Alternative and academic-adjacent careers in higher education

Discover alternative roles and professional services in higher education institutions.

While academic roles might be the most visible positions within universities, there are a huge range of roles in higher education institutions, mainly within the wider research infrastructure and professional services. Universities are typically very large institutions, employing thousands of staff members across diverse areas. You have lots of options to remain working within a university environment, even if you don’t wish to continue in an academic research or lecturing role.

Alternative roles in universities

Jobs.ac.uk provide the following examples of key professional services in higher education:

• Administration and management
• Student Support services
• Finance and accounting
• Research administration (we have additional advice on research management careers)
• Marketing and communications
• Information technology (IT)
• Human resources
• Facilities management
• Academic / education developers

Your research degree can help you gain entry to these roles, just as much as it can for academic roles. Your research degree subject might relate to a professional services role specifically, for example in human resources, marketing or finance and accounting. The highly developed transferable skills you have developed through your research degree, as well as your in-depth knowledge of working in a higher education environment, could also give you the competitive edge, as well as any relevant work experience you have had outside of academia.

If you’re not sure if one of these alternative roles would suit you, consider speaking to professional services staff across Cardiff University or using the staff intranet to find out more about different departments. You might also contact specific departments of interest directly to arrange an informal period of work experience, such as shadowing.

You can search for these types of roles in universities on the following websites:

• Vacancy pages on websites of specific universities
• Jobs.ac.uk (you can filter by role type)
• The Guardian Jobs
• Times Higher Education Jobs

Additional roles in the wider sector

You can also still work within the higher education sector more broadly without working for a university. There are a variety of organisations, from charities to policy bodies, think-tanks and governmental departments that work in higher education funding, governance and policy. Examples include Medr, the Higher Education Policy Institute, Office for Students and research councils, as well as trade unions like the University and College Union.