Director of Student Experience and Deputy Director of Education

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK 

Associate Professor (Education focused) Grade 9: Full time starting salary is normally in the range £56,921 to £65,814 with potential progression once in post to £85,544

Professor (Education focused): Salary would be competitive for an outstanding candidate

The post-holder will be expected to devote up to 20% of their time enhancing their own teaching and learning practice.

The College of Social Sciences (CoSS) at the University of Birmingham is seeking an outstanding candidate who will support the College Director of Education (DoE) in providing significant strategic academic leadership to ensure the delivery of an outstanding, distinctive, and transformative education for all students. 

Building on existing success in the National Student Survey (NSS) and Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES), the Director of Student Experience and Deputy Director of Education (DSE) is a key member of College Board and responsible for ensuring that the College develops an effective data-informed Student Experience strategy and delivers a step-change in performance against agreed KPIs and sector benchmarks in support of the College’s and University’s 2030 strategic framework.

The College comprises the School of Social Policy and Society, Government, Education, and the Birmingham Business School. It is a vibrant community with over 12,500 students, studying more than 160 programmes, across 4 delivery locations and online. We combine disciplinary excellence, interdisciplinary collaboration, and methodological innovation to address real world problems and upskill our students as responsible global citizens and highly employable graduates.

The College is developing an ambitious strategy and by 2030 the College will be larger, more diverse and inclusive, and increasingly recognised by our global ‘top 50’ peers as:

• A global centre of disciplinary excellence and interdisciplinary, challenge-led, practitioner-relevant, research and education in social sciences that drives social change for a fairer and more sustainable world;
• A distinctive, innovative, and impactful thought-leader in tackling policy challenges across regional, national, and international scales, shaping debates about the future of social sciences;
• An open, inclusive, and transformative destination of choice globally where you are empowered to accelerate your career whether you are a school leaver, a policy-maker, a PhD/post-doctoral scholar, or a professor/professional services leader.

The DSE is a strategic role at College level, working across our four Schools in the College and reporting to the College DoE. The role supports academic leadership, oversight, and direction for every aspect of student experience across the undergraduate and postgraduate taught range at our Edgbaston campus.

We welcome applications from those who have a proven ability to develop and lead the enhancement of student experience and outcomes, as evidenced by measures of success including progression, awarding gaps, graduation outcomes, and performance in surveys including NSS and PTES. We are searching for an individual who takes pride in their work and has a genuine commitment to our students, an ability to provide inspirational academic leadership in this area, and a determination to deliver results for our whole College community. 

This new 1.0fte post is offered on an indefinite basis at either Associate Professor (Grade 9) or Professor (Education-Focused) level. The post-holder will be expected to devote up to 20% of their time enhancing their own teaching and learning practice.

Enquiries – Dr Mark Wenman, Director of Education, m.wenman@bham.ac.uk 

To download the full job description and details of this position and submit an electronic application online please click on the 'Apply' button above. Please quote Job Ref 105031 in all enquiries.

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.

Closing date: 3 January 2025