Campus 2030 Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Campus 2030 Chief Operating Officer (COO)
Competitive salary and benefits package 

Play a leading role in the delivery of the largest change programme in our history.

The Open University (OU) is at a pivotal stage in its history. The university, the largest in the UK, has embarked on a project to determine the best future working environment for its headquarter operations in Milton Keynes. This includes the possibility of diversifying its famous online courses to provision that includes in-person courses taught at a new sustainable and smart campus in the heart of Milton Keynes city centre. If the city centre option is shown to be the best option for the university, it will relocate from its existing 110-acre campus in the suburbs of Milton Keynes. Options for the use of this site are part of the project.

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) will be leading the preparation of the business case over several months, taking it through its gateways, with the prospect, if the case is approved, of playing a lead role in the delivery of the largest change programme in the OU's history and one of the biggest in the higher education sector.

The successful candidate will possess demonstrable expertise in development management working across similar complex mixed-use capital developments, ideally including in the higher education sector. You will be adept at  successfully leading the design, planning, and delivery of substantial estate projects to both programme and budget. Experience of working with funders, partners, and investors will be essential. Additionally, the postholder will have a proven track record of producing robust and successful business cases for development projects.

For a confidential discussion, please contact our retained advisors Michael Hewlett michael.hewlett@mrgpeople.co.uk or Ben Duffill ben.duffill@mrgpeople.co.uk from the Management Recruitment Group (MRG).

The briefing pack can be viewed at Campus 2030 Chief Operating Officer (COO) 

Closing date for applications is Sunday 6th August 2023.

The Open University is innovative, responsive and inclusive. Our mission is to be open to people, places, methods and ideas and this means that a commitment to equality is embedded in all that we do. We celebrate diversity and the strengths that it brings and we challenge under-representation and differences in outcomes.