Position Details
External Relations
Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
Full time starting salary is normally in the range £32,296 to £34,866 with potential progression once in post to £39,105
Grade: 6
Two positions available:
* 1x Full Time, Permanent
* 1x Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to February 2027
Closing date: 25th February 2025
Our Offer to You
People are at the heart of what we are and do. The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.
We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme, which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to develop your career at the University.
We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.
Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University, and we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. You will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high-quality subsidised day nurseries.
The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and has excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus, we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with a pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum, and botanical gardens.
Background
The University of Birmingham is one of the UK’s largest providers of distance learning and, as part of our Birmingham 2030 strategy, we are making a significant investment in the development of our online programme portfolio. UoB Online is an ambitious team within the University, comprised of both academic and professional services staff. The team supports the development and delivery of a portfolio of online programmes that make our world-leading teaching and research accessible to lifelong learners across the globe. We are looking to recruit an ambitious, collaborative and innovative individual who can significantly contribute to realising the University’s strategic goals.
Role Summary
This post is an exciting opportunity for an aspiring digital learning designer to play a key role in the design and development of an innovative portfolio of online degrees and CPD programmes. Working within a multidisciplinary digital learning design and development team, you will work closely with academic and professional services colleagues to deliver innovative learning experiences that draw upon the latest tools, technology and techniques.
With a strong interest in designing and developing high-quality learning resources and an eagerness to develop new skills and knowledge, you will use your initiative to help create engaging course content across a range of digital learning initiatives. You will build networks to help proactively identify and evaluate emerging best practices, taking opportunities to share insight and knowledge with colleagues across the university and help maintain our reputation as a market leader.
Main Duties
* Work in partnership with academic and professional services colleagues to help design and develop a range of innovative digital learning resources.
* Storyboard and/or wireframe courses as part of the shaping process.
* Help create digital learning materials (including video, graphics and interactive experiences) as required, maximising the value from all resources available.
* Build courses on appropriate digital learning platforms and ensure ongoing support.
* Contribute to project plans to achieve the desired outcomes.
* Maximise the learning opportunities that can be derived from the virtual and physical learning environments available.
* Explore opportunities to develop content using emerging tools and technologies.
* Proactively report changes in project scope and identify risks and mitigations.
* Implement and contribute to learning design and programme development frameworks.
* Identify and embrace opportunities for collaboration with other projects and initiatives across the University.
* Contribute to the development and implementation of style guides, quality standards and templates for consistent production across the university.
* Assist with the design and delivery of workshops and training courses as required.
* Identify patterns of usage to help inform future activity.
* Cultivate a network of relevant external contacts and resources to enable observation of trends in learning, teaching and wider digital innovations to contribute to horizon scanning, helping to inform the wider University strategy.
* Promote equality and value diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
* Work in an agile and flexible manner, supporting with resourcing needs across the unit as required.
* Undertake such other duties as may be required from time to time to further the work of the university.
Person Specification
* Values driven, aligning behaviour with the core University of Birmingham values; ambitious, innovative, open, collaborative, and responsible.
* Demonstrable experience of working within an educational or design-based environment.
* Ability to create and maintain digital resources – including graphics and video.
* A good understanding and experience of web technologies such as HTML5, CSS.
* A good understanding of and confidence with IT systems and multimedia content creation.
* A passion for developing great user experiences.
* Knowledge of how online content platforms and other associated systems could be used to support teaching and learning.
* Experience of collaborating with others in the development of content.
* Ability to evaluate and quickly learn new software tools.
* Experience of working as part of a team.
* Strong inter-personal and communication skills.
* Experience of estimating priorities to fulfil defined targets.
* The ability to interpret, analyse and present information.
* Experience of working between different departments, teams or organisations.
* Experience of fostering partnerships with stakeholders and colleagues to enable collaborative working in the area of technology-enhanced learning.
* The ability to prioritise, negotiate and use one’s own judgement when responding to enquiries from staff (often senior staff) and students.
* A commitment to delivering within a customer-driven environment.
Dimensions
Role Context
Roles at this level will require expertise and a detailed understanding of methods, systems and procedures in an administrative or professional area. You will either use specialist knowledge or have more of a planning/co-ordination/project role or a role which is supervisory in nature where you may manage a team doing similar kinds of work. You will have the opportunity to exercise a high degree of personal responsibility and initiative which you will use to resolve queries; you will use your judgement to deal with unforeseen problems and circumstances, all with limited guidance/supervision.
Core Competencies/Transferable Skills
Working at this level you will be able to develop and successfully use the core competencies/transferable skills outlined in each of the areas shown below. As appropriate for the level, our Birmingham Professionals will take ownership for getting things done. You will be expected to be flexible as required in supporting your department and wider University.
Planning and Organising
* Prioritise and schedule work and resources to ensure on time and (where applicable) on budget delivery.
* Set priorities and quality standards for a wide range of tasks and duties.
* You may be required to manage a team of staff who are carrying out similar kinds of work.
* Contribute to written documents, for example guidelines internal to the area, taking account of audience.
* Operate with limited supervision as they will have considerable scope for initiative, within established work procedures.
Problem Solving and Decision Making
* Anticipate and identify issues in own area based on experience.
* Make appropriate suggestions for improvements and implement these when agreed in own area.
* Facilitate change, and articulate the implications and benefits of change to others.
* Focus on determining short-term priorities of work area, and how to maximise quality, efficiency and continuity.
Organisational Understanding
* Quickly develop an understanding of their working area and how it contributes to the success of the University.
* Display an interest in how the University operates beyond own working area; develop and share this knowledge with others.
Relationships and Communication
* Develop and maintain excellent working relationships in own area, and more widely as required for collaborative working opportunities.
* Communicate clearly and openly with others both within and external to the University, and use a range of communication skills and strategies to gain commitment to a course of action.
* Demonstrate collaborative working at all times, including with others outside the immediate work area.
Informal enquiries to Lotty Spells, email: c.spells@bham.ac.uk
View our staff values and behaviours here
We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website.
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