Chief Information Officer
University of Brighton

United Kingdom

The University of Brighton is a community of over 17,000 students and 2,000 staff. We were awarded a TEF Silver for our teaching quality rating and a strong research record, factors which contribute to our reputation as a leading modern university.

We are a thriving, multi-campus coastal university delivering innovative career-focused courses at undergraduate and postgraduate degree level and our research and teaching transforms lives and benefits communities worldwide. The university offers a wide range of jobs in both academic and support roles, with competitive salaries and flexible working opportunities.

Our strategy, Distinctively Brighton 2035, provides a bold vision and clear direction towards a university that is both radically transformed and radically relevant. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine what universities can be and what they are for.

Dear candidate,
Thank you for your interest in joining the University of Brighton as our new Chief Information Officer.
This is a pivotal moment for Brighton. Our strategy, Distinctively Brighton 2035, sets out an ambitious vision for a University that is both radically transformed and radically relevant. By 2035, we want to be the first-choice university for enterprise and equity, delivering transformational impact for our students, our organisation and the communities we serve.
At the heart of that strategy is what we describe as our “North Star”. It challenges us to achieve three things simultaneously: to be distinctive and attractive; to deliver equitable and excellent outcomes; and to ensure that what we do is affordable and sustainable to deliver.
Getting there will require more than incremental improvement. We need to be prepared to challenge established ways of working, make choices about where we focus our resources and find genuinely different ways to deliver our mission. We often describe that challenge internally as “different with less”.
From my perspective as COO, technology is fundamental to making that possible.
That is why the appointment of our new CIO is so important. I am not looking simply for someone to run the University's technology estate, although delivering secure, resilient and high-quality services is an essential foundation. I am looking for a strategic partner who can help us rethink how Brighton works.
Technology, digital platforms, data and increasingly AI give us an extraordinary opportunity to redesign how we deliver education, research and knowledge exchange; how our professional services operate; and how our students and staff experience the University. The challenge for our CIO will be to turn that potential into meaningful, practical change.
Reporting directly to me and operating as an influential member of our senior leadership community, you will work closely with the University Executive Board and our governing committees. You will lead a team of around 100 colleagues, with an operating budget of approximately £12m, spanning IT services, learning technology and innovation, information security and wider digital capability. You will have the opportunity to review our structures and ways of working, modernise our infrastructure and enterprise systems, and make the case for investment where it can demonstrably enable our strategic ambitions.
There is an important tension within that brief, and I want to be open about it. We need to invest intelligently in our digital future while operating within a financial environment that demands greater efficiency. I do not see those things as contradictory. In fact, the opportunity is to use technology to help solve that challenge: simplifying processes, removing duplication, automating intelligently, making better use of data and creating services that are both more effective and more sustainable.
Equity is equally fundamental to our thinking. Distinctively Brighton 2035 is explicit about our ambition for equitable and excellent outcomes, and digital transformation must help us get there. The role therefore has a particular mandate to explore how data, AI and technology can help us understand and ultimately eliminate differential student outcomes across different demographic groups and characteristics. That is a powerful challenge and one that places our digital agenda directly alongside our academic and social purpose.
None of this can be achieved by technology colleagues working in isolation. We want our CIO to be visible across the University: listening to students and staff, building trust with academic and professional services colleagues, understanding where the frustrations and opportunities really sit, and then working with people to co-create solutions. The role needs to build a culture of experimentation and continuous improvement while ensuring that cybersecurity, resilience, governance and service excellence remain uncompromising foundations.
I am also deliberately open-minded about where our new CIO comes from. Higher education experience may bring valuable understanding of our environment, but it is not the only route to success here. We are interested in leaders who have delivered significant digital transformation within large, complex, multi-stakeholder organisations and who can bring different thinking, ideas and experience to Brighton. What matters is the ability to translate an ambitious digital vision into delivery, while understanding the culture and purpose of a university.
This is therefore much more than a technology leadership appointment. It sits at the intersection of institutional strategy, operational transformation and cultural change.
For the right person, I think that makes it an unusually exciting CIO opportunity. You will join Brighton with a new strategy, a largely new Executive leadership team and genuine permission to think differently. There is significant work to do, but also real scope to shape what comes next: to build a digitally empowered University that is simpler, smarter and more agile, while remaining true to our commitment to equity and the transformational power of education.
If you are excited by the prospect of challenging convention, grappling with difficult problems and using technology to fundamentally change what a university can do and how it does it, I would be delighted to hear from you.
Thank you for your interest in the University of Brighton. I very much look forward to learning more about you and the contribution you could make to our future.
With best wishes,
Tom Rowson
COO, University of Brighton
More than just an educational institution; we are a community dedicated to transforming lives and shaping futures – We are Distinctively Brighton.
The University has been part of the city of Brighton & Hove since 1859, starting as a school of art in the kitchens of the Royal Pavilion and growing to become today’s diverse and inclusive organisation. We have over 17,000 students and 2,000 staff studying and working at our campuses in Brighton and Eastbourne. The subjects taught here range from all the health professions to engineering, robotics, and computing; psychology and education to illustration, fine art, and fashion; and sport science to pharmacy, biomedicine, and genomics
Our strategy, Distinctively Brighton 2035, provides a bold vision and clear direction towards a university that is both radically transformed and radically relevant. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine what universities can be and what they are for.
Our transformation will ensure that we are not only financially sustainable, but that we reflect and serve the needs of our students, staff, communities and the world. More of the same will not deliver the change required by the university or the world in 2035. A disruptive approach is needed.
We take pride in being of, with and for Brighton & Hove and the region: working in partnership to forge an equitable future that impacts locally and globally impact in our local community and reaching out globally, based on our strong commitment to partnership working. The notion of global challenges runs throughout all our practices, alongside our core values of equity, courage, sustainability, creativity, and partnership, all of which shape how we work and operate.
Equity is our primary value. We are committed to developing and nurturing a diverse community that delivers equitable outcomes across all parts of our university activity, as well as supporting equity through the impact of our activities in local, national and international communities. We currently hold an institutional Athena Swan silver award, and our academic schools all hold bronze or silver awards. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award, and we were placed at number 14 in Stonewall’s Top 100 Employers List 2024 for leading LGBTQ+ inclusive employers.
In 2023, Brighton was rated ‘Outstanding’ for educational gain in the Teaching Excellence Framework – recognising the transformational impact we have on students’ lives. In REF21 more than 88% of our submitted research rated as having ‘outstanding’ or ‘very considerable’ impact beyond academia. We are in the top 50 universities in the UK (United Kingdom) for graduate prospects – 91.4% of our graduates are in work or further study (Complete University Guide 2024).
Click here to read the job description
All applications must include:
- A full curriculum vitae/resume
- Quoting the relevant role reference number: A041764
- A covering letter highlighting the aspects of the job description and The University of Brighton that particularly attract you to the post (Microsoft Word document)
- Contact details for three referees, these will not be contacted without your permission. (References should validate a minimum period of six years employment)
- A completed Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form (which you will be redirected to once you have submitted your application) *
Right to work checks
If you are successfully shortlisted, our partner, Yoti, will contact you to complete an online right to work check. This is a quick and secure process, ensuring that all necessary legal requirements are met before proceeding further in the recruitment process.
Monitoring
One of Alumni Global’s and the University of Brighton’s objectives is to ensure that its workforce is reflective of the local community and therefore we actively encourage applications from under-represented groups. So that we can successfully achieve these aims, while it is not mandatory we would encourage every applicant to complete the “Equal Opportunities Monitoring form” so that we can measure the effectiveness of our efforts. The Recruiting Manager does not have access to the Monitoring Information Sections of the application form at any stage of the process and the information provided will be kept entirely confidential.
For a confidential discussion on this role please contact:
Owen Francis, Director or Michael Earnshaw, Director of Research, whose details can be found at the bottom of this microsite.
Candidate adjustment
If you require any reasonable adjustments to be made as part of the recruitment process please can you advise us so that we can ensure this is accommodated.
Closing Date: 27th November 2026
Final Interviews: w/c 14th December 2026 - TBC
Please ensure you have made a note of the final interview date(s). We recommend that you bookmark this microsite, as any potential updates regarding the role will be posted online.