Programme Governance & Delivery Manager (12 months FTC)

Salary: £50,000 - £65,000 per annum

Employment type: Fixed Term Contract for 12 months

Hours per week: 37

Reporting into: Director of Employer Engagement

Department: Employer Engagement

Click here to read the full job description and view our excellent benefits here

This role operates primarily on a remote working arrangement that will require occasion travel into our Coventry head office and Campus locations. This could be up to twice a month, and may fluctuate in line with business need. Our working model arrangements are a non-contractual benefit so please note that an Arden work location is added to our employment contracts.

About Arden University:

We are an aspirational and multi-award-winning university, delivering rapid growth with ambitious plans to disrupt the HE sector through our passion for innovation and digital education. Our vision is to become the first-choice university for career-focused lifelong learners worldwide, ensuring that everyone, everywhere can access higher education.

There has never been a more exciting time to join Arden University, as we expand into new disciplines, forge worldwide partnerships, and expand our locations.

About our Department:

You will work within a small, agile Employer Engagement team based in the Academic Office, driving forward Arden’s strategic priorities in employer engagement, employability, and curriculum innovation.

The team focuses on cultivating and strengthening partnerships that generate positive outcomes for students while raising Arden’s profile as a university recognised for delivering meaningful, real‑world impact.

About the Opportunity:

Arden University is developing a new employer‑engagement ecosystem to strengthen curriculum relevance, expand employer‑led learning, scale placements, and improve student outcomes. With six Employer Advisory Boards and growing regional and cross‑institution partnerships, we are creating a central role to bring strong governance, consistent delivery, and measurable impact to this strategic area.

The Programme Governance & Delivery Manager (Employer Engagement) will lead the coordination, governance, and delivery of all employer‑engagement projects. You will ensure advisory boards run effectively, manage project workstreams, and support activity that enhances the student journey, experience, and graduate outcomes. A key part of the role is establishing the foundational processes, frameworks, and delivery disciplines needed to scale employer engagement across the university.

This role suits someone who thrives in complex environments, enjoys building new structures, and brings strong programme management, governance, and stakeholder‑coordination skills. You will play a pivotal role in shaping how Arden embeds employer engagement into its curriculum and wider student‑experience strategy.

About You:

You will bring a strong background in programme management, governance, and cross‑institution coordination, with the confidence to build new structures and drive delivery in a complex environment. You understand how to create clarity, consistency, and accountability across multiple workstreams, and you’re motivated by roles where you can shape processes from the ground up. You will be comfortable working with senior stakeholders, managing advisory boards, and ensuring that strategic activity translates into measurable impact for students and partners.

You will have:

• Significant experience in programme management, PMO, governance, strategic projects, or business operations, ideally involving coordination across multiple teams or functions.

• Experience designing or maintaining governance frameworks, including terms of reference, reporting cycles, action tracking, and risk/decision management.

• Experience coordinating or running boards, committees, or advisory groups, ensuring effective preparation, delivery, and follow‑up.

• Experience leading task‑and‑finish groups, cross‑functional workstreams, or matrix teams to deliver defined outputs and outcomes.

• Experience developing or implementing evaluation frameworks and KPIs to measure programme or project impact.

• Experience working in complex, multi‑stakeholder environments where alignment, communication, and structured coordination are essential.

This role will suit someone who is organised, delivery‑focused, and confident establishing governance and programme‑delivery disciplines that support long‑term scalability.

Why Arden:

At Arden, you will become a part of a passionate and dedicated team who are committed to removing unnecessary barriers to learning and making education more accessible. Our people work hard to ensure our students journeys are the best they can possibly be, as such we want to reward our people with fantastic benefits. Employees benefit from:

• 30 days holiday + bank holidays on-top, and even a Christmas closure!

• A generous Aviva pension plan, company contributions starting from 7%

• SimplyHealth plan option

• Private Medical Insurance

• Access to Perkbox benefits

• Study any Arden course for free, with a discount for all family and friends

• Plus, other excellent benefits

• Our ‘Golden Ticket’ which allows you to gift anyone in your life a free Arden education
  

Our Values:

Stand out, Progressive, Accessible, Resourceful, Kindness, reflect who we are as an institution, a team and as individuals. If they also reflect you and you are excited by the chance to be the driving, creative force within a growing business, we want to hear from you.

There has never been a more exciting time to join Arden University, as we expand into new disciplines and locations.

Closing Date: Sunday 24 May

We reserve the right to close this vacancy before the specified closing date should we receive sufficient applications or in order to respond to business needs. In order to avoid missing an opportunity to apply please submit your application as early as possible.

If you are a current Arden student or have an upcoming course with us, you are not eligible to apply for Student Experience roles due to a conflict of interest related to system access.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion:

Arden University is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. This means that if you have a disability, as defined by the Disability Equality Act 2010, you may be guaranteed an interview if you meet the essential criteria for the role.

If you wish to be considered under this scheme, you can indicate via the application form below. By doing so, you are also consenting for this information to be shared with the hiring team. For more details on what qualifies as a disability under the Disability Equality Act 2010, please refer to the guidance here.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. Therefore, we make sure that our recruitment and selection processes never discriminate based upon people's age, disability, gender, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or other personal circumstances, and actively welcome applications from all groups.

Sponsorship statement:

Please be aware that some roles may not meet the points requirement for a sponsored Skilled Worker visa under the points-based immigration system. However, we welcome applications from candidates who do not currently have the right to work in the UK but may be eligible for a visa through an alternative route.