University of Manchester Vice-Dean and Head of School Job 2026: Medical Sciences and Health Sciences

The University of Manchester is recruiting two senior leaders for its Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health (FBMH): a Vice-Dean and Head of the School of Medical Sciences, and a Vice-Dean and Head of the School of Health Sciences. Both jobs are permanent and full time, based on the Oxford Road campus in Manchester, England. No salary is published. The Times Higher Education (THE) Unijobs listing shows a closing date of 4 November 2026, while the advert text says 15 November 2026 at midnight, so I would treat 4 November as the real deadline.

You apply once, with a CV and a cover letter, through the university’s own jobs site (reference BMH-032454), and you say in the letter whether you want the Medical Sciences post, the Health Sciences post, or both. Below I explain what each Head of School does, who Manchester is looking for, how to build a letter for this kind of University of Manchester Vice-Dean job, and what the process looks like after you apply.

University of Manchester Vice-Dean and Head of School job: key facts

What a Vice-Dean and Head of School does at Manchester

Manchester runs its academic work through three faculties, and FBMH is the one that holds medicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, psychology and the biological sciences. FBMH has three schools: Biological Sciences, Medical Sciences and Health Sciences. Each school is led by a Head of School who also carries the title Vice-Dean, because the post sits on the Faculty’s senior team as well as running the school.

So the job is two things at once. You run a very large school, and you help run the Faculty. The advert describes the role in these terms:

• Set the school’s direction: give visible, inclusive, values-led leadership and set the school’s strategy.
• Deliver the university’s priorities: lead the school’s contribution to research, education, innovation, knowledge exchange, public engagement and social responsibility, under the university’s Manchester 2035 strategy.
• Work across boundaries: lead work across disciplines on health and societal problems that no single department can solve.
• Sit at the top table: join the Faculty Executive and the university’s extended leadership community, so you shape decisions beyond your own school.
• Lead change with operations: work with the Dean, Faculty colleagues and the Director of School Operations to align priorities and keep the school financially sustainable.
• Build partnerships: strengthen links with the NHS, the Greater Manchester health and care system, industry, government, civic bodies and other universities.

The reporting line is to the Faculty’s Vice-President and Dean. The advert does not state a term of office. Many UK universities appoint Heads of School for a fixed term while keeping the person’s permanent academic contract, but Manchester has not said how it handles this here, so ask in your informal conversation.

The two schools: Medical Sciences and Health Sciences

These are not small units. Manchester’s own page for the School of Medical Sciences says it has about 3,100 undergraduates, 1,200 postgraduates and 2,000 staff, and that it hosts the largest medical school in the UK. Its divisions, as listed on that page, are:

The School of Health Sciences covers the applied health disciplines, including nursing, and FBMH’s history explains why that matters: Manchester was the first British university to offer a nursing degree, and its medical school was the first in England outside London. I could not open Manchester’s Health Sciences structure page while checking this post, so read the Candidate Brochure for that school’s current divisions before you write about them.

Manchester’s Faculty Leadership page currently lists Professor Tony Heagerty as Head of Medical Sciences and Professor Andy Brass as Head of Health Sciences. One more fact affects anyone applying now. On 20 October 2026 the university announced that Professor Ashley Blom, the FBMH Vice-President and Dean, will leave to become Provost of the University of Melbourne in March 2027. The university said interim arrangements would follow and that it has started recruiting a new Dean. That means the new Heads of School will probably start under an interim Dean and then work with a new one. Ask about it on the informal call.

Requirements: who Manchester wants

The advert gives a person profile rather than a formal list of degrees. These are the qualities it names:

• Academic distinction: credibility as a scholar in a field the school covers.
• Strategic vision: the ability to set an ambition and deliver it.
• Change leadership: experience of leading change and building inclusive, high-performing cultures.
• Financial and operational leadership: strong financial, operational and organisational skills.
• Developing people: the ability to inspire, engage and develop colleagues and students.
• Partnership: a collaborative style and commitment to working with partners.

The advert also says the ideal person builds trust, helps others succeed and brings people together behind a shared ambition. Read the Candidate Brochure for the full criteria, because the advert tells you to address those criteria in your letter.

In practice, a Head of School at a research-intensive UK medical faculty is almost always a full professor with a doctorate, a strong grant record and previous senior leadership, such as Head of Division, Associate Dean or Director of a large institute. For the Medical Sciences post, a clinical academic background is common but the advert does not require it. For Health Sciences, leaders from nursing, allied health, psychology or health data science would all fit the profile. These points are my reading of the role, not stated requirements.

Salary for the University of Manchester Head of School job

Manchester does not publish a salary for either post. UK senior leadership roles like this are normally paid above the top of the national academic pay spine and agreed individually, so there is no official grade I can point you to. Some job aggregator sites show hourly “estimates” for this advert. Ignore them; they are machine guesses, not the university’s figure. Raise pay in your informal conversation or at offer stage.

Visa sponsorship

The advert says nothing about visa sponsorship. If you are not a UK or Irish citizen and do not already have the right to work in the UK, you would normally need a Skilled Worker visa sponsored by the employer. Large UK universities hold sponsor licences, but whether Manchester will sponsor this particular appointment is a question for the recruitment team. Ask before you invest weeks in an application.

How to apply for the University of Manchester Vice-Dean and Head of School job

1. Download the Candidate Brochure: it is linked from the job page on jobs.manchester.ac.uk (reference BMH-032454). It holds the full criteria you must address.
2. Decide which school: choose Medical Sciences, Health Sciences or both. You will state this in the letter.
3. Have an informal conversation: email Rosie Harmshaw at talent.attraction@manchester.ac.uk to arrange one. Use it to ask about salary, term of office, sponsorship and the Dean transition.
4. Write the CV: lead with leadership roles and their scale (staff, budget, students), then your research and education record.
5. Write the cover letter: address each criterion in the brochure with evidence, and name your school choice in the first paragraph.
6. Submit online: apply through the university’s jobs portal before 4 November 2026. Technical problems with the portal go to the portal’s job seeker support.
7. Ask for adjustments if needed: the university says it welcomes requests for reasonable adjustments at any stage.

How to write the cover letter

At this level the letter does most of the work. A structure that suits a Head of School application:

1. Opening: which post (or both), your current role and one line on why Manchester now.
2. Academic standing: a short paragraph on your research and education record, with numbers (grant income, major papers, programmes led).
3. Leadership evidence: two or three examples of change you led, each with the situation, what you did and the result.
4. Money and operations: budgets you managed, a hard decision you made, how you worked with a professional services lead.
5. People and culture: how you developed staff, improved inclusion or turned round a struggling team.
6. Partners: your work with the NHS or health services, industry and government. For a Manchester role, any experience of an integrated health and care system is worth spelling out.
7. First-year priorities: what you would do first in the school, tied to Manchester 2035.

A short sample opening, for illustration only: “I am applying for the post of Vice-Dean and Head of the School of Health Sciences. As Associate Dean for Research at [university], I led [number] departments through [specific change] and grew external research income from [figure] to [figure] over [period].”

What happens after you apply

Manchester has not published a full timetable on the THE listing. Copies of the same advert on job aggregator sites say panel interviews are planned for Monday 30 November, which fits a 4 November close. Confirm the date with the recruitment team. A senior UK academic appointment usually runs like this:

1. Longlisting: the recruitment team and panel assess applications against the brochure criteria.
2. Shortlist and stakeholder meetings: shortlisted candidates often meet school staff, students and Faculty leaders, and may give a short presentation on their vision for the school.
3. Panel interview: expect questions on strategy, finances, culture, NHS partnerships and how you would handle conflict between divisions.
4. Offer and references: references are usually taken up near the end. Senior academics often have long notice periods, so a start date in 2027 is likely.

Common mistakes

• Ignoring the date conflict: if you plan around 15 November and the portal closes on 4 November, your application is lost.
• Forgetting to name the school: the advert asks you to say which post you want. Put it in the first paragraph.
• A research CV with no leadership section: the panel is hiring a leader. Put leadership and its scale first.
• A letter that ignores money: financial and operational leadership is one of the named criteria.
• Not mentioning the NHS or partners: Manchester’s advert names the NHS and the Greater Manchester system directly.
• Skipping the informal call: it is the only way to learn about salary, sponsorship and the term of office before you apply.

Who should apply and who shouldn’t

Apply if you are a professor in medicine, dentistry, nursing, allied health, psychology or a related field, and you already lead a large division, department or institute with its own budget. It also suits current Associate Deans or Heads of School elsewhere who want a bigger remit. International candidates from strong medical faculties in Africa, Asia, Australia or North America can compete if their record is at this scale, and they should explain the size and structure of their current institution for a UK panel.

Think twice if you have never managed a budget or a large team, or if your leadership experience is limited to running a lab or a single programme. In that case a professorship or a research post is a better next step. If you are a student or early-career researcher, see our guides to the University of Manchester Global Futures Scholarship and the KWI International Fellowships.

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FAQs about the University of Manchester Vice-Dean job

What is the deadline for the University of Manchester Vice-Dean and Head of School job?

The THE listing says 4 November 2026 and the advert body says 15 November 2026 at midnight. Submit by 4 November unless the university confirms the later date to you in writing.

What is the salary for the Head of School post at Manchester?

The university has not published a salary. Ask during the informal conversation with the talent attraction team.

Can I apply for both the Medical Sciences and Health Sciences posts?

Yes. The advert asks you to say in your cover letter whether you want to be considered for one school or both.

Does the University of Manchester sponsor visas for this job?

The advert does not mention sponsorship. Ask Rosie Harmshaw at talent.attraction@manchester.ac.uk before you apply if you would need a UK work visa.

Sources and updates

I checked this post on 29 October 2026 against the Times Higher Education Unijobs listing 416228, which links to the university’s job page and Candidate Brochure. School figures and division heads come from the University of Manchester’s School of Medical Sciences page, current Heads of School from its Faculty Leadership page, and the Dean’s departure from the university’s news release of 20 October 2026. The interview date comes from aggregator copies of the advert and is not yet confirmed by the university. Manchester has not published a salary, a term of office or a visa policy for these posts. I will update this page if the closing date is confirmed or changed.

Jude Chinecherem

I am Jude Chinecherem, a final-year MBBS student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I know what it feels like to want an education your family cannot afford. When my parents could not pay for my schooling, I had to learn how to find scholarships and work the system out on my own, with nobody to guide me. I came out the other side, and now I share everything I learned so the next student does not have to figure it out alone. This is the advice I wish someone had given me back then.