Harper Adams is the University for food production and technology, animal health and wellbeing, and their contribution to sustainable, living environments. In 2026, we are celebrating 125 years since our foundation. More ambitious than ever, we are ranked 87th in the world for Agriculture and Forestry in the QS World University Rankings 2026 and among the UK’s top 40 institutions in the Complete University Guide 2027.

We are creating a new Faculty of Agriculture, Land, Property and Environment, comprising three Schools: Agriculture; Environment; and Land and Property Management. We are seeking its first Dean to bring these disciplines together and shape their next stage of development from an unusually strong foundation in sustainable agriculture, food security, supply chain management, land management and environmental sciences.

This is not a role concerned with keeping a successful Faculty operating smoothly. Traditional rural student populations are changing, while the importance of food production, land use, environmental sustainability and natural resources continues to increase. The Dean will improve and extend our student offer, reach new audiences and make Harper Adams’ expertise more accessible through flexible, online, hybrid and employer-based learning.

Our research platform is formidable. Harper Adams has climbed more than 100 places in the QS subject rankings in less than five years. Our Future Farm, specialist facilities, research centres and partnerships provide an environment in which ideas can be developed, tested and translated into practice.

We are seeking a strategic academic leader with the imagination to identify what is possible and the practical leadership to make it happen. You will bring significant senior leadership experience and evidence of leading people, strategy, transformation and delivery. You will understand the academic and professional worlds represented within the Faculty without assuming that its future should look like the past.

Reporting to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, you will join the Vice-Chancellor’s Delivery Board and play a central role in the future of Harper Adams.

The deadline for receipt of applications is midnight on Monday 21st December 2026.

Please send applications to harperadams@networkedpeople.com.

Applications must include a full CV and a letter of application setting out your interest in the role and details of how your knowledge, skills and experience match the person specification (no more than two pages).