Job Description

About the role

The culture of the National Extension College (NEC) is one of friendliness, hard work, informality and respect. We are fortunate to work with staff, authors, tutors, directors and trustees of the very highest calibre. We know that the traditional UK model of education delivery based within schools and colleges doesn’t meet the needs of all, and we are proud to support more than 4,000 students each year to successfully achieve their qualifications and progress into higher education, further training or employment.

Our success is not based on traditional external quality metrics – it is based on students achieving what they set out to achieve.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the most senior staff member, reporting to the Council of Trustees, and leads all aspects of our organisational strategy, finance, risk, commercial development, and the delivery of transformative education through an expert and committed staff team.

With our current CEO’s long and successful career with the organisation coming to an end, we look forward to a new CEO building on Dr Ros Morpeth’s legacy and developing a new strategy for NEC that will see us enhance our offer to students and customers, and extend our national reach and overall presence in the sector.

Who we are looking for

Having been saved from administration by the incumbent CEO in 2011, following NEC’s merger with another organisation, our initial focus was one of survival. We have come a long way since that time.

Now in a much stronger position and through having strategically adapted to market demands, we now look to appoint a new CEO who can build a new strategy and see NEC further develop its national impact and grow our market share.

First and foremost, our next CEO must be an educationalist and truly believe in our charitable mission. You will have expert knowledge of digital learning pedagogies, an entrepreneurial mind-set, and the ability to balance business and partnership development with high-quality education and support for our students.

Whilst this may be your first CEO role, we do expect you to have experience of strategic planning and reporting to a non-executive board. Our Council of Trustees are experts in their fields and have high expectations of the new CEO’s ability to manage future risks, take a strategic view of the opportunities available in the sector, and develop business plans and proposals to help inform long-term decision making.

For further information about the role and to apply, please visit the job page on Peridot Partners' website via the application method on this site.

Closing date: 12noon, Monday 4th January 2021