Professional Services
People & Wellbeing
Permanent
This role may be eligible for visa sponsorship under the Skilled Worker visa route. If requiring visa sponsorship, the successful applicant will also need to meet a range of individual criteria to satisfy Home Office requirements. If the role is offered on a part-time basis, this might also affect eligibility.
Applicants are encouraged to individually assess whether they may be eligible for visa sponsorship prior to applying. More information on eligibility can be found on the Government website.
The Role: REQ000549 - People Experience Manager (Learning and Development Manager)
The People Experience Manager is dedicated to shaping how our colleagues feel, grow and thrive throughout their journey with us at the University.
Leading a diverse team across Organisational Development, Learning, Talent, Wellbeing and Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI), the role creates an environment where every colleague can succeed. Its impact goes beyond programmes and frameworks; it is about cultivating a culture where people feel valued, supported and empowered to build meaningful and impactful careers.
Working in close partnership with leaders and stakeholders is essential to designing and delivering people strategies that elevate the colleague experience and, in turn, enrich the student experience. Equally important is providing expert advice, coaching senior leaders, and building strong external partnerships as a trusted advisor and advocate for positive cultural change.
By championing the embedding of our University Values across every stage of the employee lifecycle, the People Experience Manager will ensure that they are not only understood but lived in everyday behaviours and decisions.
The Opportunity
As People Experience Manager, you will lead the design and delivery of a comprehensive portfolio of organisational development offerings that inspire growth, strengthen leadership capability and drive cultural transformation across the University.
Collaborating as part of the wider People & Wellbeing Directorate, you will ensure a consistently high quality, values led service.
In this role, you will:
Shape and deliver forward thinking leadership and management development programmes that builds future capability- Provide expert guidance on organisational development and cultural change, tailoring solutions to meet evolving needs
- Partner with senior leaders to co-create bespoke interventions that enhance performance, engagement and inclusion
- Drive the development and implementation of EDI and wellbeing strategies that foster an inclusive and supportive workplace
- Embed the University’s values across the employee lifecycle, ensuring they are reflected in behaviours, policies and practice
- Lead engagement initiatives, including colleague surveys, using insight to inform continuous improvement
- Coach and support senior leaders to strengthen leadership impact and effectiveness
- Develop and manage strategic external partnerships that enhance delivery and innovation
- Champion excellence in talent management, performance development and career progression
Ultimately, this role is about creating meaningful, lasting impact, shaping a people experience that enables colleagues to succeed, and in doing so, supporting the University’s wider mission and ambitions.
What you will bring to the role
You are a credible and inspiring people leader, bringing both strategic insight and a deep commitment to creating exceptional colleague experiences. With a strong foundation in people, organisational development or business disciplines, you combine expertise with a passion for driving meaningful change in complex environments.
Your career reflects substantial experience in leading organisational development, people experience, or cultural transformation initiatives and as such shaping environments where individuals and teams can truly thrive. You are comfortable operating at pace and scale, navigating complexity with confidence and clarity.
You can demonstrate a proven ability to build, develop and inspire multidisciplinary teams and to foster high levels of engagement, performance and collaboration. You bring a track record of designing and delivering impactful leadership, talent and development programmes that are closely aligned to organisational strategy and future workforce needs.
You operate with credibility and influence at a senior level, confidently partnering with and advising senior stakeholders. Through your ability to build trusted relationships, you help shape strategic direction and ensure people-focused solutions are at the heart of decision-making.
You will bring demonstrable experience in advancing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and/or Wellbeing at an organisational level, translating ambition into practical initiatives that create a more inclusive, supportive and high‑performing culture. This may come from experience in Higher Education or other sectors.
Underpinning all of this is a relevant degree or equivalent professional experience in HR, Organisational Development, Business Management or a related field, alongside a genuine passion for enabling people and organisations to succeed.
ABOUT US
The University of the West of Scotland is one of Scotland’s largest and most dynamic modern universities. Our reach across the country, together with our London campus, means that UWS is a significant force in global knowledge creation, innovation, and a leading provider of undergraduate, postgraduate and research degree education. Our degrees provide students with a transformational experience; equipping them with highly sought-after graduate skills that set them up for global success in world-leading sectors, industries and businesses.
With cutting-edge courses, modern pedagogy and practical knowledge, we enable our students and staff to experience the joy of learning, teaching, research and innovation, and apply their knowledge for the benefit of others.
UWS is officially ranked by Times Higher Education in the top 200 universities worldwide under 50 years old (2024 Young University Rankings)
Our professional services teams are the backbone of UWS, providing robust and innovative solutions to support the vast range of work across learning and teaching, and research and innovation. You will join a supportive and dedicated team, playing a key role in a range of work that will help drive forward our ambition to deliver world-leading research, and graduates who will design, shape and build a new future.
We offer our staff a caring and supportive environment, across five campuses, and a competitive benefits package which includes:
- 24 days of annual leave, plus a further 12 days for public/university holidays
- An additional days leave on your birthday
- Defined benefit contribution pension scheme (including death in service benefits upon joining the scheme
- A flexible approach to working pattern and work-life balance
- Employee discount scheme across 3,500 retailers
- Fitness facilities across our campuses
- Access to a range of health and wellbeing resources, including occupational health, physiotherapy and access to our Employee Assistance Programme
- Professional, career and research development opportunities.
Closing Date: Sunday 21st of June 2026
Interview Date: Monday 6th July 2026
Please note that the appointment will be made on the first point of the salary scale (unless by exception, where evidence would need to be provided).
The University reserves the right to shorten/extend the closing date of any position where a high/low volume of suitable applications are received. Therefore, if you are interested in this role, an early application would be encouraged.
You can find out more about how the University uses your personal data as part of the recruitment process by looking at the UWS HR Applicant Privacy Notice at www.uws.ac.uk
UWS are committed signatories to the Armed Forces Covenant.
UWS is committed to equality and diversity and welcomes applications from underrepresented groups.
UWS is a “Disability Confident” employer.
University of the West of Scotland is a registered Scottish charity, no. SC002520
