West London College – Director of Governance

West London College is a further education college with three centres located in Ealing, Hammersmith and Southall. For nearly 150 years, we have been providing training and development in the area, helping over 10,000 students achieve their career goals each year.

We are now seeking a new Director of Governance to support our Board and ensure that governance continues to be highly effective and impactful. You will be a governance expert with a strong track record in working with governors, trustees, or non-executives to ensure the Board achieves its responsibilities and objectives. This is a fantastic opportunity to contribute to the strategic direction and success of the College.

Thank you for your interest in the role of Director of Governance with West London College. The appointment to this role comes at a crucial time for the College and our new Director of Governance will play a key role in supporting the Board to achieve our ambitious plans for the future. West London College is the trading name of the Corporation of Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College and with campuses in Ealing, Hammersmith and Southall, we are firmly focused on meeting the skills, employment and economic needs of the nation’s capital.

Having recently agreed an ambitious new strategic plan around a mission of ‘Aiming High, Changing Lives’, you will play a vital role in realising our vision of being a vibrant, innovative, diverse and sustainable college empowering learners to succeed and positively impact society. Good governance is a key ingredient in any college’s success and you will work with the Chair and CEO & Principal to shape and deliver the work of our governing body.

The College benefits from a highly skilled governing body whose members are drawn from industry, business, law, finance, education and the community, as well as staff and students. Alongside the key committees of audit, finance and general purposes, search and governance, and remuneration, the full Corporation meets on a regular basis to shape, discuss and inform College strategy and to scrutinise performance. Our latest external governance review conducted in early 2024 found that the governing body was “well-organised, committed, positive, challenging and ambitious” with a supportive and enquiring governing culture.

Our new Director of Governance will have a key role to play in ensuring governors, who are all unpaid volunteers, are well supported to play an active role in College life. In this role, you will take ownership of the processes, systems and ways of working to ensure Board effectiveness and that governance is well connected to the rest of the College.

The postholder will provide a high level of support to the Chair, ensuring that all aspects of governance are well co-ordinated and the Board fulfils its duties and obligations. In addition, the Director of Governance will shape a programme of Board development to ensure that the practices, skills and knowledge of all governors are kept up to date with key developments in the further education and skills sector. You will work closely with our Chief Executive and Principal to provide outstanding stewardship of governance practice within the College. As a senior postholder, you will be appointed by, and accountable to, the governing body.

To succeed in this role, you will need to have experience of working with boards and governance, and policy frameworks in either the public or private sectors. Whilst knowledge and experience of further education and skills is not a requirement of this role, we will expect any appointee from outside of the further education sector to undertake a programme of development to get up to speed with FE governance and we will support you with this.

Governors and leaders at West London College are united in our passion and commitment to our students and we work together to overcome challenges whenever they may arise, to give students the very best college experience that can be offered.

FE Associates have been appointed to support the College with this campaign. Potential applicants are encouraged to contact Amanda Hart to arrange an informal discussion.