Executive Director of Business and People Services
Stephen McAuliffe joined Royal Holloway, University of London as Executive Director of Business and People Services in June 2024. He was previously Deputy Registrar at the University of Nottingham and prior to that Academic Registrar at the University of Birmingham and the University of Essex. He started his higher education career as President of the Student Union at Canterbury Christ Church University after studying history and geography there, gaining both BA (Hons) and MSc awards. He went on to complete his MBA in Higher Education Management at the Institute of Education and is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute.
He has worked on numerous projects across digital and physical estate, held responsibility for major commercial services and led people change programmes; all viewed through the lens provided by his significant experience in academic operations. Having worked in research-intensive institutions for most of his career he also benefits from creative arts education gained as Head of Student Services at the Kent Institute of Art and Design and experience of local delivery as a school manager at the University of Kent.
He has served on a variety of sector bodies including the Academic Registrar’s Council and he currently serves as a governor of an FE college in Birmingham. He has a strong focus on improving student experience (and is proud to have received honorary life membership from the Student Guild at the University of Birmingham), and an interest in transnational education having spent many months staying in Malaysia whilst working for the University of Nottingham.
