University of the Arts London (UAL) is a global leader in creativity, innovation and transformative education. Formed of six renowned Colleges and four Institutes, UAL continues to shape the future of art, design, fashion, communication and performing arts, supported by a diverse and vibrant community of over 20,000 students from more than 130 countries.
As UAL continues to invest significantly in its student experience, the University is now seeking to appoint an exceptional Head of Accommodation to provide strategic leadership and operational oversight of the University’s accommodation portfolio, ensuring the delivery of a high-quality, student-centred residential experience that is both financially sustainable and operationally excellent.
Reporting to the Associate Director: Accommodation, Catering and Retail, the Head of Accommodation will play a pivotal role in shaping and delivering UAL’s Accommodation Strategy and annual operating plans, driving occupancy, strengthening commercial performance, and ensuring outstanding customer experience, safety, and wellbeing across all services.
The post holder will lead UAL’s accommodation operations across nearly 4,000 beds in owned and partner halls, overseeing performance and ensuring strong financial management through effective forecasting, cost control, and delivery of key KPIs. The role also leads on rent setting, benchmarking, nominations agreements, and PBSA partnerships, ensuring UAL remains competitive and aligned with market and affordability expectations.
They will ensure the effective operational delivery of residential services, maintaining safe, secure, compliant, and high-quality living environments, while working closely with internal teams and external partners to deliver a continuous student experience supported by safeguarding, wellbeing, and pastoral support. They will also support incident response and business continuity planning as required, and drive continuous improvement across systems, processes, and service delivery.
We are seeking an experienced, proactive leader with a strong background in large-scale student accommodation or comparable multi-site commercial environments. The post holder will bring proven experience in service delivery, alongside strong commercial acumen, stakeholder management and people management skills. They will be calm under pressure, highly organised, and committed to continuous improvement, equality, diversity, inclusion, and delivering an outstanding student experience.
The Candidate Brochure can be viewed at UAL - Head of Accommodation
To arrange a briefing discussion, please contact our retained advisor Anna Kacprzak (anna.kacprzak@mrgglobal.com) at MRG. Applications should consist of a CV and covering letter and should be submitted to anna.kacprzak@mrrgglobal.com
UAL is committed to creating diverse and inclusive environments for all staff and students to work and learn – a university where we can be ourselves and reach our full potential. We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements and Staff Support Networks. We welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds, including race, disability, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion and belief, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, and caring responsibility.
