This is an exciting time to join a rapidly transforming organisation that works to ensure that every student, whatever their background, has a fulfilling experience of higher education that enriches their lives and careers. To find out more about the OfS, please visit our website at https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/ Responsibilities include but are not limited to: Leading the directorate’s staff and teams to deliver Ensure effective leadership within the directorate, across the organisation, and in support of other directorates. Staff are led by example, with leaders modelling: the OfS’s behaviours and values; flexible, agile and collaborative working, including with staff and teams in other directorates. In the areas for which the postholder is responsible, the outcomes and objectives in the OfS’s business plan are delivered efficiently and effectively Risk to delivery is identified and actively managed with robust mitigation implemented where necessary Resources are aligned with priorities, and workload pressures are accommodated and managed, by working with other leaders in the directorate Ensuring that the OfS is able to discharge those of its functions that fall within the remit of the team The providers for which the postholder is responsible are effectively regulated, in a way consistent with the OfS’s risk appetite. Complex cases for which the postholder is responsible are prioritised and progressed to conclusion effectively For the postholder’s policy portfolio, policy is developed and implemented on the basis set out in the OfS’s strategy. The team has expert knowledge about policy and the way it is implemented in practice There is a coherent and consistent regulatory and operational approach across the work of the team and the directorate that supports individuals and the team to develop their expertise and confidence Continuous improvement of the service provided by the team The team designs and delivers a high quality service for providers The team understands the purpose of the system from the provider’s perspective and is able to design against customer demand The team collects and uses capability measures to understand how the system is performing from the provider’s perspective and takes action to improve the system Internal and external communication There is proactive authoritative and credible communication about regulatory and operational matters at a senior level in providers and with other stakeholders The work of the OfS, the directorate, and the team is effectively communicated in a range of public contexts Engagement with government, sector and student bodies on the OfS’s approach to regulation results in: understanding of the requirements placed on providers; the benefits of this for students; consistent communication of the OfS’s approach to regulation Person specification: Essential criteria Demonstrable ability to develop, lead and provide strategic direction to a team of multi-disciplinary experts in a complex and ambiguous environment Demonstrable ability to quickly understand and interpret complex regulatory and/or legal frameworks to develop strategic and operational approaches Experience of working with, and commanding the confidence of, a diverse set of external stakeholders through complex and contentious issues Demonstrable experience of shaping and delivering organisational change to processes, culture and delivery Demonstrable ability to reach and convey impartial, risk-based, reliable and legally-robust judgements on the basis of complex and imperfect information, and in novel and ambiguous circumstances Demonstrable intellectual credibility, analytical capability with the ability to think strategically and take a broad view of issues, events and activities and understand their likely impact or wider implications An interest in and ability to think innovatively about the theory and practice of regulation Demonstrable ability to develop quickly a comprehensive and sophisticated technical knowledge and understanding of the areas in which the OfS regulates individual providers Working for us The OfS regulates the higher education sector on behalf of all students. We value diversity and the wealth of perspectives, experience and ideas that it brings to our work, and we strive to embed equality of opportunity in everything we do. We recruit based on fair and open competition and welcome applications from candidates regardless of age, disability, race and ethnicity, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation and socio-economic background. Working arrangements Flexibility is important to the OfS, as we recognise that it can enable people to work more effectively. A set of organisation-wide principles shape our approach to flexible and hybrid working, which our teams then use as guidance on how they deliver their business goals. This would usually mean working from the office for two to three days in a typical week. Closing date for applications is 23:55 on Sunday 15 December 2024. We will be in touch to let you know the outcome of your application after 6 January 2025. Candidates through to the next stage will be tasked with a written exercise to be completed by 19 January 2025. The final stage will be an interview either week beginning 27 January or 3 February 2025.