Wellbeing Manager - Student Disability, Accessibility & Mental Health

Arden University; London; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

Arden University seeks a passionate leader to head its Disability and Accessibility Advisors team. This role focuses on creating inclusive support systems for students, ensuring equitable access to education, and driving continuous improvement through data-informed practices. Join a dynamic team committed to enhancing student wellbeing and engagement across multiple campuses.

Benefits

30 days holiday + bank holidays

Generous pension plan

Private Medical Insurance

Study any Arden course for free

Access to Perkbox benefits

Qualifications

• Thorough knowledge of disability, accessibility, safeguarding, SEN, and mental health frameworks.
• Experience of managing change and continuous improvement.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development and delivery of inclusive support systems.
• Drive initiatives that remove barriers to learning and champion accessibility.
• Engage with teams and participate in key student events.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Data Analysis

Inclusive Design

Job description

Salary: £50,000 - £55,000 per annum

Employment type: Permanent

Hours per week: 37

Reporting into: Head of Student Success

Department: Student Experience

Click here to read the full job description and view our excellent benefits here

This role operates on a hybrid working arrangement that will require travel (expected to be twice a month to meet business need) to our Campuses in Birmingham, Leeds, London, Manchester and Nottingham. This may fluctuate in line with business requirements. Our working model arrangements are a non-contractual benefit so please note that an Arden work location is added to our employment contracts.

About Arden University:

We are an aspirational and multi-award-winning university, delivering rapid growth with ambitious plans to disrupt the HE sector through our passion for innovation and digital education. Our vision is to become the first-choice university for career-focused lifelong learners worldwide, ensuring that everyone, everywhere can access higher education.

There has never been a more exciting time to join Arden University, as we expand into new disciplines, forge worldwide partnerships, and expand our locations.

About our Department:

Wellbeing Services sits within the wider Student Experience team, a key part of the University’s commitment to delivering a world class student journey. Our mission is to ensure that every student can thrive – academically, socially, and personally – regardless of background, health needs or individual challenges. The department offers a range of specialist support, including mental health advice, counselling, disability and neurodiversity support and accessibility services. We work collaboratively across the university to promote a positive and proactive approach to student wellbeing and engagement, helping to remove barriers and create an inclusive culture.

About the Opportunity:

We’re looking for an experienced and passionate leader to head up our specialist team of Disability and Accessibility Advisors and Mental Health and Wellbeing Advisors. Our teams provide vital face to face support to our Blended Learning students across all Arden University campuses, as well as remote support to our Distance Learning community.

In this role, you will drive the development and delivery of inclusive, equitable support systems that empower all students to succeed. You’ll lead on the implementation and monitoring of initiatives that remove barriers to learning, champion accessibility, and foster a culture of inclusion.

With a strong focus on data-informed practice, you’ll ensure the service remains proactive, effective, and responsive to student needs—using insights to shape continuous improvement. As a visible and supportive leader, you’ll regularly visit our campuses to engage with your teams and take part in key student events, including orientation and induction activities.

About You:

You will be a skilled and confident people manager with a strong track record of leading high-performing teams,with a deep understanding of inclusive support practices, and a proven track record of developing and implementing inclusion strategies in a higher education setting. You will need to have:

Essential requirements:

• Thorough knowledge of disability, accessibility, safeguarding, SEN, and mental health frameworks within a higher education or similar context.
• A strong leader, with excellent communication skills to be able to work with colleagues across the university, to drive the service forward.
• Experience of managing change and continuous improvement, implementation of new strategies that align with institutional goals and promote equity and inclusion.
• Be able to effectively collate and analyse data and success information to target `at risk` students, ensuring relevant interventions are prioritised according to individual student needs
• Experience working with students from a diverse range of backgrounds, with a solid understanding of inclusive design in service development.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across other departments and teams.

Desirable requirements:

• Experience in leading dispersed or remote teams is desirable.

Why Arden:

At Arden, you will become a part of a passionate and dedicated team who are committed to removing unnecessary barriers to learning and making education more accessible. Our people work hard to ensure our students journeys are the best they can possibly be, as such we want to reward our people with fantastic benefits. Employees benefit from:

• 30 days holiday + bank holidays on-top, and even a Christmas closure!
• A generous Aviva pension plan, company contributions starting from 7%
• SimplyHealth plan option
• Private Medical Insurance coverage (applies to certain job roles)
• Access to Perkbox benefits
• Study any Arden course for free, with a discount for all family and friends
• Plus, otherexcellent benefits
• Our ‘Golden Ticket’ which allows you to gift anyone in your life a free Arden education
  

Our Values:

Stand out, Progressive, Accessible, Resourceful, Kindness,reflect who we are as an institution, a team and as individuals. If they also reflect you and you are excited by the chance to be the driving, creative force within a growing business, we want to hear from you.

There has never been a more exciting time to join Arden University, as we expand into new disciplines and locations.

Closing Date:Wednesday 4th June

We reserve the right to close this vacancy before the specified closing date should we receive sufficient applications or in order to respond to business needs. In order to avoid missing an opportunity to apply please submit your application as early as possible.

If you are a current Arden student or have an upcoming course with us, you are not eligible to apply for Student Experience roles due to a conflict of interest related to system access.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion:

Arden University is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. This means that if you have a disability, as defined by the Disability Equality Act 2010, you may be guaranteed an interview if you meet the essential criteria for the role.

If you wish to be considered under this scheme, you can indicate via the application form below. By doing so, you are also consenting for this information to be shared with the hiring team. For more details on what qualifies as a disability under the Disability Equality Act 2010, please refer tothe guidancehere.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. Therefore, we make sure that our recruitment and selection processes never discriminate based upon people's age, disability, gender, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or other personal circumstances, and actively welcome applications from all groups.

Sponsorship statement:

Please be aware that some roles may not meet the points requirement for a sponsored Skilled Worker visa under the points-based immigration system. However, we welcome applications from candidates who do not currently have the right to work in the UK but may be eligible for a visa through an alternative route.