Job Description

London South Bank University Students’ Union is on a mission to totally transform the way a students’ union works in a modern university. We are now seeking an outstanding professional leader to join the organisation as Chief Executive to take forward its future development, operational delivery and management across a growing team of staff and volunteers.

About the role

LSBSU is the recognised representative body of 18,000 students at London South Bank University. Many of our students come from less privileged backgrounds and have had to overcome significant barriers in life simply to get to university.

South Bank students have high expectations and ambitions for themselves but lead complex lives where they are faced with the pressures of trying to balance their studies with work and juggling their lives at home. Many don’t identify primarily as students, but instead as carers, nurses, engineers, parents, designers, workers, entrepreneurs, apprentices, last chance learners, and Londoners.

In recent times, realising that much of our activity was not engaging significant parts of our student population, we have taken a long hard look at ourselves. We know that we can do so much more for our students.

Following a period of transition, we have set out an ambitious vision for 2025 that will take us on a journey of improvement and innovation. Our goal is to be a truly transformative students’ union that improves the lives of students on every course and beyond at London South Bank University. We have set a plan for year one, and goals for year five, but how we get there could take many routes and we will need you as CEO to steer that journey.

This is a brilliant opportunity to support an SU which is rebuilding itself from the ground up. We have invested heavily in our transformation, started to build a more inclusive and equitable workplace, and we have significant changes to governance in the pipeline for 2021.

As CEO, you will have the chance to bring people into the senior team and work collaboratively with our Officers, Board and University partner to establish the best way to achieve our goals for 2025.

Who we're looking for

Our ideal Chief Executive will be able to provide dynamic leadership, be motivated to change students’ lives and be passionate about building an organisation that is relevant and responsive to those it seeks to serve.

You need to have strong communication skills, emotional intelligence and an ability to build relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders. It is essential that you are committed to role modelling inclusive behaviours, building equity and removing the systemic barriers that exist to hold our students back.

We are actively looking to diversify our Trustee board and leadership team as this has not been as diverse as our student population in the past. We are especially interested to hear from candidates from BAME communities and/or candidates that have overcome other significant barriers in their lives.

If you are inspired by the job, we highly recommend you contact Peridot for an informal discussion and background on the role.