Description Position Details Academic Services Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK Full time starting salary is normally in the range £28,397 to £30,210, with potential progression once in post to £33,938 Grade: 5 Full Time, Permanent Closing date: 21st November 2024 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 be able 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, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, 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 there are 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 pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens. Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham Background This is an entry-level role into the Digital Education team at the University of Birmingham. In this role, you will support one of the University’s five Colleges deliver their digital education strategy through supporting academics in the use of digital tools to enhance their teaching practice. In addition, you will contribute to the University’s broader education framework through supporting digital education workstreams focused on specific areas, such as generative AI or producing online guidance. After successful completion of specific training and probation requirements over a twelve month period, this role has the potential, subject to evaluation, to progress to a Grade 6. Department Overview The UK Higher Education sector is changing in response to the shifts in the capacity, availability and opportunity offered by an ever-advancing range of digital technologies. The expectations of students and staff are changing continually, Technology-Integrated Learning is now an integral part of the overall student taught experience of their education. To meet its ambitions to be a place of transformative education, the University supports staff in all aspects of their teaching through departments based within our Libraries and Learning Resources division, in Academic Services. The Digital Education Officer post sits within the Digital Education Team, represented by a ‘Head of Digital Education’ for each of our 5 colleges in our Edgbaston campus. Role Summary To work as part of a multidisciplinary digital education team to address the university’s strategic ambition to expand its portfolio and develop its digital education capability through targeted investment and more effective use of existing resources. This role is considered as an entry point into a career path in Digital Education development and will incorporate a training plan accompanied by various continuous professional development opportunities to enable the successful applicant the potential opportunity to progress to more senior roles in Digital Education Development at the university. You will have the opportunity to gain a high degree of personal responsibility and initiative which you will use to resolve issues; you will use your judgement to deal with unforeseen problems and circumstances. You will gain insight and experience in Digital Education development to support potential progression to a Digital Education Developer role after successful completion of training and probation requirements. Department Structure Reporting to the College Head of Digital Education (or their nominee), you will be a member of the College Digital Education Team as well as the wider Digital Education community represented in the five main colleges within the university. Main Duties In order to support the delivery of the Digital learning strategy, you will be required to: Provide expert guidance and collaboration on the design of pedagogically-proven blended and online learning within the institution. Work independently and alongside other members of the Digital Education Team, to make best use of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) Canvas and other relevant tools (including, where appropriate, in the creation of online courses) by providing agreed support to academics, and administrators within the College. Support the creation of learning objects and course content as required (with input from subject staff). Collaborate with Digital Education Developers where appropriate, to develop high quality, innovative learning objects and activities to be used within college courses. Act as point of contact for 1st line support for VLE users within the College. Support the team inbox by ensuring that users receive responses within acceptable timescales. Take ownership of calls raised by analysing and diagnosing the problem, determining the appropriate course of action and solution, feeding back to VLE users with the College and monitoring and tracking calls through to resolution. Work collaboratively and support the delivery of training programmes and workshops for digital education. Promote equality and values diversity, acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture. Support the University’s sustainability agenda through resource efficient working. Fulfil any other duties commensurate with the grade. Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience You will need to evidence: 5 GCSEs at grade C/4 or above, including Mathematics and English (or equivalent level 2 vocational qualifications including demonstrable examples of the required level of literacy and numeracy). A keen interest or experience in supporting digital education in the context of higher education and a broad disciplinary area. The ability to diagnose/resolve problems in this area. You will have: Experience or interest in how Virtual Learning Environments (such as Canvas) and other associated systems can be used to support learning and teaching. Awareness of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day-to-day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly. An interest on current trends Digital Education in a HE context. The ability to work effectively as a member of a team towards quality service goals and deadlines. Excellent communication skills, coupled with a strong customer service orientation, and the ability to tailor responses to specific technical and non-technical audiences. Ability to prioritise and schedule workload in the face of conflicting demands. Structured and methodical approach to problem solving. A keen interest to develop skills to train colleagues in Digital Education. Ability to work independently, accurately and to deadlines within a team environment. A willingness to support project teams through from conception to successful completion. Ability to work effectively in cross functional teams. Dimensions You will not line manage others in this role, however, you will still be expected to act as a role model and coach members of the team. You will not normally manage a budget in this role. Planning and Organising You will be required to manage and prioritise a varied and complex workload to deliver within required time frames, and make a substantial contribution to the management, development, and implementation of operational processes. You will support equality and values diversity, moderating own behaviour to avoid unfair discriminatory impact or bias on others. You will manage all data in accordance with university policy and Data Protection Regulations. Problem Solving and decision making You will be working under the direction of a senior manager, but with considerable autonomy to deliver the outputs required. You will be working within the framework of existing policies, processes and procedures for the University and the College, but there will be plenty of scope to review and shape processes. You will take day to day decisions on some of the more complex tasks in the team’s remit including identifying next steps as appropriate. Internal and External relationships This role will be liaising with internal colleagues and stakeholders, external stakeholders as well, sometimes with customers who have issues with the service, with an expectation on maintaining good working relationships with all. Informal enquiries to Rob Jones, email: r.v.jonesbham.ac.uk or Alex Davenport, email: a.davenport.1bham.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 .