Academic Quality and Enhancement Lead

Academic Quality and Enhancement Lead
Auckland
Permanent, Full Time



About Whitecliffe
Whitecliffe is a leading independent tertiary institution in New Zealand, renowned for delivering innovative, industry-connected education. With campuses in Auckland, Manukau, Wellington, and Christchurch, we pride ourselves on having teaching staff with extensive industry experience who support our graduates to turn creativity into a career.



About the role
We’re seeking an energetic, motivated, and relationship-focused Academic Quality and Enhancement Lead to play a key role in strengthening Whitecliffe’s academic quality systems, self-assessment capability, and continuous improvement culture. This role sits within Whitecliffe’s Academic Quality Assurance function and works in close partnership with the Quality Assurance Manager and academic leadership teams as part of an integrated institutional quality system. Working closely with the Chief Academic Officer, the role supports the ongoing development of an institution-wide culture of evidence-informed self-assessment, continuous improvement, and academic quality enhancement, aligned with regulatory requirements and institutional priorities. The Academic Quality and Enhancement Lead will report to the Chief Academic Officer and operates within a coordinated institutional quality framework, supporting both compliance and enhancement functions.
The Quality Assurance Manager retains responsibility for core compliance coordination, regulatory submissions, and operational QA system management, while this role focuses on enhancement, evaluative capability building, cross-institutional coordination, and strengthening reflective self-assessment practice across academic delivery areas. You will lead the coordination of institutional quality assurance and regulatory activities, including self-assessment, monitoring, reporting, and external review preparation.
The role works collaboratively with academic leaders and teaching teams to strengthen reflective self-review practices, support meaningful use of academic quality data, and embed sustainable quality enhancement approaches across the institution. You will contribute to the ongoing development of Whitecliffe’s academic quality systems, governance practices, evaluative capability, and institutional self-assessment culture. A key purpose of this role is to increase institutional capacity within academic quality assurance and enhancement functions, ensuring timely coordination of QA processes, improved responsiveness to regulatory requirements, and more consistent support for academic teams.

What you will bring

• Demonstrated experience in academic quality assurance, self-assessment, or continuous improvement within higher education or a comparable regulated environment
  


• A relevant tertiary qualification in governance, education, administration, business, or a related discipline — or equivalent professional experience
  


• Good working knowledge of NZQA compliance requirements, including self-assessment, academic quality assurance, and evaluative practice
  


• Demonstrated understanding of contemporary tertiary quality assurance and self-assessment practice within the New Zealand context
  


• Understanding of compliance requirements and associated regulatory obligations (where applicable)
  


• Demonstrated ability to interpret and apply regulatory requirements in complex academic and governance contexts
  


• Experience supporting continuous improvement and quality enhancement initiatives within academic environments
  


• Ability to work collaboratively with academic leaders to strengthen evaluative capability and reflective self-review practice
  


• Ability to interpret and synthesise academic quality and performance data to support evidence-informed decision-making and improvement planning
  


• Understanding of outcomes-focused quality assurance approaches, including educational performance and learner success indicators
  


• Willingness to support course accreditation, re-accreditation, or provider registration processes within a higher education context
  


• Demonstrated project management capability, including planning, coordinating, and delivering complex tasks to deadline
  


• Ability to maintain Whitecliffe’s document management systems for governance, policy, compliance, and academic quality records, ensuring accessibility, version control, and audit readiness
  


• Demonstrated ability to build effective working relationships across academic and professional teams and support organisational change in a collegial manner
  


• A proactive, discreet, and collegial approach — with a willingness to assist across a range of tasks

As Whitecliffe continues to strengthen and mature its academic quality and evaluative practices, this role will play an important part in supporting the long-term development of sustainable systems, institutional capability, and collaborative quality leadership across the organisation. This is an opportunity to make a real difference — contributing directly to academic quality enhancement, institutional capability-building, and regulatory readiness.