Academic Director (Business Management)

The Institute of Inner-City Learning (IICL) seeks to appoint an Academic Director (Business Management) at its Birmingham Campus (BC). The primary delivery mode is face-to-face on campus.

THE ROLE

The Academic Director will focus on academic leadership and curriculum development, together with the day-to-day management of academic staff, curriculum delivery and the effective and efficient deployment of resources. The post holder will work closely with the Provost/Head of Institute, Dean of Birmingham Campus, Assistant Dean (Quality and Enhancement), other Assistant Deans, as well as the IICL’s existing team of Academic Directors, based across the Institute to oversee and develop the Birmingham campuses’ academic portfolios and to ensure all campuses operate within a cohesive and consistent academic development plan and framework. 

The post holders will have an in-depth understanding of the student learning experience and will lead on developing the learning, teaching and other scholarly activity across the Birmingham campuses’ named programmes. 

The post holders will be members of the Birmingham Campus Management Team, liaising with the University’s Senior Management Team, and contribute to the development and implementation of UWTSD’s strategic plans, to learning and teaching and enhancement, to research and widening access strategies. In conjunction with the Dean of Birmingham Campus and IICL Assistant Deans, the post holder will manage the academic provision at the Birmingham Campus in a cross-disciplinary manner, ensuring consistency of delivery of the Institute’s business management related academic programmes in Birmingham. 

Main duties will include, but not limited to:

• Provide strategic and proactive leadership for named academic programmes and programme boards;
• Enhance and develop the Institute’s reputation;
• Develop a strong, popular and sustainable curriculum, with the aim of increasing the Institute’s student targets;
• Work closely with the Provost, IICL Senior Management and others to initiate and develop interdisciplinary programmes across UWTSD’s other academic Institutes;
• Be an exemplar to and command respect from the Academic Team on learning, teaching and other scholarly activity;
• Provide line management to all Programme Managers within portfolio to ensure consistency and high-quality student experience and satisfaction across the Institute;
• Support the Institute’s ADQE and others to manage all quality assurance aspects of the portfolio, including auditing, data analysis and reporting;
• Work with IICL HR Business Partner (HRBP) to line manage academic staff and the human resource life cycle;
• Support the Senior Finance Business Partner and contribute to the effective management of the Institute’s budgets;
• Enhance the Birmingham campuses’ standing within business communities;
• Develop, in collaboration with the Academic Directors Team (ADT) and UWTSD’s Central Home Recruitment Unit, an effective marketing strategy for the Institute’s generic and campus based academic portfolios;
• Liaise with the Head of Immigration and Visa Compliance to expand the Institute’s international links and ensure compliance with all aspects of attendance monitoring and management of international students;
• Work closely with the Academic Office, Doctoral College and Research, Innovation and Enterprise Services and others to ensure that the Institute contributes constructively to the University’s Strategic Plan for Research and Commercialisation;
• Ensure representation of the Institute’s campus portfolios within the University and at external events and committees as appropriate;
• Support Senior Management and Campus Operations Managers in the discharge of compliance issues such as health and safety, data protection and freedom of information;
• Foster productive joint working relationships with other Institutes and professional departments, within the Institute’s agreed framework, criteria and plans;

REQUIREMENTS

You should have:

• A Doctoral qualification in at least one of the following disciplines: Business Management, Health & Social Care and/or Computing
• Evidence of current knowledge and understanding of the key drivers of the UK HE sector
• Proven and demonstrable experience in the design and development of curriculum content and learning and teaching practice
• Proven experience of quality assurance and quality enhancement, including compliance with the regulatory framework, audit, analysis and reporting requirements
• Proven experience and ability to analyse and present data as part of the effective decision-making and planning process
• Demonstrable experience of managing and motivating a diverse and multicultural team including full-time, fractional, and fixed term/hourly paid academics
• Proven knowledge of effective resource and budget management including action planning and working under pressure to meet conflicting demands
• Experience of working in an evolving environment and enabling others to be resilient, flexible and embrace change
• Previous experience at managerial level of contributing to the development of learning and teaching strategy at UK HE level
• Experience of collaborating and engaging with HE related external organisations, locally, regionally and internationally

Please view the Job Description for further details, where you will also find a list of the essential and desirable ‘Person Specification’ criteria.

BENEFITS

Our employees get access to a great pay and benefits package in recognition of their valued contribution including:

• Generous annual leave entitlement of 35 days’ annual leave per year, plus 8 bank holidays and 4 University closure days
• Pension scheme membership from USS to provide benefits for you and your family
• Family-friendly policies that provide for flexible working, including additional paid maternity and paternity leave

FURTHER INFORMATION

Please note, this application process does not include the option to submit a CV. Therefore, your application will be assessed based on your answers to the application questions only and, in particular, your Supporting Statement.

Closing date: Monday 27th May 2024, at 11:59 pm