Director, WCL.

Janice Shiner CB has worked at the most senior levels within the public sector in the United Kingdom and New Zealand leading sector and organisational reform. She is currently advising the Bahrain government on higher education and working with a large Maori tertiary organisation in New Zealand.

As well as being on the Board of a consultancy firm specialising in advising central government in the UK, she is the Chair of the National Youth Agency, a major charity spearheading the role of youth work, and a research associate for the UK Commission on Employment and Skills.

In the three years to August 2008 Janice was Chief Executive of the Tertiary Education Commission, Wellington, New Zealand. The Tertiary Education Commission is responsible for the planning and funding of all post-compulsory education in the New Zealand and is the primary source of policy advice on tertiary education to the government.

Before moving to New Zealand, Janice was Director General of Lifelong Learning at the UK Department of Education and Skills responsible for all post-school education including higher education. Prior to joining the Department, Janice was Principal of Leicester College, a vocational education and training institution with over 25,000 students and led the merger of two large further education colleges to establish the new college. Before that, Janice was Director of Education and Policy at the Further Education Funding Council (FEFC) and led much of the policy work on mergers, capital and quality. Her earlier work with the FEFC as a senior inspector involved the establishment of the first inspectorate for post-secondary education.

Janice started her career in the private sector in organisational development and HR. She has held posts such as Vice President, HR Chase Manhattan Bank, HR posts in WH Smiths, and a range of posts in advertising and communications.