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Head of Business Development & Engagement - Dubai Operations - 97574 - Grade 8

Employer
University of Birmingham
Location
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Salary
Competitive
Closing date
Jun 18, 2021
Description

Position Details

Dubai Professional Services, External Relations

University of Birmingham, Dubai campus

Salary: Competitive

Grade 8

Full time

Permanent

Location: Dubai, UAE

Closing date: 19 June 2021

University of Birmingham Dubai

Having established ourselves in Dubai International Academic City in 2018 we are now moving to a new and exciting phase of our development with the opening of our new state-of-the-art campus in September 2021. This post represents an excellent opportunity to join an ambitious World Top 100 University as we continue to grow our long-term strategic mission in Dubai, the UAE and the wider region. Our campus reflects the very best of Birmingham through our presence in Dubai.

Professional Services Ethos

Our ethos as a Professional Services team has been developed in line with the principles of being a Birmingham Professional. In particular, here in Dubai, this means that all Professional Services colleagues seek to collaborate effectively to ensure the needs of the whole campus community and our stakeholders are met. It also means that we work constructively together to provide a flexible range of service and support that adapt to the changing needs of the Campus as we grow. There are specific focal points in the academic cycle when all Professional Services team members will be expected to contribute regardless of their primary role, for example Welcome or Graduation. In addition, the duties listed below are illustrative of the general nature and level of responsibility of this post which is likely to change over time in response to the needs of the Campus and as you develop your experience and skills. You will have the opportunity to develop and may also need to specialise your duties further, over time, in agreement with your manager.

In order to contribute to the success of the team and the University's vision for the Dubai Campus the Professional Services team will be seeking to continue to recruit and develop colleagues who display:
  • a high level of intellectual aptitude;
  • strong agility and a portfolio of skills that can adapt to meet changing circumstances;
  • an innovative and creative mindset; and
  • both an enterprising and entrepreneurial nature to support our growth and pursuit of excellence.

Department Overview

The role of Head of Business Development & Engagement will be responsible for leading the Business Development and Engagement areas remit as a key part of the Professional Services team for the University's Dubai campus. This area is responsible for sales and marketing, business development, external engagement, communications, brand and reputation, and admissions for the Dubai campus. The team play a critical role in the future success of the University, delivering against student recruitment and other income targets, building key stakeholder relationships in the region and taking responsibility for the overall brand and reputation of the University's only campus outside of the UK. It is a dynamic team which works closely with colleagues from across campus and in partnership with teams based in the UK, particularly the UK-based Admissions team. Team colleagues also have close connections to external partners in the UAE and other key recruitment markets (including China, India and Nigeria).

Job summary

Reporting to both the Head of International Recruitment based in the UK and the Deputy Campus Director in Dubai, the post holder will lead this diverse team with responsibility for delivering income targets and building the reputation of the University of Birmingham Dubai. UoB Dubai has ambitious plans to expand its operation, and the Head of Recruitment, Marketing & Admissions will be responsible for establishing and delivering the strategy to meet income targets, deliver student numbers, develop key relationships with external stakeholders and build the reputation and profile of the University in the region and beyond. They will work as a key member of the leadership team in Dubai, including with the Provost and Campus Director to provide expert advice and guidance as the campus grows. They will also work in close collaboration with colleagues in the UK to ensure that UoB Dubai is closely aligned to the strategic vision of the University of Birmingham.

Main duties

General
  • Promotes equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
  • Actively manages equality, diversity and inclusion through monitoring and evaluation and actively challenging unacceptable behaviour.
  • Undertake continuous personal and professional development.

Delivering income targets
  • Responsible for formulating a strategy to deliver against ambitious student recruitment targets across a range of academic programmes from foundation and undergraduate through to postgraduate and CPD.
  • To lead on the effective delivery of this recruitment strategy for the Dubai campus, evaluating activities and suggestions for improvement. This includes the full sales and marketing mix, from website and online content and marketing campaigns through to events, schools engagement, agent and sponsor engagement and the deployment of scholarships.
  • To closely monitor progress on an ongoing basis, be responsible for reporting against KPIs and for identifying where strategy needs to evolve in order to meet targets
  • To develop and deliver a strategy to drive up CPD income for UoB Dubai, drawing on expertise within the team, colleagues in other areas of professional services in Dubai and the UK, and academic expertise.
  • Identify (drawing on the team's expertise) areas for development of the portfolio, from undergraduate through to CPD opportunities.
  • In partnership with the Head of International Recruitment, develop appropriate strategies and plans to recruit students from key international markets outside of the UAE to the Dubai campus. This includes servicing existing markets and identifying new market opportunities.
  • Work collaboratively with the International Recruitment team based in Birmingham to ensure that all activities are joined up and that colleagues are maximising opportunities to support Dubai recruitment targets.
  • Undertaking independent travel within the Emirates, the wider region and other key recruitment markets to attend education exhibitions, visit schools and universities, making promotional presentations to prospective staff, students and influencers (including parents, sponsors, agents, etc.).

Responsible for management of the admissions operation
  • To lead the Admissions strategy in Dubai, ensuring that it meets the needs of the market whilst being reflective of the wider institutional policy from the UK.
  • Work with the Director of Admissions, based in the UK, to ensure that UoB Dubai has robust and transparent admissions policies that are in line with University regulations.
  • Ensure that the service is employing competitive turnaround times in admissions processing in order to meet the needs of prospective students.

External and business development relationships
  • Work collaboratively with the Provost and senior leadership team in Dubai to develop a clear plan for engaging with high level stakeholders in country. This will include senior government officials, other Vice Chancellors and strategic business contacts.
  • Network with a wide variety of external stakeholders and to represent the University at a senior level with agents, the British Council, embassies, High Commissions, and existing/prospective corporate partners.
  • With support from the Recruitment Manager, identify B2B opportunities in order to grow income, particularly in relation to CPD targets.
  • Take overall responsibility for the delivery of stakeholder events to raise the profile and build government and business relationships for UoB Dubai.

Marketing, communications, brand and reputation
  • To be responsible for the communications and engagement strategy for UoB Dubai, building relationships with key external stakeholders in order to open new business opportunities for the campus.
  • With input from the Marketing and Communications Manager, develop a proactive communications approach to raise the profile of UoB Dubai in the UAE, region and beyond.
  • To take overall responsibility for the delivery of high-quality marketing materials across a range of stakeholder audiences, ensuring that they are in line with the brand and ethos of UoB Dubai and are deployed across a range of appropriate channels (web, social media, print, advertising, etc.).
  • With the Marketing and Communications Manager and with direction from the Director of Communications in the UK, manage reactive and crisis communications for UoB Dubai.
  • To be responsible for staff internal communications within UoB Dubai, and with colleagues in the Student Services division have oversight of student communications and engagement.

Other responsibilities
  • To manage a sizeable and diverse team, ensuring that it works collaboratively with both the wider Dubai operation and the teams based in the UK, and with global offices around the world.
  • Ensure that the team remains agile, with resource deployed appropriately throughout the recruitment cycle to best effect.
  • Play a key role in the leadership team in Dubai, providing expert advice and guidance to the Provost and Campus Director.
  • Work in close collaboration with colleagues based in the UK to ensure that approaches in Dubai effectively link with those from Edgbaston and innovative practice is shared where relevant.
  • Take responsibility for managing, deploying and reporting on budgets, including a substantial scholarship budget.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience
  • Experience of championing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in own work area.
  • Ability to monitor and evaluate the extent to which equality and diversity legislation, policies, procedures are applied.
  • Ability to identify issues with the potential to impact on protected groups and take appropriate action.
  • Educated to degree level or equivalent relevant qualifications
  • Substantial and extensive experience of developing and delivering strategies in a sales, recruitment or business development role, with a focus on targets and income generation
  • Substantial experience of working with external stakeholders to build relationships in order to strengthen reputation and/or generate income
  • Substantial experience of working with a range of marketing and communications channels, including press and PR, web and digital content and CRM systems
  • Proven analytical and problem-solving skills to identify and implement significant improvements to service delivery
  • Knowledge and experience of working in an international context, along with cultural sensitivity
  • An understanding of the importance of brand and reputation
  • Highly developed oral and written communication and presentation skills to deal with a wide range of contacts, both internally and externally, and at all levels from potential students to vice chancellors and diplomats
  • Experience of managing diverse teams, with the ability to lead, motivate and facilitate
  • High level of literacy and attention to detail to produce clear, concise reports and strategies
  • Tact, diplomacy and negotiating skills
  • The flexibility to work unsociable hours and travel outside of the Emirates when required
  • Experience of managing budgets

Dimensions

Planning and organising
  • Developing recruitment and business development strategies, to be agreed with the Provost and Director of Campus Operations
  • Managing a team and ensuring that resource is deployed in an agile way to best effect
  • Devising marketing and recruitment campaigns in order to meet agreed recruitment targets

Problem-solving and decision making
  • Making decisions over deployment of scholarship budgets, to be agreed with the Provost and Director of Campus Operations
  • Identifying barriers to market and developing solutions to overcome
  • Dealing with crisis communications issues, working collaboratively with the Director of Communications in the UK

Internal and external relationships
  • Business Development and Engagement team
  • Provost and Campus Director
  • Academics in Dubai and in Edgbaston
  • Head of International Recruitment
  • External Relations Directors based in the UK - Recruitment and Marketing, Admissions, Communications
  • UAE government contacts
  • Sponsors and recruitment agents

As interest in all of the advertised posts has been extremely high, we encourage you to apply online, tailoring your skillset against the listed criteria in the application form.

Valuing excellence, sustaining investment

We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community and are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working.

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