Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Finance and Systems
King’s College London Students’ Union (KCLSU) is one of the largest Students’ Unions in the UK and, together with their members, is a union of students where individuals connect, have fun, build communities, share experiences, and make change. KCLSU makes sure every King’s student has the best student experience possible. KCLSU use their staff team of 225, their turnover of £11 million and five London campuses to ensure every student at King’s has the best experience possible for their 48,000 students.
Following placing both the Chief Executive, previous Directors and Lay Trustees for KCLSU, Prospectus were delighted to work with KCLSU again on these two critical roles as they embarked on their new strategy.
The Deputy Chief Executive would lead student facing services to ensure the best support and facilities for members and a growth in profitability across the commercial spaces. We specifically sought leaders with commercial experience and a track record of delivering quality and profitable services.
The Director of Finance and Systems would lead the Finance, IT and Spaces teams, maximising efficiencies and developing the finance strategy. We sought out qualified accountants, with senior level financial planning and efficiency experience.
For both roles, we were keen to cast the net outside of the student union sector.
Appointments
Sam Cooper, appointed to the Deputy Chief Executive role, bought a track record of commercial leadership and growth across a range of visitor and heritage attractions, from museums to heritage sites and most recently Temple Church. Across multiple unique businesses, Sam had developed effective teams within retail, catering, events and attraction marketing.
With extensive experience in education, complex organisations and visitor attractions, as well as Non Executive Director experience, Mark Turtle bought fantastic senior experience to the Director of Finance and Systems role, as well as an accountancy qualification.
Denis Shukur, KCLSU’s Chief Executive Officer, had this to say: “Working with Prospectus has been a highly positive experience. Their understanding of our organisation’s unique needs, coupled with a tailored recruitment process, has helped us secure exceptional candidates for senior roles. The professionalism and responsiveness of the team were instrumental in ensuring we found the right fit, which has had a substantial impact on KCLSU. I couldn’t recommend them more highly.”