Lecturer in Art and Design - Visual Studies

Location: Baoding, Hebei Province, China

Hours: Full Time (1.0 FTE)

Basis: Fixed term contract, 1^st August 2025 to 31^st July 2026 (with potential extension on an academic yearly basis)

Renumeration: £26,568 per annum (pro-rata) + Benefits equivalent to £6,200

The University of Central Lancashire invites applications from qualified art and design practitioners to teach on its International Foundation Year programme at HBU-UCLan school of Media, Communications and Creative Industries during the 2025-2026 academic year.

The International Foundation Year programme is an integral part of the four-year undergraduate degree programme. As a credit-bearing programme, it is designed to develop the English language skills and introduce students to core art, design and media skills that our students require to fully engage in their academic programme.

HBU-UCLan School of Media, Communication and Creative Industries, is a non-independent status Joint School partnership between Hebei University, China and the University of Central Lancashire, UK (approved by the Ministry of Education China). Located in the historic city of Baoding, approximately 40 minutes from Beijing by fast train, the city is rapidly emerging as a commuter base for Beijing and Hebei Province.

Established in 2014, the joint school recently celebrated its 10^th Anniversary. HBU-UCLan currently has around 800 students which will increase to 1200 over the next few years. Students study the following UCLan degree programmes:

International Foundation Year

• BA (Hons) Animation
• BA (Hons) Creative Advertising
• BA (Hons) Filmmaking
• BA(Hons)GraphicDesign
• BA (Hons) Interior Design
• BA (Hons) Media and Television Production 

• MA Interior Design
• MA Music Industry Management & Promotion

The role

The International Foundation Year requires students to become quickly familiar with core art and design skills – including observational drawing. The programme is taught over two semesters, and as an Art and Design – Visual Studies lecturer, you will be responsible for delivering a range of practice based studio skills and techniques to our first year students. They will then progress to study a range of more specialist design and media subject disciplines.  Further to this, you will also be required to provide art and design support to the BA Hons programmes. This is a full-time post and you will deliver up to 18 hours of face to face classes per week.

Education, qualifications & experience

The successful applicant should have a good honours degree (or equivalent) and a MA in a relevant Arts and Design related discipline.

The successful applicant should have at least two years relevant experience teaching art and design skills within foundation or higher education environment.  Candidates should also have experience of developing teaching and learning resources and managing studio environments, and also be familiar with the assessment of art and design modules.

A full Job Description and Person Specification which outline the essential criteria for this post can be found by clicking the link

This is an outstanding opportunity to work as part of a global team to support a high quality creative industries facility and nurture new content development within a unique cross-cultural setting.

Summary of benefits

• £26,568 per annum (pro-rata) renumeration
• £2000 – Travel allowance for two return flights per academic year (pro-rata).
• £200 – Health Insurance contribution allowance per academic year
• £4000 - Accommodation allowance per annum / pro rata
• Visa related costs

Citizenship and visa regulations

Teaching posts at HBU-UCLan are regulated by Chinese Labour Law and Hebei Provincial Government regulations. These regulations stipulate that the post holder must have a Master’s degree qualification (in a related discipline). Two years’ relevant experience of teaching within an art and design environment, at university or Foundation year level, is essential to working and obtaining a visa in China.

For this type of post, they require the post holder to be a native or near-native level English speaker with citizenship of the UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, or South Africa.

The post holder must comply with Chinese Labour Laws and Hebei Provincial Government regulations to obtain a Chinese work permit and entry Z visa (restrictions apply), this includes a Police/Criminal Records Check and Health Check. These regulations stipulate who is eligible for legal work with regards to obtaining work permits and visas. The regulations in this province may preclude people over the age of 60 from obtaining a PRC work visa.

To apply

Informal enquiries about this post can be emailed to Professor Sion Hughes, Academic Head at SHughes17@uclan.ac.uk

The specific requirements for the role are detailed in the job description and person specification. Applicants must meet all ‘essential criteria’ to be considered for interview.

Applications must be submitted in pdf format to HBUadmin@uclan.ac.uk and include:

• Cover letter (demonstrating your suitability for the role)
• Current CV
• Contact details of two referees (with knowledge of your skills capabilities, and work performance. We will only take up references for the selected candidate)