Post Title: Associate Dean External Engagement
SBU/Department: Schools of Law and Education
FTE: 1.0fte (37 hours per week)
Duration of Contract: Permanent on a 5 year renewable tenure
Salary: AM2 £74,481 pa with potential to progress to £79,901 pa by annual
increments on achieving designated skills and experience
Annual Leave: 35 days plus standard public holidays and an additional 4 days including the closure of our office between Christmas and New Year
Location: de Havilland Campus, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield
The School of Law and Education offers a rich portfolio of disciplinary areas across both fields. We pride ourselves on delivering a truly innovative learning and teaching experience, coupled with practice-led, hands-on education. Our students—both international and home—consistently provide excellent feedback, reflected in strong good honours outcomes and high employability rates.
• The Education School supports a thriving undergraduate and postgraduate community. Postgraduate study includes our MA framework, MSc Outdoor Environmental Education, and EdD. We have successful Teacher Training provision across undergraduate and postgraduate routes, currently ranked 1st in the Mail’s University Subject Rankings (2025). Practice-based learning through placements is a distinctive feature of our provision.
• The Law School focuses on skills-based experiential learning and is taught primarily from our £10m purpose-built building, which includes a full-scale replica Crown Court Room, state-of-the-art teaching facilities, and a crime scene house. We offer longstanding and successful undergraduate programmes in law and criminology alongside postgraduate options including the LLM, PhD, and professional legal training for Bar and Solicitor pathways.
Main duties and responsibilities
This senior leadership role offers an exciting opportunity to shape and enhance the school’s engagement with external stakeholders, including prospective students, alumni, international partners, and the wider community. A key focus of the role is driving undergraduate student recruitment in Law, and we are seeking a candidate with demonstrable experience in law recruitment who can lead strategic initiatives to strengthen our market position.
You will work closely with the Dean, Deputy Dean, Heads of Department, Chief Marketing Officer, Marketing & Communications, and the International Office to maintain oversight of the external environment, develop a strong brand profile, and support student recruitment and partnership development.
You will also contribute to the development of business plans and course portfolios across UG, PG, DA and CPD, identifying opportunities for income diversification.
The Associate Dean will be a member of the School’s Senior Executive Group and the University’s Partnership Development Group.
Skills and experience required
You will be an experienced academic with a background in Law or Education, and a strong track record of driving undergraduate Law student recruitment and partnership growth activity. You will bring strategic insight and leadership to the role, with a particular focus on undergraduate law recruitment, and a deep understanding of the legal education landscape and student recruitment trends.
Your experience will include successful collaboration with external partners—locally, nationally, and internationally—and you will be confident in building sustainable relationships that support the School’s strategic ambitions. You will be commercially and politically astute, with the ability to identify opportunities for growth, income diversification, and brand development.
Your leadership style will be inclusive, collegial, and values-driven, with the ability to inspire and motivate others while navigating complex challenges with professionalism and diplomacy. You will understand financial and project management and be confident in identifying opportunities for income generation and performance optimisation. Your ability to influence and build networks across diverse communities will be key to your success in this role.
Above all, you will demonstrate a commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, and act as a role model for the University’s core values—Friendliness, Ambition, Collaboration, Enterprise and Student success (FACES).
Qualifications required
You will have an honours degree or equivalent and a postgraduate qualification or equivalent professional experience.
Please view the job description and person specification for a full list of the duties and essential criteria. Please attach a personal statement showing clearly how your skills and experience match the Person Specification.
Contact Details/Informal Enquiries
Professor Penny Carey (Dean) p.carey@herts.ac.uk or Elizabeth Kirkbride (Deputy Dean) e.kirkbride@herts.ac.uk
Please apply as soon as possible, as applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and the position may close before the advertised deadline.
For this vacancy, we will be using a shortlisting process comprising a teams call for longlisted applicants. This will be followed by a 2-stage presentation and interview process. Presentations are scheduled for 18 December, with successful candidates progressing to formal interview on 19 December. The successful applicant is expected to take up the post on 1 February 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter accounting for any notice period.
Closing Date: 8 December 2025
Interview Date: Presentations 18 December 2025 and formal interview 19 December 2025
Reference Number: REQ000374
Date advert placed: 13 November 2025
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