With a proud history spanning over 50 years, the University of Bath has grown significantly in both scale and reputation, now home to a vibrant community of over 20,000 students from 153 countries. Renowned for its excellence in teaching and research, the University consistently ranks among the UK’s top five in the Complete University Guide 2024 and is placed 132nd globally in the QS World University Rankings 2025. Named ‘University of the Year’ and ranked 8th in the UK by The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025, Bath is celebrated for its outstanding student experience and teaching quality.

Role

The Digital Portfolio Director will lead the University of Bath’s Digital Foundations Portfolio—a £20–30 million, five-year transformational programme that underpins the University’s strategic priorities and impacts every department and function. This is a rare opportunity to define and deliver digital transformation at scale, shaping how technology, people, and processes come together to create a connected, innovative, and future-ready institution.

In this role, you will:

• Set the vision and operating model for digital transformation, building frameworks and governance from the ground up.
• Lead a complex portfolio spanning research computing, education technology, student and staff experience platforms, and foundational infrastructure.
• Drive measurable benefits, ensuring projects deliver tangible improvements to staff and student experiences.
• Engage senior leadership and stakeholders, managing relationships across diverse groups and key third-party partners such as Infosys.
• Champion cultural change, embedding new ways of working, building organisational capability, and fostering innovation.

This is not a traditional portfolio management role—it requires a visionary leader who thrives on complexity, combines strategic thinking with hands-on delivery, and is passionate about making a real difference. You will have the autonomy to shape what good looks like, influence the University’s digital future, and position Bath as a sector leader in digital transformation.

About You

You are a strategic leader with hands-on delivery experience, passionate about driving complex change and digital transformation. You have a proven track record of designing and delivering organisation-wide change programmes in large, complex environments, underpinned by expert knowledge of best practice in change management. Your background spans both digital and change projects, where you have managed multiple concurrent initiatives with intricate interdependencies and diverse stakeholders. You combine strategic vision with operational agility—setting direction while actively engaging in delivery, removing blockers and accelerating progress. You thrive in complexity, embrace innovation, and have a builder’s mindset—creating new frameworks rather than relying on pre-defined models. With exceptional leadership and communication skills, you inspire teams, influence senior stakeholders, and maintain relentless focus on delivery and measurable impact.

Travel to Bath

Bath, known for its Georgian architecture and natural hot springs, has been a desirable place to live since Roman times. As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it holds legal protection for its cultural significance. Residents appreciate the green surroundings, parks, hills, and independent shops alongside the iconic Georgian landscape. The city hosts various cultural events like the Bath Literature, Music, and Comedy Festivals, “Bath in Fashion” Week, and the annual Bath Digital Festival, providing entertainment for residents. Find essential travel advice at Travel advice (bath.ac.uk).

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.

Closing Date: 18 May 2026

Department: Management, Specialist and Administration