Professor of Games and Graphics

Locations: Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment (On-site)

The full-time starting salary is normally £69,897.00 per annum, with progression available in post to £120,290.00 per annum.

Located in a modern £300M campus in the heart of Birmingham City Centre (UK), the College of Computing is a thriving, vibrant, and inspiring learning community committed to excellence in research, high quality teaching and impactful industrial engagement. Our growing teams are teaching, exploring and practising in some of the most exciting areas in the field of computing, with leading research groups specialising in AI and Data Science, Cyber Physical Systems, Human-Computer Interaction, and Graphics and Vision. 

We are seeking an internationally leading academic to lead our teaching and research portfolios in the field of Games and Graphics. You should possess a proven excellence in teaching and research aligned to areas such as Computer Graphics, Games Production, and Games Development. You will have evidenced experience of world leading research outputs including experience of attracting research funding and producing high impact publications. Furthermore, you will have demonstrable experience of leading diverse academic teams to achieve excellent teaching, research, and enterprise outcomes. 

Key Responsibilities

• Manage and define strategic focus of the Games and Graphics team to build international authority, expertise and impact within the discipline. 
• Management, administration, and development of course provision within the Games and Graphics team, as well as building a best-in-class portfolio of courses within the field. 
• Define, manage, and lead research and enterprise strategy across a diverse team to ensure high-quality research outputs in internationally leading journals and conference proceedings.
• Lead strategies for successful income generation via strong collaborations and partnerships to secure research and enterprise funding.
• Lead and support supervision of doctoral students, as well as mentoring early career researchers with doctoral supervision responsibilities. 
• Lead teaching as a member of the College of Computing team on their portfolio of courses at undergraduate and postgraduate level, developing excellent and innovative teaching materials which support students to succeed in their respective domains.
• Design and implement effective assessment strategies, conduct marking in alignment with university standards and practices, and provide constructive feedback to students.

Essential

You will hold a PhD in Games, Computer Science (or a related technical subject), or significant industrial experience and have evidenced experience in leading, managing and developing programmes of teaching, research, and enterprise across academic teams. You will also have proven experience in mentoring and supporting academic colleagues, as well as experience of providing guidance regarding staff personal development and output pathways. Furthermore, you will hold experience of defining and leading on world leading research strategies which achieve income and enterprise activity targets. 

A proven track record of successful networking and cross-disciplinary/industry collaboration to support teaching and research is also essential, with demonstrable experience in research output generation via publications in leading (Q1 and CORE A*) conferences and journals. Moreover, you will have experience of acting in the role of chair/steering committee/editor for world leading events/journals with high-level knowledge, skill and expertise in Game Development middleware such as Unity or Unreal Engine. 

• Expertise in one or more of the following:
  • Development: 
    • Ability to demonstrate use of the appropriate tools and techniques for profiling and optimisation of code bases.
    • Knowledge of shader writing and debugging tools.
    • Strong C/C++/C#/JS and Python skills. 
  • Production: 
    • Experience with industry standard DevOps practices and agile methodologies. 
    • In-depth knowledge of evolving game market trends, competition and platform developments. 
    • Technical scripting proficiency.
    • Experience using large file asset management tool chains and integration of assets into game middleware. 
  • Graphics: 
    • Proficiency with modern art development tools such as Houdini, Maya / 3DS Max / Blender, Photoshop, Substance Painter and sculpting software such as zBrush. 

Desirable

We are particularly keen in hearing from applicants with a strong mathematical background and knowledge of industry standard games artificial intelligence techniques. A knowledge and experience of the complete game development process and associated production management tools is also desirable. 

For an informal discussion of the post, please contact Professor Chris Creed via email (chris.creed@bcu.ac.uk).

Please click the below link to download the Job Description:

Job Description - Professor

Please download additional Guidance for Applicants:

Guidance for Applicants

About Us

At the heart of our Strategy for 2030 and Beyond, it is our mission to enable our students to transform their lives and to achieve their potential. Through our education and research, and the roles our graduates go on to play in the world, we not only support individuals to transform their lives, but we also play a part in transforming society.

Located in the centre of the UK’s second city, we are a university with a long heritage of innovation and of making, dating back to our origins in 1843 when we were founded as the Birmingham Government School of Design.

Our heritage of making through innovation and its application through knowledge exchange, and of creative research and practice, today finds it expression in our STEAM agenda, in our research and enterprise, and in our commitment to challenge-based learning. Working across disciplines, and delivering impactful research and enterprise, interdisciplinarity is at the heart of the continuing transformation of our academic portfolio.

Apply Before: 05/05/2025, 23:59