Principal & Chief Executive Recruitment

DGC is a rural community College which operates across two campuses in the South West of Scotland with the main site in Dumfries on the Crichton Campus and the second serving west of the region in Stranraer. 

As one of the highest-performing colleges in Scotland, our strategy – Mission 2030, is our commitment to ensuring that our college continues to remain at the forefront of education and skills in a rapidly changing world, supporting opportunities for all and providing the skills for our regional economy to grow.

We recognise the importance of the contribution we play in allowing the strengths and opportunities within our region to flourish and together, with partners, our mission is to build opportunity and growth for our region, community and beyond.

Our Vision is to unleash potential, change lives and shape futures. 

Our key priorities are:

• Future skills – Our Students
• Our Future Workforce – Our People
• Future Education – Our learning
• Future Growth – Our Partners

We foster a culture of continuous learning and professional development, embracing digital skills for productivity and agility, and promoting data literacy for informed decision-making.

Our core values which drive our actions within the college are:

• Here for you
• Act with courage
• Deliver our promises
• Uniting to succeed

We are one of the main employers and providers of learning and training across the South of Scotland, with programmes ranging from senior-phase school partnerships to higher education at degree level.  The area we serve covers 2,400 square miles with all the opportunities and challenges that brings. We are the largest provider on the multi-institutional Crichton Campus and have strong partnerships with the University of the West of Scotland, the University of Glasgow, the Open University and Scotland’s Rural College. This unique partnership extends beyond collaborative curriculum planning and effective articulation agreements; the college also hosts a number of shared services in our modern Dumfries building, including the Campus library.

The college has focussed its curriculum provision on Health and Social Care, Enterprise, Renewables, Digital whilst maintaining a broad regional curriculum to promote access and pathways to study or employment.  We are proud of our achievements and are one of Scotland’s top colleges for student satisfaction and student attainment.

Curriculum offer

In 2023/24:

• We delivered to 912 full time and 3090 part time students who studied at SCQF levels 1 to 11. 
• Our student satisfaction identifies that 97% of our further education and 95% of our higher education students indicated that they were satisfied with their college experience. 
• Our students rated us 4.5 out of 5.
• In our recent student leaver destinations (2021/22) 96% of our students go into positive destinations, 31% into employment and 65% into further study, and 66% of students from SIMD10 deprived areas gained their qualification. 

We have 6 Curriculum Areas within the College –

• Engineering and Renewable Transport
• Business, Enterprise, Digital Technology and Creative Industries
• Digital Health, Social Care, Sport and Fitness
• Lifestyle: Hair, Beauty and Hospitality
• Sustainable Construction
• Childhood Education, Supported Learning and Employability

We are a multi-award winning successful college that delivers professional, technical and vocational education and training across a wide range of employment sectors from introductory through to advanced level study, including Modern and Foundation Apprenticeships.  We also provide many commercial industry-based training courses for businesses in Dumfries and Galloway and beyond.

We have developed in collaboration with the University of the West of Scotland unique degree provision in several key sectoral areas including business, cyber security and creative industries.  These degrees enable young people within the region to develop their skills and to continue to study either in person or online across Dumfries and Galloway.

An enhanced learner experience is achieved through shared services with the Universities of Glasgow and the University of the West of Scotland in the form of some shared building space, access to a gym and a library service available to all students from each institution.

The College’s campus in Stranraer has some 250 students who study a number of subject areas – early years, engineering, construction, supported programmes and hair and beauty.  It has some key partners based on the site – Skills Development Scotland careers service and Better Lives Partnership who work with young people with disabilities.

The College’s approach to learning is a reflection of the rural locality, the local economy and the changing patterns of lifestyles. As a major employer and a dynamic rural learning institution, we have strongly embraced digital curriculum delivery and offer several qualifications entirely online or via hybrid study.

We are moving into an exciting stage of our development, building on the successes of the past and driving forward to continue being an outstanding regional college.

We are optimistic about our future and feel that through

• our strong partnership working with our learners, schools, employers and the wider community;
• our continued investments in staff, facilities and infrastructure,
• our investment in digital technology to improve access to learning and services and further enhance our commercial options;
• and the commitment and dedication of our staff, we will continue to be an ‘outstanding College’ and a sector leader.

To read more about how we intend to achieve our ambitions, please view the annual accounts, Regional Outcome Agreement, Ambition 2030 using the links below:

Ambition 2030

Regional Outcome Agreement

DGC Financial Statements

Education Scotland Report

As an innovative, creative and bold, solutions focused and visionary leader, the successful candidate will bring direct and relevant experience in curriculum development coupled with effective delivery against key strategic priorities demonstrated by a record of achievement in a senior leadership role.

It is imperative that the successful candidate demonstrates strong empathy with the College’s mission and ethos and can further develop them to bring real benefit to the communities which the College serves.

The successful candidate will demonstrate the following:

• Lead the development and implementation of our organisational strategy, successfully leading change and innovation, and delivering excellent outcomes.
• Strong leadership and people management skills with the ability to motivate staff and develop and maintain good working relationships, both internally and externally.
• Deliver the highest standards of learning and teaching whilst also ensuring the College’s curriculum is aligned to the current and future skills requirements and addresses the socioeconomic needs of its communities, supporting future economic growth.
• Extensive experience of building and developing effective stakeholder networks.
• A successful track record in financial accountability and governance working at Board level.
• Extensive experience in monitoring and evaluating performance, promoting and embedding a culture of both continuous improvement and quality enhancement.
• The ability to think analytically to probe propositions and identify clear outcomes to develop business opportunities.
• Relevant experience promoting a culture of performance management through a high standard of individual and team accountability and commitment to reflection, responsibility and excellence.
• Development of successful partnership working.

Salary: £106,000 – £120,733

Pension: Local Government or Scottish Teacher Superannuation Scheme

Holidays: 45 days leave, 14 of which are fixed

*A full summary of terms and conditions of service can be provided as appropriate.