Warwick Business School

Salary: £54,421 - £63,059
Location: University of Warwick, Coventry
Contract type: Permanent, full-time

This role is a broad and varied one, with the underlying purpose to ensure that the infrastructure, policy frameworks and processes, and teams that support the academic and student experience are high quality, fit for purpose, and effective. The role leads four distinct areas of operations, all of which, underpin WBS’s success: Academic Operations (encompassing Building and Facilities, Exams, Quality Assurance, Accreditations; Academic Conduct Cases; Academic Group Support (Including academic workload allocation; teaching planning; academic-focussed events; academic recruitment; support for research centres); Data Integration and Architecture (including support for the School’s programme teams to ensure high quality data processes, integration of data between WBS and University systems; and projects such as support for data-led strategies, data visualisation, and systems related projects); as well as management and leadership for school-level workstreams such as those relating to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion, and Sustainability.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Academic Strategy, Policy and Quality

• In conjunction with the Pro Deans (Teaching & Learning; and Faculty Management) lead the development and implementation of an effective academic quality strategy, designed to extend and consolidate the School’s reputation for education of the very highest quality.

• Design, develop and implement robust and efficient policies, systems and procedures for academic practice, including course and module approval, assessment, quality assurance, external examining, plagiarism and complaints.

• Lead major institutional external and internal academic quality and accreditation review processes, including the production of critical and balanced self-evaluations of the School’s present and future trajectory; coordination and drafting of documentation; creation of digital resources for external panel members; and overall management of the engagement. Ensure that the requirements of accrediting bodies are taken into account in decision making and strategic initiatives.

• Ensure School governance and decision making are efficient, effective and transparent. As secretary to the Programme Strategy Committee (PSC), and as a member of the Programme Development Committee (PDC), advise and brief the Chair and members on curriculum content, programme structures, School and University academic policies and procedures and quality assurance issues. Participate as appropriate in University decision-making forums.

• Oversight of module and course approval processes, ensuring that they are scrutinised effectively and that the process is clear, transparent, and supportive, enabling the production of high-quality modules and courses for students.

• Ensure that University and sector-wide developments in academic quality assurance and enhancement are considered and, where appropriate, acted upon locally. Brief governance bodies and senior management on associated policy/operational implications. As a senior member of the University’s quality assurance community, contribute to the shaping and formulation of institution-wide responses to developments in the external academic infrastructure.

Academic Resourcing and Support

• Through the Academic Support Manager, lead Academic Group Office staff, ensuring high-quality support and service to faculty across the School;

• Collaborate with other members of the Senior Management Team, including Pro Deans, Associate Deans, and Heads of Academic Groups to develop and implement workload allocation systems for academic staff, with the objective of optimising the use of faculty time to ensure that strategic objectives are met.

• Plan, review and lead improvements to existing business processes through the innovative use of technology, ensuring standardisation of process (where appropriate) across all academic group offices;

• Undertake audits of workload allocation across the School to ensure equity of approach and accuracy of data.

Data Operations and Architecture

• Through the Data Architect and Data and Systems Manager, provide leadership for a team of data and systems specialists to ensure that data held within the School is accurate, fit for purpose, and able to be integrated across systems, within the School and University.

• To ensure that data is utilised effectively to support decision making, both functionally e.g. in exam boards, as well as to inform strategic direction and monitoring at a senior level.

• To work with the School’s E-Solutions section to support the data aspects of new development projects, ensuring that data inputs and outputs fulfil users’ needs and briefs.

• To work collaboratively with the central university to ensure that data that the School holds can easily flow into university systems in a timely manner and fulfils institutional needs.

• Identify opportunities to improve data flows and systems across the School, working closely with other Section Heads to progress School-wide data projects to support strategic and operational priorities.

• Lead cross-departmental teams to respond to data requests that fall within your team’s remit e.g. accreditation requests, UKVI audits, to ensure that submissions meet auditors’ needs, are accurate, and provided in a timely manner.

Buildings and Facilities Management

• To support developments in relation to the new WBS building and broader Social Sciences Grand Challenge, including undertaking projects relating to space allocation, specialist provision, and student and staff experience.

• Oversight and management of the School’s space management policy, ensuring that WBS staff are housed in space appropriate to the scale and nature of their activities.

• Ensure that the School’s physical environment is high-quality, fit for purpose, and is appropriate to support the School’s strategic ambitions.

• To have oversight of suites of refurbishment and building projects in WBS, working closely with the Estates department to ensure delivery of quality projects to the requisite quality, to budget, and delivered on time.

• Provide timely and accurate information to the Dean and the Senior Management Group to inform decision-making around use of space.

Staff Management and Leadership

• To provide leadership for a large and diverse team of approximately 60 individuals, including direct line management of x reports.

• To ensure effective support and training opportunities are in place to enable continued development of the Academic Services team, including planning for full-team termly meetings.

• To develop Academic Services-wide structures and processes to ensure commonality of approach across the team where appropriate, recognising the diversity of remit and seniority.

• To represent the views of the Section to colleagues and in senior fora such as Section Heads.

• Cultivate a culture of continuous improvement by ensuring regular process reviews and reconsideration of existing practice, within the Section and wider school.

• Budget holder for overall non-staff Academic Services operating budget of circa £500k, as well as management of estates budgets, including forecasting of spend to enable effective financial planning.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)

• In conjunction with the Pro-Dean (Faculty), lead the EDI agenda for the School, ensuring the School progresses a suite of initiatives and projects that enhance a sense of community and inclusion for the benefit of all members of staff and students;

• Ensure that appropriate support structures and resourcing are in place to support the work of theme leads who support EDI work in their respective areas, as well as cross-departmental teams who are supporting submissions for EDI quality marks such as Athena Swan.

Other

• Lead on strategic and ad hoc School projects, as required by the Director of Academic Environment, Dean and Chief Operating Officer, including those relating to sustainability. GDPR, and the CMA.

• Act as Secretary and Assistant Secretary to a number of School committees, including the School’s Advisory Board and Senior Management Group.

For informal discussions please contact Dan Pearson, Director of Academic Environment, at Dan.Pearson@wbs.ac.uk

For full details, person specification, and to apply, please click here.