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Faculty Manager, Social Sciences and Health

Employer
DURHAM UNIVERSITY
Location
Durham, United Kingdom
Salary
£52,560 - £59,135 per annum
Closing date
2 Jun 2021

Social Sciences Faculty Office

Grade 9: - £52,560 - £59,135 per annum
Open-Ended/Permanent - Full Time
Contracted Hours per Week: 35
Closing Date: 02-Jun-2021, 6:59:00 AM 

Applications are invited for the post of Faculty Manager in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Health. 

If an internal member of staff is appointed to this role on a secondment basis, for pension purposes this will be processed in line with Step-Up arrangements. For further details please see https://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/hr/policies/Stepup/StepUpandSecondmentPolicyv2.0.pdf  

Job Family: Business Process and People Services

OUR CHARACTERISTICS: We are welcoming, collegiate and inclusive

OUR VALUES: We are motivated, inquisitive, challenging, rigorous and innovative

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 in 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 a 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 a comprehensive service and deliver the efficient administration and governance of the University.

Overall family purpose

  • Deliver direct and indirect services to stakeholders.
  • Provide advice and answer queries as part of an enquiry-desk/help-desk function.
  • Respond to and manage requests for information and resources.
  • Deliver services to meet regulatory requirements and procedures.
  • Plan and deliver a joined-up approach to University business and people services.
  • Align business processes and services to meet operational and strategic policy objectives.
  • Deliver business processes to ensure effective management, governance and the economic viability of the University.
  • Encourage, collaborate and participate in the development of productive cross-institution relationships and working.
  • Provide excellent professional services that meet strategic and operational goals and business needs.
  • Carry out monitoring, analysis, development and planning to design new services and service updates for continuous
  • improvement whilst meeting changes in regulations.
  • Engage with specialist professionals, consultants, and suppliers to exchange knowledge and facilitate partnership
  • working.
  • Work collaboratively and network across the University with staff in other families to ensure a smooth, timely and high-quality delivery of service.
  • Align and deliver programmes and activities to meet operational and strategic objectives to enhance the stakeholder experience.
  • Engage and encourage participation with external professionals, schools, alumni and donors.
  • Link to key strategic plan
  • An economically sustainable approach to delivering Professional Services across the University;
  • A joined-up approach to University professional services, regardless of location or line management;
  • A culture and practice of continuous improvement;
  • Design services that meet the business need;
  • A stakeholder-focused orientation, offering satisfying careers to all staff;
  • Support and facilitate programmes that offer intellectual challenge, cohesiveness and a strong sense of progression;
  • 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 

The Faculty of Social Sciences and Health is nationally and globally leading, ranked in the top 50 in the world by THE World University Rankings. It has an ambitious vision to further develop in its ability to deliver world-class education and research.

Core responsibilities:   

  • Provide professional and expert leadership at a significant operational level and provide significant input and support to short, medium and long-term strategic planning processes to meet organisational objectives.
  • Provide feedback on team and individual performance and identify development needs, conducting regular staff ADR and performance reviews.
  • Recruit, induct, train and develop new team members.
  • Help to shape the skills and expertise of team members and design work structures to meet operational and strategic goals.
  • Handle the vast majority of welfare issues within a team, referring more complex welfare issues to appropriate support services/senior management
  • Provide expert guidance, advice and problem-solving skills to the Executive Dean, Faculty Senior Officers and Heads of Departments and their senior management teams, on strategy, policy and operations.
  • Identify and develop innovative approaches and make recommendations for how these can be implemented within the service area.
  • Significant input into the planning and development of future skills and expertise within service areas to meet organisational goals.
  • Responsible for the management and leadership of people across service areas, setting operational and strategic objectives for discrete areas.
  • Facilitate the development and implementation of Faculty and cross-departmental strategic initiatives and change management projects, agreed during the annual planning round, in collaboration with peers and specialists to ensure a smooth and effective transition.
  • Within agreed frameworks lead on the creation, review, design, implementation and monitoring of policy and service level standards
  • Contribute to wider quality and regulatory audit process for stakeholder systems and services, ensuring the Faculty is compliant with relevant audit processes, University regulations and codes of practices.
  • Influence and contribute to operational and strategic scoping and resource planning across a range of activities, developing and presenting complex business plans and strategy documents where required.
  • Set operational objectives for the scoping, initiation, planning and implementation of significant projects in service areas.
  • Devolve key responsibilities to experienced team members to ensure succession and encourage skills development.
  • Provide leadership and influence the governance of service activities, processes and transactions to meet regulatory and professional service and policy standards.
  • Build and lead an influential network of contacts both internally and externally to influence the development of service provision.
  • Provide leadership within project teams to shape and determine specifications and key deliverables, problem solve and guide implementation.
  • Lead internal and external business meetings, working groups and committees at the operational and strategic service level to influence governance, organisational policy and standards for the service.

Role responsibilities:  

  • Conduct horizon scanning and research with internal and external stakeholders, local government, professional bodies and sector agencies to provide briefings and reports.
  • Provide leadership with relationship building with external agencies and service providers, identify and develop opportunities to increase influence in keeping with strategic objectives.
  • Deputise for strategic managers and take responsibility for the feasibility analysis, development, planning and implementation of new service areas and activities.
  • Create opportunities to promote services via internal and external events and activities.
  • Set service metrics and expected levels of efficiency of service delivery, to ensure the effectiveness of the Faculty Office within University agreed frameworks.
  • Analyse and interpret complex data sources, to provide business intelligence, business forecasts and high-level management information to the Executive Dean and Faculty Senior Officers.
  • Deliver professional development learning activities designing individual workshops, sessions and a programme of activities.
  • Responsible for the overall design of a set of learning activities as part of a wider skills development programme.  

Role requirements 

  • To build effective relationships with the Directors of Professional Support Services, ensuring that the administrative requirements, functions, processes and plans of departments are aligned with the development of central services and that the balance between locally and centrally resourced support is clear, transparent and based on demonstrable local added value.
  • To oversee the Faculty’s specialist provision, for example, laboratory and technical provision, to ensure the Faculty’s infrastructure and resources can support excellence in research and teaching.
  • To ensure the coordination and fostering of the community of practice with Departmental Managers across the Faculty.
  • To oversee the administration of the Research Council-funded Doctoral Training Programmes housed within the Faculty and effective utilisation of the associated resource.
  • Support the Pro-Vice-Chancellor with respect to their responsibilities for global and external relations; alumni relations, fundraising, etc.
  • Any other reasonable duties 

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 that details your experience, strengths and potential in the requirements set out below;
  3. Examples of how you satisfy the person specification, including all essential and desirable criteria in a table format

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: Professor Charlotte Clarke, charlotte.clarke@durham.ac.uk 

We will notify you of 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

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 workforce including people with disabilities, women and black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.

Person specification - skills, knowledge, qualifications and experience required

Essential Criteria 

  • Excellent oral and written communication skills and the ability to develop effective working relationships, both internally and externally.
  • Proven IT skills, including use of Microsoft Office.
  • Educated to degree level (or equivalent experience).
  • Extensive knowledge and experience of ensuring compliance with regulatory and organisational policy and guidelines.
  • Ability to contribute to planning at operational and strategic levels.
  • Experience of being able to network effectively and develop strong and productive working relationships, to influence perceptions of the University.
  • Demonstrable ability to provide specialist advice and influence others at operational and strategic levels. 
  • Demonstrable people leadership and managerial skills
  • Experience of developing and leading significant organisational change
  • Experience of strategic financial management and budgetary responsibility 

Desirable Criteria 

  • Track record of cross-functional management and development experience and/or an enhanced management qualification applied across a large service team or teams.

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.

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