Executive Officer

About us

About UCL

UCL is a world-leading teaching and research university and a diverse global community of world-class academics, students, industry links, external partners, and alumni. We work together to explore new possibilities and make a positive impact on real world challenges. We have recently approved a Strategic Plan that sets out our whole-university priorities for the next five years, focusing effort and investment on a programme of change and improvement to support our 2034 vision and mission.

About the President & Provost’s team

The President & Provost (P&P), Dr Michael Spence, is the chief executive and academic officer of the university, responsible to Council for advancing and delivering UCL’s core academic mission – education, research and knowledge exchange and translation. The P&P also has an active role as UCL’s principal representative in external relations and in promoting UCL’s position as London’s Global University.

The wider Office of the President & Provost oversees 13 portfolios led by 4 Vice-Provosts (Faculties; Education and Student Experience; Research, Innovation and Global Engagement; Health), 4 Vice-Presidents (Strategy; External Engagement; Advancement; Operations), the Chief Finance Officer, the Chief People Officer, the General Counsel, the Pro-Provost (London) and the Pro-Provost (Bicentennial).

This team is supported by an integrated and high-performing group of senior administrators who oversee the co-ordination of a complex programme of activities across the breadth of those portfolios. Members of the team provide senior advisory support, programme management, logistical and executive assistant functions and project facilitation and enable the effective integration of this broad leadership team.

About the role

As key member of our busy team, the Executive Officer will have an important role to play in facilitating and shaping the work of the wider Office of the President and Provost.

The role of Executive Officer was created to enable us to ensure we have the capacity in the team to ensure effective forward planning for key pieces of work, effective agenda-setting and follow-up and to facilitate the planning and implementation of projects that are time-sensitive or developmental. EOs are deployed to work with all of the portfolios reporting to the President & Provost as needed and work on a number of projects simultaneously.

Working collaboratively across the senior team and UCL, they will lead short-term projects and provide planning, logistical, administrative and policy support functions. This will also require close working with other parts of UCL to ensure effective briefing and support in relevant aspects of the roles of the senior team.

Core responsibilities include:

• Provide high-level support across the President & Provost’s senior team and the wider team; this includes, and is not limited to: commissioning and/or preparing high-level documentation and detailed briefings for meetings, events, speaking engagements and overseas visits; coordinating material provided by colleagues and producing material directly; preparing action plans as necessary and managing the follow-up
• Lead on specific projects in support of the President & Provost and his senior team, by working closely with the activity manager(s) to ensure effective forward planning, seamless delivery and meaningful evaluation. This can involve developing forward plans, convening working groups, devising engagement plans and producing regular reports to demonstrate progress against objectives.
• Undertaking analysis (both quantitative and qualitative), generating insights from these analyses, developing well thought-out recommendations, and presenting findings to senior University officers and academics.

About you

Please note this role is available as a permanent role and an internal secondment.

As someone who thrives in a fast-paced and dynamic environment, you will have an exceptional track record of providing executive and project support in a complex organisation. You will enjoy working collaboratively and under your own initiative and will have the experience of higher education or similar environments that will allow you to contribute effectively as part of a wider team. An interest in, or experience, of working with senior leadership teams, will also be important. The key skills to be successful in this role include:

• Excellent planning and organisational skills
• A high degree of political acumen, tact and diplomacy
• A high degree of emotional intelligence and excellent interpersonal skills
• A flexible, proactive, and strategic approach to your work – you must be comfortable in navigating uncertainty, and working at a fast-pace with many conflicting priorities
• Ability to effectively build relationships with internal and external stakeholders, with a constructive attitude in finding ways to successful work with the extended UCL community on cross-institutional projects
• A high degree of discretion, with an understanding of the need for and importance of confidentiality in a highly sensitive environment

A job descriptions can be accessed at the bottom of this page.

If this role speaks to you and you are interested in applying or want to learn more about it, we would be very happy to have an informal chat before you submit your application. Please email Tania Trosini, Head of External Engagement and Operations at t.trosini@ucl.ac.uk

If you need reasonable adjustments or a more accessible format to apply for this job online or have any queries about the application process, please contact Georgia Byrne at georgia.byrne@ucl.ac.uk

What we offer

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which are below:

• 41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave, 8 bank holidays and 6 closure days)
• Additional 5 days’ annual leave purchase scheme
• Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE)
• Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan
• Immigration loan
• Relocation scheme for certain posts
• On-Site nursery
• On-site gym
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
• Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service
• Discounted medical insurance

Visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/rewards-and-benefits to find out more.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong.

We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL’s workforce.

These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women.

You can read more about our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion here : https://www.ucl.ac.uk/equality-diversity-inclusion/