About us

The Office of General Counsel is a new function within UCL comprising Legal Services, Data Protection and Freedom of Information, Governance, Policy and Risk and Compliance offices. The Office of General Counsel provides strategic legal and governance advice to the institution and is tasked with creating and operating appropriate risk and compliance frameworks and assurance processes to support UCL’s mission, strategy and values.

The Office of General Counsel is led by the General Counsel, who reports to the President and Provost.

About the role

The Director of Operations works with the General Counsel (GC) to take their vision and ensure that the resources and talent are in place to deliver on UCL’s strategic objectives for the portfolio of the General Counsel as a whole.
They are responsible for strategic planning and operations for the General Counsel portfolio.
They act as a key counsellor to the General Counsel on staffing and resourcing issues and ensure the GC’s strategic plans and operational priorities are aligned with those of the other VP portfolios.

About you

We are looking for candidates with experience of managing projects and leading strategic change processes in a large complex organisation, including analytical problem solving, obtaining buy-in from senior stakeholders, influencing decisions/policies to implement change processes and applying project life cycle methodologies to achieve goals.

For this role you will need experience of effectively managing the ongoing business administration of a large, complex organisation, including involvement in budgetary, human resources and estates planning. Experience of managing a team of direct reports including managers of others, in areas such as talent management, wellbeing and performance management is also essential.

You will also need to demonstrate experience of drafting and presenting documentation and reports that support and/or explain complex business processes and issues to diverse audiences.

An understanding of the pressures and challenges faced by the Higher Education sector and how they impact on the strategy, policy and practice of an office of General Counsel is desirable.

What we offer

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which are below:

· 41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days)
· Additional 5 days’ annual leave purchase scheme
· Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE)
· Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan
· Immigration loan
· Relocation scheme for certain posts
· On-Site nursery
· On-site gym
· Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
· Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service
· Discounted medical insurance

Visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/rewards-and-benefits to find out more.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong.
We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL’s workforce.
These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women.