Emma Potts

The University has appointed Emma Potts as Interim Chief Operating Officer and University Secretary from Monday 5 February 2024. 

Emma is well known to many across the University, having served in senior interim roles at Sussex between 2020 and 2023, including as Interim Deputy Chief Operating Officer and Deputy University Secretary, and as Interim Director of Research and Enterprise Services.  

Since leaving Sussex in 2023 Emma has been Interim University Secretary at Cardiff Metropolitan University. Before coming to Sussex in 2020, she was Chief Operating Officer and University Secretary at the University of Buckingham. Prior to that she was Academic Registrar and Director of Student Administration and Services at the University of Oxford, as well as working for a number of years in academic registry roles at University College London.  

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sasha Roseneil, said, “I am looking forward to welcoming Emma back to Sussex. She will provide excellent leadership as we look to make permanent appointments to the Chief Operating Officer and University Secretary roles."

From 5 February, the Director of HR, Colin Shipp, and General Counsel and Director of Governance and Compliance, Laila El Baradei, will report directly to the Vice-Chancellor. This new arrangement will continue once a permanent Chief Operating Officer and University Secretary is in place. 

Emma Potts’ appointment follows the arrival, on Monday 29 January, of Jacinda Humphry, the University’s new Chief Financial Officer. Jacinda joins Sussex from the civil service, where she had been Finance and Commercial Director at the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport since 2019. She replaces Allan Spencer who has stepped down from the role of Director of Finance after 18 years. Allan moves into a new part-time role for the next 18 months as Executive Director (Special Capital Projects), leading on the major projects for which he is currently responsible (the Network Replacement Project, the Sustainability programme, and the West Slope development).  

The Vice-Chancellor said, “I would like to warmly welcome Jacinda and I want to express my enormous personal thanks to Allan for his exceptional service to the University over so many years, and I am delighted that we will continue to benefit from his enormous experience and commitment on these vital projects.”