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Head of Short Courses, GET STAFFED ONLINE RECRUITMENT LIMITED
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Head of Short Courses
Location: Manchester
Salary: £49,920 – £65,520 per annum
Our client is more than just an educational institution; they are a vibrant community dedicated to nurturing creativity and empowering students to reach their full potential. With campuses across the UK, Ireland, and Germany, they offer a diverse range of courses in modern music, performing arts, filmmaking and creative technology. Their commitment to excellence in creative arts education sets them apart, providing students with the knowledge, skills, and opportunities they need to succeed in their chosen fields.
About The Role
As Head of Short Courses, you will lead the strategic direction, commercial performance, and delivery of our client’s short course portfolio. Reporting to the Chief Growth Officer, you will oversee the development of a sustainable and scalable portfolio that supports growth, meets learner and industry needs, and delivers a high-quality student experience.
Working across faculties, campuses, and central teams, you will manage the full course lifecycle, from portfolio development and course launch through to recruitment, delivery, and performance evaluation. You will ensure their short course provision remains commercially viable, responsive to market demand, and aligned with the needs of learners, employers, and the wider creative sector.
What You'll Do
- Lead the strategic direction and growth of our client’s short course portfolio, delivering against revenue, profitability, and student recruitment objectives.
- Take overall ownership of the short course business, ensuring its long-term commercial sustainability and success.
- Partner with academic and faculty leaders to shape a commercially viable portfolio of short courses across campuses and disciplines.
- Lead the development and launch of new courses, ensuring strong market positioning, effective planning, and successful delivery.
- Establish consistent approaches to portfolio planning, costing, pricing, and performance management to support informed decision-making.
- Drive continuous improvement through student feedback, industry insight, market intelligence, and performance data.
- Ensure high standards of quality and an excellent student experience across all short course provision.
- Oversee operational planning and delivery, working closely with campus teams and external partners to ensure effective execution.
- Collaborate with marketing, recruitment, and admissions teams to maximise enrolments, improve conversion, and achieve recruitment targets.
- Build and develop partnerships with employers, industry, and external organisations to increase demand and create new opportunities for growth.
- Use data, forecasting, and commercial insight to monitor performance, optimise profitability, and provide clear reporting to senior stakeholders.
- Lead and develop the short course team, fostering a collaborative, accountable, and high-performing culture.
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What You'll Bring
- Significant experience in a senior commercial, operational, or business leadership role, with accountability for revenue, growth, or financial performance.
- A proven track record of growing a business, portfolio, programme offering, or service.
- Strong commercial and financial acumen, including experience with budgeting, forecasting, and performance management.
- The ability to develop and deliver strategic plans that translate into measurable outcomes.
- Experience developing and launching products, programmes, or services, ideally within education, training, or a related sector.
- An understanding of quality standards and the delivery of an excellent student or customer experience.
- Strong analytical skills, with the ability to interpret data, evaluate performance, and make evidence-based decisions.
- Experience working with marketing, recruitment, sales, or business development teams to drive demand and achieve targets.
- Excellent stakeholder management and relationship-building skills, with experience working across diverse teams and functions.
- Proven experience leading, motivating, and developing high-performing teams.
- A proactive, commercially minded approach, with the confidence to make decisions and take ownership of outcomes.
- A degree-level qualification, relevant professional experience, or established credibility within an appropriate sector.
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The postholder can be based at any of our client’s seven UK campuses (Brighton, London, Essex, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester or Leeds).
Why Our Client?
They are a values-led organisation, meaning their core values underpin all that they do:
- Believe in Everyone
- Challenge the Norm
- Grow Together
- Do The Right Thing
- Own It
In addition to joining a committed and dedicated team, you will have access to:
- 25 days holiday per year (FTE)
- SMART pension
- A comprehensive benefits package
They continually strive to create a culture of inclusivity so that they truly represent their diverse communities. They particularly welcome applications from people of colour who are underrepresented in their organisation.
They are committed to promoting the safety and welfare of their students therefore, all successful applicants are required to complete a basic DBS disclosure. Depending on the role, you may be required to complete an enhanced check / enhanced check with barred list if required by statute and internal policy.
How To Apply
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