Careers & Enterprise

Grade 7: - £33,797 - £ 40,332 per annum
Fixed Term - Full Time
Contract Duration: 1 year fixed term, ending 31st July 2022
Contracted Hours per Week: 35
Closing Date: 06-Jul-2021, 6:59:00 AM 

Job Family: Community, Participation and Engagement Services  

OUR CHARACTERISTICS: We are a globally outstanding centre of teaching and research excellence, a collegiate community of extraordinary people, in a unique and historic setting.    

OUR VALUES: We are inspiring, challenging, innovative, responsible and enabling.

Durham University  

Durham University is one of the world's top universities with strengths across the Arts and Humanities, Business,Sciences and Social Sciences. We are home to some of the most talented scholars and researchers from around the world who are tackling global issues and making a difference to people's lives.  The University sits in a beautiful historic city where it shares ownership of a UNESCO World Heritage Site with Durham Cathedral, the greatest Romanesque building in Western Europe. A collegiate University, Durham recruits outstanding students from across the world and offers an unmatched wider student experience. Durham University seeks to promote and maintain an inclusive and supportive environment for work and study that assists all members of our University community to reach their full potential. Diversity brings strength and we welcome applications from across the international, national and regional communities that we work with and serve.  

It is expected that all staff within the University:

• Contribute to our learning culture by engaging in mentoring, training and coaching.
• Positively contribute to fostering a collegial environment; as well as demonstrating commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.
• Have due regard to Health and Safety requirements appropriate to grade and role

Family key attributes   Roles in this family provide an excellent stakeholder experience for our diverse and supportive community.     

Overall family purpose

• Provide excellent student support services, development and extra-curricular activities.
• Align and deliver programmes and activities to meet operational and strategic objectives to enhance the stakeholder experience.
• Respond to stakeholders at the point of service delivery, either in situ or remotely.
• Facilitate the development of excellent colleague and academic engagement.
• Provide a stakeholder focussed service designed to increase widening participation and diversity.
• Promote the Durham reputation by establishing and broadening national and international community links to enhance the cultural and economic viability of the City and region.
• Enhance the Durham wider student experience by developing extra-curricular activities.
• Contribute to and enhance active, inclusive and supportive communities of stakeholders.
• Work collaboratively and network across the University with staff in other families to ensure a smooth, timely and high-quality delivery of service.
• Engage with suppliers, consultants and specialist professionals to deliver programmes and activities to enhance the stakeholder experience.
• Engage and encourage outreach and participation with external professionals, schools, alumni and donors.
• Engage and network with both internal and external stakeholders to facilitate knowledge exchange and impact through local, national and international communities.  

Link to key strategic plan

• An economically and environmentally sustainable approach to delivering stakeholder focussed services across the University;
• A world-class student, alumni and donor experience;
• Focussed on the needs of all users working together to deliver front-line services as part of the Wider Student Experience;
• Learn from and match best practice in the Wider Student Experience around the world;
• Opening up our world-class sporting facilities to local clubs and athletes;
• Support and facilitate activities as part of the Widening Student Experience at Durham;
• A stakeholder-focused orientation, offering satisfying careers to all staff;
• Ensure that an increasingly diverse workforce is treated equally, fairly and with respect, and that all staff are demonstrably valued and actively engaged.

The Department and role purpose   

Applications are invited to join the growing enterprise team within the Careers & Enterprise Centre.

Careers & Enterprise sits within the Education Division, which is headed by the Pro Vice Chancellor for Education, and is part of the University’s developmental approach to ensuring effective student engagement, achievement and positive progression.

Careers & Enterprise is a dynamic and developing team, operating across the university through subject departments, colleges, societies and industry facing initiatives to support the development and progression needs of students. It aims to help them meet the challenges and opportunities of the constantly developing employment market, and become the leaders and innovators of the near future.

Candidates should have an enthusiastic and adaptable approach to contributing to ongoing and new developments within the enterprise remit, as well as a genuine desire to work with students, academics, entrepreneurs and external business contacts.

Reporting to the Senior Enterprise Manager, the post holder will develop and oversee curricular and extra-curricular initiatives which develop both enterprise skills development and start-up support activities.

A key role for the post will be to work alongside academic colleagues to develop and deliver innovation programmes for undergraduate and postgraduate taught students in support of entrepreneurial skills development. Engaging with the wider student community and working collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders in support of the development of enterprise provision and activity will also be a key element of the post.

Core responsibilities:  

• Recognised professional practitioner and service specialist.
• Implement changes to the design and development of service processes, techniques and deliverables for one or more service strands or project streams.
• Provide specialist expertise and support with complexity of data and information sources, interpretation and analysis.
• Contribute to development of operational service activities to ensure excellence in the stakeholder experience.
• Collect and analyse stakeholder feedback to help define needs and requirements and the design and planning of services.
• Internal and external relationship development and partnership working, networking and participation to engage and influence future services and the University reputation.
• Identify and design activities to meet learning objectives and outcomes.
• Deliver training, teaching and/or development delivery for stakeholders.
• Coordinate, develop, promote and deliver training, workshops, presentations and other support activities for students, in partnership with others to support the enterprise agenda.
• Maintain an awareness of current policy for University business goals such as widening participation and access, and provision of advice using specialist knowledge.
• Contribute to and lead business meetings, working groups and sub-committees at departmental and operational service levels.
• Responsible for managing small budgets for consumables and some capital items, keeping records and processing invoices. 

Role responsibilities:

• Provide management for the operation of a stakeholder focussed service delivery area.
• Manage and monitor service performance and provide metrics and reports to Service Heads, making recommendations as appropriate.
• Participate in and monitor communities of practice and partnership working internally and externally.
• Network and engage with external and internal stakeholders to gather feedback and identify future service needs, to ensure excellence in service provision.
• Contribute to the development of operational and strategic plans and service level agreements.
• Prepare and manage a budget for enterprise provision, provide relevant financial statistics and monitor expenditure to ensure cost-effective service delivery.
• Produce and analyse statistical service metrics to identify successful delivery and areas for future improvement.
• Distribute and process key Careers & Enterprise service information to all stakeholders, including preparing appropriate reports for, and deliver presentations to, University committees as appropriate.
• Plan, implement and monitor continuous service improvements to enhance the delivery of stakeholder services.
• Communicate with internal and external stakeholders using appropriate media and methods.
• Provide training and/or instruction and support for colleagues to embed entrepreneurial education across the breadth of Careers & Enterprise provision.
• Contribute to the delivery of activities that generate external income.
• Develop, modify and optimise service protocols and methodologies.
• Deliver support elements of the wider student experience.  
• Any other reasonable duties.

Specific role requirements  

The post will include occasional evening and weekend duties.  

Recruiting to this post   

In order to be considered for interview, candidates must evidence each of the Essential Criteria required for the role in the person specification   

In some cases, the recruiting panel may also consider the desirable criteria, so we recommend you evidence all criteria in your application.    

Please note that some criteria will only be considered at interview stage.  

How to apply   

We prefer to receive applications online.  

Please note that in submitting your application Durham University will be processing your data. We would ask you to consider the relevant University Privacy Statement https://www.dur.ac.uk/ig/dp/privacy/pnjobapplicants/ which provides information on the collation, storing and use of data.  

What you are required to submit  

1. A CV; 
2. A covering letter which details your experience, strengths and potential in the requirements set out above;
3. Examples of how you satisfy the essential criteria in the person specification, this will require completion of the 'Questionnaire' application section.

  Please ensure that you submit all documentation listed above or your application cannot proceed to the next stage.  

Contact details   

For further information please contact; C.L.Richardson@durham.ac.uk.  

At Durham University, our aim is to create an open and inclusive environment where everyone can reach their full potential and believe our staff should reflect the diversity of the global community in which we work. 

We welcome and encourage applications from members of groups who are under-represented in our work force including people with disabilities, women and black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.  

We will notify you on the status of your application at various points throughout the selection process, via automated emails from our e-recruitment system. 

Please check your spam/junk folder periodically to ensure you receive all emails  

Person specification - skills, knowledge, qualifications and experience required  

Essential Criteria

1. Educated to degree level (or equivalent experience)
2. Experience of working with students and graduates using current knowledge and appreciation of enterprise and entrepreneurship issues
3. Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to relate and negotiate effectively with both the entire cross–section of the university population and with external stakeholders
4. Excellent IT skills and ability to use all aspects of Microsoft Office. You should have a  strong  knowledge  and experience of social media platforms and evidence of utilising technology effectively and innovatively in the development of services and systems
5. Proven experience of delivering a range of enterprise and/or business start-up related services and activities to individuals and groups
6. Excellent presentation and facilitation skills, with experience of designing/delivering/evaluating innovative and interactive presentations and workshops
7. Proven experience of collaborative projects and partnership working, engaging with a range of businesses, employment support groups or regional agencies
8. Excellent written communication skills to develop, write, produce and promote related resources and support materials, including the ability to produce complex reports for different audiences
9. Ability to plan and manage workload and manage competing demands
10. Proven experience of managing projects, budget management, target  setting, action  planning  and  evaluating, preferably in a university environment, with the capacity to conceptualise and take initiative in recommending and implementing new ideas.

Desirable Criteria

• A recognised teaching/training qualification
• Proven ability to effectively research and market a key service to students, academic staff and college staff
• Experience of organisation and promotion of events

Realising Your Potential Approach

The Realising Your Potential Approach clarifies the behaviours expected to be demonstrated by all staff across Professional Services in the University regardless of their role. Along with the core responsibilities, role responsibilities and the person specification, the Realising Your Potential Approach behavioural indicators are used to inform the recruitment and selection process. Further information on the Realising Your Potential Approach is available here.

DBS Requirement: Not Applicable.