Role: Practice Manager
Location: UK, London
Job type: Full time, permanent – hybrid
Why QS?
At QS, our culture fosters a flexible working environment that encourages our employees to own their career whilst personally and professionally thriving. We collaborate, respect and support each other – and as a company, our values underpin these.
Our mission is to empower motivated people around the world to fulfil their potential through higher education, and to ensure everyone has the same opportunity to achieve that potential. We celebrate the diversity of our teams and believe through sharing our experiences we can learn from one another and become stronger together, which enables us to achieve our goal.
At QS, you’ll be responsible for implementing real change in the international higher education landscape, full of exciting and interesting challenges where you can drive positive impact across the business.
In October 2023 we were thrilled to be included in Newsweek’s Top 100 Most Loved Workplaces in the UK list which is compiled using employee sentiment and satisfaction data.
Using insights from more than two million employees in organisations with 50 to 100,000 members of staff, the list recognises workplaces where employees feel most respected and appreciated.
As a Practice Manager, this is what you’ll be doing:
QS is seeking an enthusiastic, forward-thinking and highly capable Practice Manager to join its established and fast-growing Higher Education Consulting & Insights Practice.
The Practice comprises a vibrant, diverse, and highly skilled global team of experienced and passionate higher education experts delivering high quality strategic insights & advisory to education institutions and policy makers worldwide.
The role will lead on strategic initiatives to scale up the practice’s capacity and capability, in line with industry best practices. The focus will be particularly on enhancing the customer value and the team engagement through uplifting and refining processes and management & reporting tools, optimising consultant utilisation, and leveraging the broader expertise within QS.
The ideal candidate will possess excellent organizational skills and have relevant experience in equivalent roles consulting or similar environments, with a transferable skill set being essential.
Role responsibilities includes:
Organisational Planning:
* Develop and implement strategies for the most effective organisation and management of consulting projects.
* Monitor and analyse consultant workload, skills, and expertise to optimise project assignments.
* Establish and maintain key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure organisational efficiency.
* Collaborate with the commercial team and other key departments across the business to enhance organisational effectiveness.
Operational Excellence:
* Implement initiatives to enhance operational efficiency and ensure seamless project delivery.
* Develop and refine processes to improve service delivery, client satisfaction, and overall organisational performance.
* Utilise data-driven insights to make informed decisions and drive continuous improvements.
Team Support, Coaching, and Training:
* Collaborate closely with the consultant team to align with client needs and optimise utilisation.
* Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement within the team.
* Identify and support professional development opportunities for team members.
* Provide direct coaching to enhance team members' skills and capabilities.
* Assess team members' skills and knowledge gaps to determine training needs ; develop and implement coaching and training programmes, leveraging both internal resources and third-party providers.
Key skills and experience:
* Successful experience in a similar managerial role within a consulting firm or related industry.
* Proven track-record of achieving change management and driving growth within a consulting practice.
* Experience in change management to navigate and lead through organisational change, fostering adaptability and resilience within the team.
* Strategic thinking and creative mindset oriented towards problem-solving and strategic development.
* Demonstrated ability to develop and implement strategic plans to enhance operational efficiency and drive business growth.
* Strong financial acumen: understanding of financial principles and ability to manage budgets, forecast resource requirements, and drive profitability.
* Excellent analytical skills: capability to interpret data, extract insights, and make data-driven decisions to improve performance and efficiency. (advanced data processing and visualisation skills is a plus).
* Proven record of excellent communications and presentation skills; robust standards of concise, professional, and insightful report writing
* Strong commitment to maintaining and surpassing standards.
* Excellent team-work ethics - able to lead on complex assignments and ready to support the wider team - autonomy and collaboration
So, who are we and what do we do?
QS is the world’s leading provider of services, analytics, insights, and intelligence to the global higher education sector - supporting university excellence across the world. Our student recruitment and enrolment solutions enable universities and business schools to connect with talented individuals seeking to further their academic progress and career development. Our portfolio of professional services includes consultancy, student mobility and academic partnerships management, and branding solutions. We publish highly visible and influential rankings of international universities, including the QS World University Rankings which reaches a global audience of hundreds of millions of people.
Founded in 1990, our activities span across 50 countries, working with over 2000 of the world’s leading higher education institutions and over 12,000 employers.
Headquartered in London, QS has over 750 employees globally with offices in Australia, Malaysia, India, Romania, Singapore, France, Germany, and the USA. QS keeps growing organically, through acquisition and by recruiting top talent across key regions.
We take investing in our people very seriously.
As standard you will have:
* Competitive base salary
* Access to an annual bonus scheme (for qualifying roles only)
* 25 days annual leave, plus bank holidays – increasing to 27 days after 5 years’
* Enhanced maternity and paternity leave
* Generous pension through Royal London
* Comprehensive private medical insurance and wellness scheme through Vitality
* Access to QSmiles – a discount scheme that actually makes a significant difference
* Cycle to work scheme
* A vibrant social environment and multicultural and multinational culture
But that’s not all. Outside of these standard benefits we also offer resources to allow professional growth and wellness initiatives to nurture a healthy mindset:
* Free subscription to the Calm App – the #1 app for sleep, meditation, and relaxation
* A focus on welfare which is led by our global wellness team, with mental health first aiders globally
* Access to a variety of diversity and inclusion initiatives and groups
* Strong recognition and reward programs – including a peer-to-peer recognition platform, quarterly and annual QS Applaud Awards, Connect with your Career annual PD event
* Support for volunteering and study leave
* Free subscription to LinkedIn learning – with over 5000 courses and programmes at your fingertips
* Options to join our outstanding global Mentorship programme
Like what you’ve heard? Great, apply now!
As a candidate, we know the application and interview process can be daunting and so it’s important that you have a great experience with us. Our dedicated Talent Team will work hard to ensure you are fully informed at all stages and you are really excited by this opportunity to do meaningful work in the education space.
Equal opportunities
QS Quacquarelli Symonds is proud to be a fair and equal organisation where everyone has the same opportunity to achieve their full potential, irrespective of their background or personal attributes. We celebrate our diversity and believe through sharing our experiences we can learn from one another, be stronger together, and enable our business to thrive.
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