Helen Fairfoul

Helen Fairfoul has been on the Board of Northumbria University since March 2020, and is Chair of its Employment and Finance Committee.

Helen is the former Chief Executive of the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA), having been in that role from 2012 until February 2020. She was also Deputy CEO at UCEA from 2007. In this role Helen has contributed at a sector-level on employment and employee relations, nationally and internationally, including working extensively with trade union representatives.

Prior to working at UCEA Helen has held various lead roles as a Human Resources specialist. She was HR Director at the University of Roehampton, where she also spent three years as Clerk to the University Council, and Director of Personnel at the London Borough of Greenwich. Helen began her career in local government, joining the Inner London Education Authority and undertaking roles there ranging from teacher recruitment to school governance.

Helen has a degree in History and an MBA. She is also a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development and an Honorary Fellow of the Institute for Employment Studies.