Requisition ID: 25818
Location:
Newcastle, GB
Contract Type: Open Ended
Working Pattern: Full Time
Posted Date: 9 Aug 2023
Salary: £44,414 to £47,047 with progression to £52,841 per annum
Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.
Closing Date: 07 September 2023
The Role
The Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering is seeking an exceptional individual to become Deputy School Manager (Education) and join the School Natural and Environmental Sciences’ (SNES) senior Professional Services management team. This is an exciting and challenging role, and you will be responsible for leading School education services with senior level responsibility for the development of an environment to enable high quality education, research and engagement.
The School has a large Education portfolio and the successful candidate would have professional responsibility for our portfolio, working closely with our Deputy Head of School and Director of Education. The Education portfolio comprises of:
- 1700 Undergraduates across five core disciplines (with some 30 programmes, 244 active modules)
- 150 Postgraduate taught students across five core disciplines
- 320 Postgraduate research students across five core disciplines
The School has a large academic base, with 130 academic colleagues across our disciples of Biology, Zoology, Chemistry, Agriculture, Marine Sciences, Animal Sciences and Environmental Sciences.
You would be responsible for the entire student lifecycle, and work closely with our colleagues across the University in services such as Marketing, Student Health and Wellbeing, International Office and Academic Services. The role directly line manages two colleagues, with a further fourteen colleagues reporting through these roles.
You will inspire, lead and develop teams, having overall responsibility for ensuring all the School’s activities relating to education are carried out effectively and with a commitment to enhanced efficiency and quality. This includes building and leading relationships with key business partners across the Faculty and University and working in alignment with the Deputy School Manager (Operations) to support excellent service delivery and a ‘One School’ culture. You will be a member of the Faculty Education community, working closely with other leaders and teams, sharing good practice and supporting consistent approaches.
We are looking for a proactive, innovative and highly organised individual, with evidence of successful development and implementation of policy, procedure and change processes. To be highly successful, you will have a strong commitment to sharing best practice in a culture of continuous improvement, in addition to excellent interpersonal skills. You will have demonstrable experience of building effective working relationships with academic and professional service stakeholders and senior management. You will be a graduate (or equivalent) with significant experience of working in a research or education environment, with a thorough knowledge and understanding of quality assurance and enhancement standards and practice in Higher Education institutions.
If this is you, reach out to Tom Harding, Head of School Operations (and line manager) via email: tom.harding@newcastle.ac.uk
To apply, please upload a CV and cover letter outlining your experience and suitability for the role. Please ensure your cover letter is no longer than 3 pages and your CV is no longer than a further 3 pages.
For more information about the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences please click here.
Key Accountabilities
• To provide strategic support to the School Executive Board in the delivery of the Education for Life Strategy, working closely with the School Manager, the Director of Education (DoEd) and the Director of Postgraduate Research (DPGR) and their academics teams
• To work in alignment with the Deputy School Manager (Operations), as well as with other Faculty/University managers and teams; together supporting a ‘one team’ culture to deliver together the work of the professional services team
• To lead, manage and develop a large and diverse Education support team with responsibilities including admissions, learning, teaching, assessment, quality assurance and enhancement as well as the overarching student experience. The postholder will promote a culture of continuous improvement in a growing and evolving School, and will have responsibilities including staff recruitment, induction, training, performance management and Performance Development Review (PDR)
• To ensure that the School has highly effective and efficient education policies and procedures for undergraduate, postgraduate taught, postgraduate research and CPD (continuing professional development) programmes, that conform to Faculty and University regulations. The postholder will need to liaise with appropriate University colleagues and teams in order to design and deliver these effectively, for example the University timetabling service, careers service etc
• To manage and oversee internal and external Quality Assurance processes including government framework submissions, subject reviews, degree programme reviews, module and programme evaluation, and action relating to external industry and professional accrediting body advice. To be the administrative lead for professional accreditation arrangements in the School working in partnership with the School academic leads
• To provide accurate and timely management information to the DoEd, DPGR and School Executive Board as planned and/or required, ensuring that all internal and external deadlines are adhered to and that action plans (e.g. National Student Survey action plan) are fully evidence based
• To be responsible for student number planning and subsequent recruitment activity, ensuring realistic and accurate targets are agreed with the School Executive Board and fed into School budgeting, forecasting and student recruitment events etc
• To work with academic leads to coordinate and implement student experience strategy and plans, including, but not limited to, pastoral care, complaints, Personal Extenuating Circumstances (PEC) processes etc
• To lead on and/or design major projects as appropriate, including linking in with other University campuses where needed, to deliver Faculty or University plans and objectives
• To represent the School as a lead or participating member on relevant Faculty and University Committees, Working Groups, Task and Finish Groups etc
• Any other duties within the scope and general nature of the grade which may be required
The Person (Essential)
Knowledge, Skills and Experience
• Demonstrable significant experience of working in an education environment in a HEI
• Demonstrable significant experience of managing and developing a team of staff
• Experience of effectively line managing teams based in multiple locations
• Thorough knowledge and understanding of the University’s Policies, Procedures and Regulations
• Knowledge and understanding of Quality Assurance and Enhancement standards and practices in HEIs
• An ability to assess and analyse problems and suggest solutions; make informed decisions and take responsibility; be innovative, use initiative and work independently
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to tailor communication style to the audience
• Excellent planning and organising skills with the ability to manage conflicting priorities
• Ability work well within a team and develop effective working relationships with a wide range of colleagues
• Self-confidence in advising senior colleagues on matters of policy and procedure
• Must be pro-active and have a ‘can-do’ approach with the ability to be decisive and take action when required
• Experience of coordinating, managing and chairing complex meetings with a wide range of stakeholders contributing to decision making through committee membership
• Understanding of the challenges and opportunities for the science, agriculture and engineering disciplines
Attributes and Behaviour
Thinking Strategically
• Has the ability to see the “big picture”, to think strategically and to manage complex problems and issues
• Recognises and analyses the dynamics of problems and issues
• Understands and makes sense of complex or conflicting data and different perspectives of stakeholders and University areas/faculties/etc
• Identifies key issues in own work
Communicating
• Uses clear, concise and accurate communication, tailoring the approach accordingly and encouraging a two way communication process
• Encourages and supports a free flow of communication and information across own area, and the wider University where appropriate
• Understands how best to appeal to the other person/group, correctly interpreting the right way to approach a situation
• Uses visual and verbal presentation to add impact
• Plans communication methods to add impact to messages
Influencing
• Persuades, convinces, and influences others in order to achieve results and gain support
• Explains how own proposals will support the interests of others (i.e. using win-win strategies)
• Has a keen sense of timing; seizes opportunities
Planning and Organising
• Manages time and resources by prioritising and organising effectively
• Sets own priorities in conjunction with team and area objectives
• Plans workload and tasks in a systematic way
• Ensures that all activities are completed on time
• Uses systems and tools to ensure records and audit trails are clear and up to date
• Ensures that others know how process and systems work.
• Identifies quickly what is important and prioritises accordingly
• Maintains flexibility in work plans to allow for changing circumstances
Qualifications
• Degree or equivalent level qualification, plus substantial experience in a similar role or significant vocational experience, demonstrating development through progressively more demanding, relevant roles
Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.
We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.
At Newcastle University we hold a silver Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.
In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.
Requisition ID: 25818
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