Position Details
Academic Services
Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
Full time starting salary is normally in the range £32,546 to £35,116 with potential progression once in post to £39,355
Grade: 6
Full Time, Permanent
Closing date: 30th March 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 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 a pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.
Role Summary
Under the direction of the AV Manager, the post holder will help design, install and provide support for the configuration and programming of the technology that underpins the audio-visual and related equipment located in the University’s central pool of teaching spaces across campus. The post holder will take the lead in choosing appropriate specifications and delivering the more complex elements of AV projects – including signal distribution and control using IP, desktop image creation and deployment, networking of IoT-type devices such as clocks, programming of AV control systems and associated hardware and digital signage. Other duties will include providing technical guidance to team members, managing the lecture capture hardware in over 300 locations across the University and completing a thorough diagnosis and resolution of IT faults.
The post will be located in one or more of LRAT’s locations across the University. The post will require some working outside of core hours and days. The post holder will develop and maintain strong relationships with assignment teams outside Library Services, in particular IT Services, with a key deliverable of achieving quicker completion of LRAT requirements.
Main Duties
* Be part of the development team for new buildings on any of the University’s campuses
* Be part of the design and quality control team, for refurbishments and new installations
* Manage the endpoint hardware of the University’s lecture capture system
* Provide coaching, mentoring, support and advice on technology and systems to other staff in LRAT
* Use management information, stock control, booking, inventory and workflow systems (currently ServiceNow) to ensure the efficient running of the service
* Respond to urgent requests from users, time being of the essence – a 10-minute response SLA is in operation, and using one of our fleet of vans
* Contribute proactively towards own personal development through participation in technical and other training courses
* Undertake such other duties as may be required from time to time to further the work of the division
* Promote equality and value diversity including: (a) actively acting as a role model in own behaviour and fostering a non-discriminatory culture; (b) actively applying internal processes in a fair and equal way
Be the University expert in one of these areas:
* AV signal and control distribution over IP and dedicated connections
* Lecture capture hardware
* Video conferencing
* AV control and programming
* Lectern image and patch mass-deployment
* Digital signage for timetable display and marketing
Responsibilities for each of these areas include:
Area One
* Work with IT Services to ensure headroom in IP address space, proper protocols at edge switches and firewalls and prioritisation of AV traffic and maintain the integrity of the LRAT VLAN
* Monitor and patch of vulnerabilities
* Engage with IT Services to ensure the implementation of correct network architecture and infrastructure for the needs of AV and other supported technologies.
* Test and load testing of new installations
* Be lead technician in this area
Area Two
* Maintain and expand deployment of hardware to capture lecture capture streams: audio, desktop, visualizers, whiteboards and PowerPoint
* Improve provision of capture hardware including capture cards and appliances
* Work to improve status indicators mounted on lecterns physically or virtually
* Repair corrupted stream packages
* Full inventory management of lecture capture hardware including service management platform
* Pre-deployment testing of new software and firmware releases
* Be lead technician in this area
Area Three
* Procure and maintain hardware and software solutions for videoconferencing in a variety of settings e.g. executive meeting rooms, seminar rooms and lecture theatres, including rooms with full bimodal technology
* Align and develop video-conferencing strategy in partnership with IT Services
* Test new hardware and software platforms before deployment
* Be lead technician in this area
Area Four
* Program and reprogram control systems and associated devices such as touch panels and digital signal processors
* Improve user experience with smart intelligent UI design
* Contribute to the evolving design of bimodal rooms of all sizes
* Link AV and room control (e.g. Helvar) mechanisms
* Program for remote control and smart energy conservation
* Set up and program universal remote control server setup linking all teaching spaces
Area Five
* Work with IT Services to create and maintain small footprint desktop image, predicated on need for fast boot-up
* Develop new image deployment and update strategies
* Keep lectern PC estate patched – both for operating system and applications
* Customise desktops in certain limited cases
Area Six
* Utilise scripting in deployment, start-up and logoff settings
* Manipulation of group policy objects
* Automatic deletion of old unwanted files
* Integration of scripting into remote control platform
Area Seven
* Develop a maintenance and monitoring regime for LRAT and other digital signage hardware
* Be proficient in content design including HTML5 templates
* Maintain integrity of data from Timetabling system
Supervision
[AV Support Officers, AV Apprentices and AV Support Assistants]
* Supervision while part of an installation or events team
* Actively promote adoption of good practice by AV Technicians
* Impart by example high standards of innovation and productivity
* Assist in the PDR process for Grades 4 and 5 team members
Health & Safety
Staff are expected to observe all Health & Safety at Work Regulations as set out by the University:
* Reporting of accidents and incidents
* Safe use of fire extinguishers and comply with fire evacuation procedures
* Act as Fire Warden, after receiving appropriate training and carry out fire evacuations in the event of emergencies
Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience
The post holder, though an IT specialist, should have an interest in AV technologies.
Qualifications
* Educated to GCSE level or equivalent is essential, preferably including Mathematics and English at Grade C or above
* Full clean driving licence
* Industry certification AVIXA-CTS, CTS-D or CTS-I
Essential Experience
* Significant experience of the specifications of network architecture
* Significant experience of Windows 10 & 11 desktop creation, maintenance, and deployment – with or without SCCM
* Significant experience of working with non-traditional devices on networks, e.g. switchers, image and audio processors, digital signage and timepieces
* AV programming e.g. Extron and QSC
* Active engagement with users of teaching technologies to maximise the benefit and uptake of those technologies
Essential Skills
* Knowledge and Understanding of networks and deployment, including current AV-over-IP protocols and Dante protocols
* Strong scripting language skills
* Customer service including technology advocacy
* Use of a design markup tool such as Visio or AutoCAD
* Active Directory and the use of group policies
* Knowledge of the protected characteristics defined by the Equality Act 2010 and how to actively ensure in day to day activity in own area of business that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly
Desirable Skills
* AV specification and control interfaces. Knowledge of Extron programming would be good – but full training will be offered in any case
* Audio design
* Rapid diagnosis of faults in AV, IT and Digital Signage equipment
Informal enquiries to Steve O’Neill, email: s.g.oneill@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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