Job Description

About Online, Professional & Executive Education  

King's Online is rapidly expanding as King's recognises the growing demand for flexible online education in an increasingly digital world. Our team works with world-class academics in King's faculties to design and develop online and blended courses. Our remit is backed by a College-wide commitment to expand in this innovative area of higher education. The King's Strategic Vision 2029 pledges an aspiration to become the UK leader in online and blended learning by 2029. 

In 2018 King's Online aligned with King's Professional and Executive Education (KPED) to form Online, Professional and Executive Education (OPEE). The two teams work closely together, sharing joint expertise and experience in designing and delivering solutions for faculties at King's. OPEE holds expertise in a variety of areas including business development, instructional design, user experience, content/platform design and development and media design and production. 

About the role

The Design and Innovation teams bring their creativity and passion to education and work together to create online and blended courses, and enable our students to have a world-leading student experience. Reporting to the Head of UX, Media & Tech, this role will lead the Instructional Technology Team and collaborate closely with User Experience, Media and Instructional Design teams. 

The role holder will lead on our use of technology, advise other teams on best practice and support the development of new features and tools. Your responsibilities are divided into: 

Development - overseeing and supporting the work of our developers (x2) on our design system and other tools, liaising with the User Experience team, leading on development planning and communicating with internal and external stakeholders. You will also maintain our web servers. 

Build - overseeing and supporting the implementation and use of technology, including Moodle, Kaltura, Microsoft Teams and more. This includes line managing our Design Technologist, who manages our E-Learning Content Developers and Visual Designers (x7). 

You will be an exceptional technological all-rounder: you have a deep understanding of the work conducted by these teams, and are able to support their efforts. 

As a member of our leadership team you will have oversight of the big picture, and provide expert support and assistance to others internally and externally. You will be involved in the implementation of our innovation roadmap, and take responsibility for technological improvements. 

Key responsibilities

• Lead the instructional technology teams, and provide a clear direction for their work
• Bring a wealth of expertise in instructional technology, and share best practice with the team 
• Represent the technological needs of Online, Professional and Executive Education within the university and work closely with key stakeholders accordingly 
• Actively participate in internal and external networks in order to promote King's and share best practice 
• Build close working relationships with individuals and teams within Online, Professional and Executive Education 
• Demonstrate strong hands-on skills/understanding in areas such as web development, Linux server management, game-based learning, virtual learning environment use, accessibility, and more 
• Take on product ownership of our innovative design system and ensure that the development cycle is transparent, efficient and well-planned 
• Demonstrate exceptional problem-solving skills and out-of-the-box thinking 
• Have excellent verbal and written communication skills 
• Promote sustainability, scalability, efficiency and excellence within our use of technology 

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.

Skills, knowledge, and experience

Essential criteria

• Degree or equivalent experience
• Excellent understanding of learning technologies and their use by students and academics
• Extensive hands-on experience managing virtual learning environments, such as Moodle
• Knowledge of web development technologies, standards, and frameworks
• Exceptional troubleshooting skills and out-of-the-box solution thinking
• Track record of managing technological/development projects and implementing technological improvements, and experience of product ownership
• Experience producing online content
• Deep understanding of accessibility principles and their implementation in online education
• Experience managing a team of technologists/developers
• Able to motivate and empower people to do their best work, and lead an innovative team in a fast-paced collaborative environment 

Desirable criteria

• Experience working in higher education
• Significant hands-on experience in web technologies such as PHP, JavaScript, HTML and CSS and experience of maintaining Linux-based web servers
• Understanding of (and interest in) game-based learning