Doug supports universities and colleges in enhancing curriculum design, learning and teaching, employability, and student success. His work focuses on embedding learning architecture into central quality assurance processes, aligning provision with research, employer, and regional priorities, and supporting staff in implementing change in practice. He brings extensive experience in large scale employability reviews, curriculum transformation, quality assurance, and exploring the effective use of digital and AI-enabled approaches to support all learners and educators.
Doug was previously the Associate Director (Academic) at Nottingham Trent University, where he led institution wide curriculum and learning approaches to employability and student success. Additionally, as former Head of Academic Practice at Advance HE, Doug worked nationally and internationally with universities. Some of his earlier roles include leading institutional change programmes to enhance curriculum design, validation and revalidation at Northumbria University and Buckinghamshire New University, respectively. He was also a Senior Lecturer and Course Leader at Buckinghamshire New University, as well as possessing extensive consultancy experience, including with the Open University, University of Derby, and the Ministry of Education in Bahrain.
How has Doug recently helped institutions?
- Department for Education–funded LSIP project creating bespoke learning and teaching resources supporting colleges across the North East to embed essential skills aligned to priority industry sectors.
- Institution-wide curriculum design and employability framework implementation at Buckinghamshire New University and Northumbria University.
- Development of the first national Embedding Employability in the Curriculum framework with Advance HE. Over 13 years of experience contextualising these core principles in practice with a range of institutions.
- Leading the learning architecture for an AI-enabled job-readiness tool supporting international students to secure visa-sponsored employment (www.setlwork.com ).
Doug has lived and worked in five different countries throughout his career. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his family, exploring the Northeast where they live, and walking their dogs on the beach!