As Director of Human Resources, Rashmi Patel has strategic leadership for HR including HR Resourcing and Business Support, Leadership and Organisational Development, Employee Relations and HR Policy, Payroll and Pensions and HR Systems, Management Information and Systems.

Responsible to the Vice-Chancellor, Rashmi is a member of the Strategic Executive Team and strategic lead for equality, diversity and inclusion at Chester with responsibility for the delivery of all aspects of its people strategy across multiple campuses, encompassing all aspects of staff support and wellbeing.

Rashmi also holds an active post at Lancaster University where she has worked since March 2020, as Interim Deputy Director of HR (Projects) and more latterly as Interim Head of Inclusion with the People and Organisational Effectiveness team largely supporting the University race equality work.

Rashmi has worked in further and higher education for over 30 years and has wide ranging knowledge and experience of working in the education sector through the various roles and responsibilities that she has held over the years. She is passionate about promoting cultural change, equality and inclusion and wellbeing through collaborative working and employee engagement across the University.

Rashmi is a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and also holds a number of non-executive roles:

- Elected Parent Governor, Jesse Gray School, Nottingham since 2014 where she Chairs the Resources Committee and Appraisal Governor
- Trustee of Oakham School in Rutland, 2017 to date

At national level, she is an active member of networks, including Advance HE, Universities Human Resources (UHR, the professional organisation for Human Resources practitioners in the United Kingdom and Eire universities).