Chief Executive Officer
Lancaster University Students’ Union’s (LUSU) goal is for students to have a fulfilling time at university. LUSU inspires, supports, and empowers its members to succeed academically and engage in the communities on campus, in the region, and around the world, so they thrive now and in their future.
Following a period of change, LUSU were looking for a Chief Executive to provide collaborative and agile strategic leadership that would enable a powerful voice for their students. The Chief Executive would work closely with student officers, staff and Lancaster University to develop the Union and implement a strategy determined by students. They would also ensure LUSU’s commercial opportunities were maximised, its finances were stable, and would develop a culture of ideas, innovation and entrepreneurialism.
We developed our search working with a recruitment panel of both LUSU and University stakeholders. From our local and national targeted approach, eight candidates were initially long-listed with four of these candidates progressing to interviews and meetings with a cohort of students, members of the Executive Committee and the President.
Misbah Ashraf, formerly Interim CEO at LUSU, was appointed to the role. Misbah bought extensive experience of working within the student union sector, of managing business continuity through the pandemic and of building solid relationships with a breadth of stakeholders following a period of upheaval. She holds a Masters in English Literature, Culture & Modernity and has undertaken leadership and governance development training.