Chief Operating Officer

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) leads a collaborative programme of strategy delivery across the University to underpin institutional growth and efficiency across our education, research and professional service portfolios. The COO line manages the Directors of Estates & Development, Finance, Marketing & Communications, Academic Registrar and the Chief Information Officer.  

Mark carries out this role and retains his responsibilities as Director of Research, Innovation & Engagement.

Mark graduated with a BSc and PhD in Biological Sciences from Lancaster University, where he was a member of staff from 1997 to 2014.  During his time at Lancaster Mark developed a number of major programmes of collaboration with business, including new capital investment to support university-business collaboration, a Centre for Global Eco-innovation in the Northwest of England and a major new international partnership with the Guangdong Department for Science & Technology.  Mark moved to Keele University in 2014 initially as Director of Engagement & Partnerships and then as Director of Research, Innovation & Engagement.  Over the last four years he has led teams to develop and deliver a number of major cross-institutional projects at Keele. These include new approaches to business and regional engagement; research and REF support; degree-level apprenticeship provision; employability & employer engagement; alumni & supporter engagement; and most recently, a financial sustainability plan and a series of strategic projects focusing on cost reduction, efficiency and growth. Mark has led university-wide collaborations across professional and academic teams to secure over £32m in external investment in research and business engagement infrastructure, including Europe's first Smart Energy Network Demonstrator & the Denise Coates Foundation Building: a new home for Keele Business School and new facilities for university-business collaboration.  

Mark was part of the first cohort of those undertaking the the Entrepreneurial University Leadership Programme at Oxford University in 2009 and is a Fellow of the Charted Management Institute. 

Mark became Chief Operating Officer at Keele University on 1 October 2019.