Director of Operations (Institute for Digital Security and Behaviour)
About the role
The Bath Institute for Digital Security and Behaviour (IDSB) is seeking a dedicated Institute Operations Director to provide senior operational and strategic leadership for a leading interdisciplinary research institute.
IDSB unites expertise across social, behavioural, computer, and data sciences to tackle the complex challenges of digital security. Working in partnership with academia, industry, government, and the public, we co-design secure, inclusive, and effective digital systems with national and global impact.
As Operations Director, you will ensure the efficient running of the Institute and support the delivery of its strategic objectives. You will provide leadership across finance, governance, operations, and people management, translating strategy into action and enabling a high-performing research environment.
You will work closely with the Institute Directors and Deputy Directors and engage with senior University collaborators, external partners, and governance bodies responsible for oversight and strategic direction.
Key responsibilities
- Lead delivery and monitoring of the Institute’s strategy, including benchmarks, reporting frameworks, and operational planning
- Ensure effective governance and compliance with University policies and external funding requirements
- Coordinate financial management, including budgeting, forecasting, reporting, and prioritization
- Support governance structures, including boards, committees, and advisory groups
- Guide and grow professional services staff, ensuring strong performance and team capability
- Coordinate operational systems, infrastructure, and physical resources, including Institute premises
- Produce high-quality reports, briefings, and strategic documentation for internal and external audiences
- Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performing Institute culture
About you
You are an experienced operational leader with a proven background in higher education, research institutes, or similarly complex organisations. You are skilled at working across strategy, operations, and collaborating with partners, and you can transform plans into seamless results.
You will bring:
- Demonstrated leadership background in higher education or a research setting
- Strong financial management experience, including budget ownership and reporting
- Experience engaging with external collaborators (e.g., funders, government, industry)
- Excellent communication, influencing, and negotiation skills at senior level
- Ability to guide and grow multidisciplinary teams
- Strong organisational skills with excellent attention to detail in reporting and documentation
Further information
This role is offered on a full-time (36.5 hours per week), permanent basis.
Informal enquiries may be made to Professor Adam Joinson via email at aj266@bath.ac.uk, however please ensure that you submit your application through the university website.
We consider ourselves to be a university where difference is celebrated, respected and encouraged. We have an excellent international reputation with staff from over 60 different nations and have made a positive commitment towards gender equality and intersectionality receiving a Silver Athena SWAN award. We truly believe that diversity of experience, perspectives, and backgrounds will lead to a better environment for our employees and students and encourage applications from all genders, backgrounds, and communities, particularly from under-represented groups, and value the positive impact that will have on the university. We are committed to maintaining a safe and secure environment for our students, staff, and community by reinforcing our Safer Recruitment commitment.
We're very proud to be a signatory of the Armed Forces Covenant. an accredited Disability Confident Leader; autism friendly university, committed to building disability confidence and supporting disabled staff.
What we can offer you
We're continually expanding our benefits package to better support you and enhance your experience with us and the below is just an example of some of the many great benefits we offer:
- Free counselling services through Health Assured
- Cycle to work scheme
- Electric vehicle salary sacrifice scheme
- Staff discount at Team Bath gym
- Staff discounts on postgraduate tuition fees
- Staff discount on language courses
- Generous employer contributory pension schemes
- Generous annual leave allowance with an additional 5 discretionary days so that you can enjoy a positive work life balance
- A wide range of personal and professional development opportunities including Apprenticeships, LinkedIn Learning and more
- Free entry to the Holburne Museum in Bath
- Local discounts and more
- A family-friendly workplace
- An excellent reward package that recognises the talents of our diverse workforce
- Relocation allowance
- Visa reimbursement and Interest-Free Loan to help with the cost of some immigration expenses
Find out more about our benefits and watch the video to hear from our staff about what makes the University of Bath a great place to work as well as following us X and LinkedIn.
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Further details:
Terms and Conditions of Employment
Right to Work in the UK: We do not assess immigration or right to work status until offer stage. Being invited to interview does not guarantee you are eligible for visa sponsorship and all offers are conditional on meeting right to work requirements. Further information is available on our application support webpage.
Anonymous shortlisting: We are constantly seeking to reduce the unconscious bias that enters any assessment process, with the goal of creating an inclusive and equal assessment process. To support this, personal details such as your name, may be removed from application forms at the initial shortlisting stage.