Director of School Operations - School of Medical Sciences

Shape the future of one of the world’s leading universities.

This is a rare opportunity to join The University of Manchester at a defining moment in our history. With the launch of our ambitious new Manchester 2035 strategy, we are reimagining what it means to be a world-class university — one that combines academic excellence with social impact, innovation, and inclusion.

As Director of School Operations, you will play a pivotal role in translating this vision into action. Working in close partnership with the Vice-Dean and Head of School, you will provide strategic and operational leadership across all aspects of Professional Services, helping to deliver exceptional experiences for our students, colleagues, and partners. You’ll be a key member of the School Leadership Team — driving innovation, embedding collaboration, and enabling academic and professional excellence to flourish.

We are looking for an inspiring and authentic leader — someone who can unite people behind a shared purpose, foster a culture of agility and continuous improvement, and deliver meaningful change across complex systems. You’ll bring a strong track record of strategic operations leadership in higher education or a comparable environment, exceptional people skills, and a passion for driving organisational excellence through collaboration.

This role is central to our ‘One University’ approach: breaking down silos, building partnerships, and enabling a connected, high-performing community. You will also join ‘The 200’, our forward-thinking network of senior leaders, all committed to making our 2035 vision a reality — creating a university that is inclusive, innovative, and unmistakably Manchester.

If you share our ambition to make a real difference — to our students, to our city, and to the world — we would love to hear from you.

What you will get in return:

• Fantastic market leading Pension scheme
• Excellent employee health and wellbeing services including an Employee Assistance Programme
• Exceptional starting annual leave entitlement, plus bank holidays
• Additional paid closure over the Christmas period
• Local and national discounts at a range of major retailers

As an equal opportunities employer we welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of age, sex, gender (or gender identity), ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and transgender status. All appointments are made on merit.

Our University is positive about flexible working – you can find out more here

Hybrid working arrangements may be considered.

Please be aware that due to the number of applications we unfortunately may not able to provide individual feedback on your application.

Please note that we are unable to respond to enquiries, accept CVs or applications from Recruitment Agencies.

Any recruitment enquiries from recruitment agencies should be directed to People.Recruitment@manchester.ac.uk.

Any CV’s submitted by a recruitment agency will be considered a gift.