Buckinghamshire New University
Manager for Office of the Vice-Chancellor
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Full Time (37hrs per week) - Permanent
Location: High Wycombe (Hybrid working)
Salary - £38,784 to £43,482
We’re not trying to fit in with the higher education status quo. We’re challenging it. We’re doing things differently - because our students, our staff, and our world need us to. This is an exciting moment to join our vibrant community. We’re boldly reimagining what a university can be: a place rooted in social mobility, a community where difference is celebrated, and an institution that empowers people to become more than they thought possible.
The Opportunity
Join the engine room of the University’s leadership team where you’ll orchestrate the Vice-Chancellor’s diary, communications, and operations that enable strategic decision-making at the highest level. One day you’re briefing the VC for a meeting with a key stakeholder and the next you’re coordinating a flagship civic event or smoothing the path to ensure an important contract is ready for signing. You’ll lead a small team, design the systems that give the Office of the Vice-Chancellor its rhythm, and be the trusted gatekeeper who knows what matters, when it matters, and who needs to see it. If you thrive on complexity, discretion, and making things happen behind the scenes so the front stage runs flawlessly we want to hear from you. This is a hybrid role working within a friendly team, and we don’t hold meetings on Fridays!
What We Offer
- A generous holiday entitlement (30 days per annum, plus bank holidays & closure days over Christmas and New Year)
- Hybrid working (dependent on business needs)
- Training & development support opportunities
- Contributory pension scheme
- Free gym membership for our on-site gym
- A range of staff discounts with major retailers.
Please click here to see our wide range of benefits available for employees.
Please click here for our behavioural based interview question bank.
Please click here to view our employee handbook.
If you have the qualities and attributes representative of the University’s values and ambition, we would be delighted to hear from you.
For further information about this role please contact Louise Harvey, Chief Impact Officer by emailing Louise.Harvey@bnu.ac.uk
All applications are to be made in full and online.
If you’re considering using AI to support your application, we encourage you to question the value it adds. The use of AI tools sometimes erodes authenticity and prevents us from being able to assess the real you. We strongly recommend you prepare your application using your own skills and knowledge and that AI is only used for the purpose of review.
BNU is proud to have a diverse community and a strong track record of diversity, equity and inclusion. We are committed to promoting an inclusive and diverse workplace and aim to continue building an environment where everyone thrives and can be themselves. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in BNU’s workforce. These include people from global majority backgrounds, people with disabilities, and LGBTQI+ people, particularly in more senior roles.
Please let us know if you require any adjustments or support during the recruitment process. We are happy to discuss any reasonable adjustments that would enable you to perform to the best of your abilities in your role. Please reach out if you have any specific needs or if you would like more information on how we can support you
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Closing Date: 23 July, 2026
Interview Date: 3 August, 2026
If you are invited to interview for this role, you will need to provide evidence of your eligibility to work in the UK and if on a visa, current visa and status. Sponsorship is dependent on the salary level of the position.
BNU is a Disability Confident employer and as such you will be given the opportunity to declare a disability as part of the application process.
Job Description
Job Title: Manager for Office of the Vice-Chancellor
Function: Vice-Chancellor’s Office
Grade: G
Location: High Wycombe
Hours: 37
Responsible to: Chief Impact Officer
Responsible for: 3x Executive Assistants, 1 x Administrative Assistant
Job Purpose
Provide high-level executive support to the Vice-Chancellor (VC), acting as the strategic gateway and operational lynchpin for the Office of the Vice-Chancellor. The role demands anticipatory judgement in diary and correspondence management, oversight of governance and compliance processes, leadership of a small administrative team, and seamless coordination of the VC’s engagements, briefings, and decision-making workflows. The post-holder ensures the Vice-Chancellor and University Strategy Group (USG - the executive board) operate with maximum efficiency, preparation, and professional impact, while extending dedicated support to the Chief Impact Officer and their teams.
The post-holder may occasionally be required to undertake duties outside of standard University hours including evenings or weekends where the business need arises. Some occasional travelling may be required.
To practice an inclusive approach and support building an inclusive university community where people can be themselves.
Main Duties & Responsibilities Of The Role
- Diary & information flow: Proactively manage the VC’s diary, inbox, and daily briefing packs; carve protected time for strategic work, staff/student engagement, and USG decision-making; exercise sound judgement in prioritising competing demands.
- Managing and drafting correspondence: Draft, triage, and dispatch high-stakes communications on the VC’s behalf; ensure urgent external correspondence receives immediate action and appropriate visibility.
- Meeting & governance Architecture: Design agendas, commission and quality-assure papers, produce action-oriented notes, and maintain governance registers (interests, gifts, hospitality) for the VC and USG.
- Approval workflows: Manage the VC’s sign-off process, verifying consultation, approvals, and compliance before documents reach signature.
- Events & strategic Campaigns: Lead delivery of VC-led events and campaigns (civic, ceremonial, stakeholder-facing) in partnership with teams including Brand, Communications & Marketing; Events; and Estates, and with external partners.
- Team leadership & operations: Line-manage the Office team: recruitment, performance, development, wellbeing, rota planning, and absence management; embed consistent, documented protocols for USG support to ensure excellent service provided to internal and external stakeholders. Design and implement process enhancements (e.g., briefing systems, engagement protocols, digital workflows) that elevate the Office’s effectiveness and resilience.
- Senior leadership support: Organise one-to-ones for VC’s direct reports, manage leave/sickness, and maintain the senior management team rota.
- Financial stewardship: Administer the VC’s expenses, purchasing, subscriptions, and travel in line with University financial regulations.
- Support for Chief Impact Officer: Provide dedicated administrative coordination for the Chief Impact Officer and their teams, aligning with wider Office priorities.
- Line management responsibilities including recruitment and selection, performance management, professional development, motivation, health & safety, and wellbeing, and have an agile approach to change.
- Comply with relevant legislative and other requirements (e.g., the Data Protection Act 2018 and GDPR; Health and Safety; UKVI; and Equality and Diversity) in all working practices.
- Such other duties temporarily or on a continuing basis, as may reasonably be required.
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PERSON SPECIFICATION
A = Application T = Test I = Interview
Education, Qualifications & Training
Means of Testing
- A-Levels or equivalent, or vocational professional qualification
- A
Knowledge & Experience
- Delivering an excellent customer experience
- A/I
- Experience of successfully providing EA services at a senior level including managing a team
- A/I
- Experience of drafting reports, briefing materials and presentations for a range of audiences
- A/I
- Experience of servicing/minuting committee and board meetings
- A/I
- A clear communicator, highly organised, very detail-oriented and able to co-ordinate and deliver multiple projects simultaneously
- A/I
- Ability to direct and multitask effectively under pressure, with tenacity to deliver results to deadlines
- A/I
- Track record of delivering excellent customer/stakeholder service
- A/I
- Able to quickly and effectively build strong rapport with key stakeholders
- A/I
Skills
- Digitally able and proficient in Microsoft tools
- A/I
- Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal including presentation skills
- I
- A positive can-do attitude and willingness to support wherever is needed
- I
- A collegial and collaborative approach and commitment to delivering excellent customer service; able to work effectively in partnerships with others to provide seamless support for the Vice-Chancellor
- I
- Proven organisational skills, including the ability to prioritise own workload and deliver to agreed deadlines
- I
- Excellent interpersonal and influencing skills and the ability to engage effectively with colleagues and stakeholders at all levels
- I
- High standard of accuracy and attention to detail
- I
- Ability to work independently and proactively with a creative and innovative approach to problem solving
- I
- Ability to deal with confidential and sensitive information with tact and discretion
- I
- Emotional resilience and ability to
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Skills