Imperial College London’s Department of Life Sciences is seeking an experienced and strategically minded Head of Education Office to lead our large and complex education administration functions, and act as the senior professional authority for education operations within the Department.
This is a senior professional services leadership role with responsibility for overseeing all undergraduate and postgraduate taught education administration across a thriving and expanding portfolio. You will play a critical role in shaping the quality of education delivery and student experience, working in close partnership with senior academics, central services, and faculty colleagues.
With around 1,000 undergraduate students, 300 postgraduate taught students, and new MSci programmes launching from 2026, this is an exciting opportunity to influence education strategy at scale within a world-leading research university.
Reporting to the Director of Operations, Life Sciences, you will provide strategic leadership and operational oversight for the Education Office, managing senior administrators and specialist teams that support teaching, assessment, progression, quality assurance, and student lifecycle activity.
Key responsibilities include:
1. Leading all aspects of education administration to ensure delivery is efficient, compliant, and student-focused
2. Acting as the senior professional authority for education operations within the Department, advising on risk, policy, capacity and improvement
3. Overseeing academic year planning for undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes
4. Ensuring regulatory compliance and robust quality assurance across programmes and modules
5. Leading workforce planning, structure and capability across the Education Office
6. Ensuring the effective collation, interpretation and use of data and systems
7. Driving continuous improvement and service redesign informed by data and stakeholder insight
8. Building strong relationships with senior academics, Faculty teams and Imperial central services
9. Representing the Department on Faculty and university-level committees.
This is a highly autonomous role requiring sound judgement, strong leadership capability, and the confidence to influence at senior levels.
You will be an experienced higher education professional with the confidence to operate at senior level and the credibility to influence academic and professional colleagues. You will bring substantial experience in higher education administration, alongside a proven ability to lead large, complex professional services teams.
You will have:
10. A degree or equivalent professional qualification
11. Significant experience supporting teaching and learning in a higher education environment
12. Demonstrable experience of leading and developing administrative teams
13. Strong understanding of student systems, academic regulations and the student lifecycle
14. Excellent organisational, analytical and problem-solving skills
15. The ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced, high-volume environment
16. Exceptional interpersonal skills, with the credibility to work effectively with senior academic stakeholders
17. A proactive, improvement-focused mindset and a commitment to excellent service delivery
18. Experience leading change in complex, matrixed organisations, including leading operational change and major process or systems developments would be an advantage.
19. A unique opportunity to join and make a substantial contribution to our mission to use science for humanity.
20. The opportunity to continue your career at a world-leading institution.
21. A sector-leading salary and remuneration package (including 41 days’ annual leave and generous pension schemes).
22. Access to a range of workplace benefits including a flexible working policy from day one, generous family leave packages, on-site leisure facilities and cycle-to-work scheme.
23. Interest-free season ticket loan schemes for travel.
24. Be part of a diverse, inclusive and collaborative work culture with various and resources to support your personal and professional .n this role you will have the opportunity to shape education services at scale, influence institutional processes, and lead a highly skilled team in a supportive and ambitious department.