Colin Shipp, who will join Sussex in March 2023 as Director of Human Resources

The University of Sussex has appointed Colin Shipp as our next Director of Human Resources.

Colin is currently Director of Human Resources at Plymouth University, a role he has held since 2014 and is also on the Universities Human Resources (UHR) Executive and Chair of the South West UHR network.

He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (FCIPD) and has a BA (Hons) in Behaviour in Organisations.

Chief Operating Officer (COO) Tim Westlake said: “I am absolutely delighted with the appointment of Colin as our next Director of Human Resources. Colin has a wealth of experience, in both the public and private sectors, that will support the University in our aspiration to be an employer of choice and to deliver our People Strategy. I know Colin will bring a strong focus on process improvements to support all parts of the University, and that these will be underpinned by an inclusive, engaging and collaborative culture.”

At Plymouth Colin has played a major role in employee engagement and culture change, organisational development, reward, performance management, employee relations, equality, diversity and inclusion, programme/project change management, health, safety and wellbeing.

Colin will report to the COO and will be a member of the University Executive Group, and lead the HR Division to deliver an agile and responsive service.

Colin said: “I am very pleased to be joining Sussex as the next Director of HR. Sussex’s values really resonate with me and I am an outcome focused, values-based leader with significant experience in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

“It is evident that a lot of collaborative work has gone into creating the People Strategy, with input from the staff community, and that it is recognised and valued as a really important strategy to progress the positive work which is underway to support Sussex’s ambitions of being an employer of choice and creating a really inclusive campus.”

Peter Mitchell will continue as Interim Director of HR until Colin Shipp takes up his new position in March 2023.

Tim added: “My sincere thanks to Peter Mitchell for his continued work as interim Director of HR following the departure of Siobhan O’Reilly in August 2022. Peter has progressed a number of really important staff initiatives and worked closely with the campus trade unions to improve industrial relations at the University.”