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Senior EDI Learning and Development Officer

Employer
DURHAM UNIVERSITY
Location
Durham, United Kingdom
Salary
£33,797 - £40,322 per annum
Closing date
8 Mar 2021

HR & OD

Grade 7: - £33,797 - £40,322 per annum
Open-Ended/Permanent - Full Time
Contract Duration: NA
Contracted Hours per Week: 35
Closing Date: 10-Mar-2021, 7:59:00 AM 

Job Family: Business Process and People 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 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 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 purposes

As an institution we are working towards creating a respectful community, where all members are educated in terms of our institutional values and to ensure behaviours that compromise those values are challenged appropriately.  The appointment of these posts is an important part of such work and will focus on the training and education of staff/students.

Human Resources and Organisation Development

People are the most important asset of Durham University and, building on our bold and ambitious University Strategy, a key role of HROD is to achieve the University’s strategic aim ‘to be a world leading employer’ by ensuring that our staff can reach their full potential.  We recognise that providing equality of opportunity, valuing diversity and promoting a culture of inclusion are vital to our success. EDI (equality, diversity, inclusion) underpins our strategic objectives and is at the heart of creating a space where we can all flourish.

The HROD Department plays a lead role in creating a working environment for our staff (and potential staff) which is supportive, stimulating, informative and provides for creative and innovative employment practices and opportunities. Our aim is to make sure that Durham University is a great place to work and we promote the wellbeing of all our workforce.

We will:

  • Oversee a workforce which can effectively and efficiently deliver the University Strategy;
  • Attract, retain and reward the very best talent for every role in the University;
  • Develop colleagues at every level to ensure that staff are supported to realise their potential and understand their contribution to the University’s goals; and
  • Make sure that the University has an increasingly diverse workforce and that all staff are demonstrably valued, engaged and treated equally and fairly.

Student Support and Wellbeing Directorate

The Directorate brings together pan-institution specialist student support services within the Colleges and Student Experience Division. The Directorate incorporates the Counselling Service, the Disability Support Service and the Student Wellbeing and Community Engagement Office. The work of the Directorate is wide ranging and includes:

  • leading on the development of strategy and policy in the areas of student mental health, disability support, student conduct, student wellbeing, and community engagement;
  • providing expert knowledge and advice, delivering specialist support to both students and staff, and providing specialist training, including in mental health first aid, supporting disabled students, and responding to sexual violence and misconduct;
  • working across the University, particularly in close partnership with the Student Support Offices located in all the Colleges and those who support students in Academic Departments.

The role purpose

The purpose of these roles are to design, deliver and evaluate an enhanced training and educational offer to all students and staff focussed on the creation of a respectful, inclusive culture based on the University’s core values. The offer will be developed through the procurement and project management or design and delivery of a range of learning and organisation development interventions, so that members of the University’s student and staff community are informed and understand about the values of the University and the respectful community of which they are part. The training offer will give students and staff the tools they need to challenge and respond appropriately to behaviours they identify as not adhering to the values of the organisation. The post holders will be responsible for evaluating learning and organisation development initiatives to ensure that they are sector leading and deliver the required impact.

Working collaboratively with the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Unit, they will develop and implement training and initiatives to facilitate the achievement of equality objectives and promote an inclusive and welcoming environment for all.

Core responsibilities

  • Recognised professional EDI training practitioner and service specialist providing proactive professional advice and professional development interventions to managers, staff and students of all levels across the University.
  • Undertake relevant research and provide specialist expertise and support to interpret information sources e.g. diversity data, evaluation of training impact
  • 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, planning and delivery of EDI related learning, including analysis and evaluation of feedback from training sessions and interventions to inform future delivery.
  • Internal and external relationship development and partnership working, networking and participation to facilitate knowledge exchange, including maintaining constructive and collaborative communications with staff and work colleagues.
  • Deliver ongoing training and learning support for stakeholders, including the design of basic introductory information/training packages as required.
  • Maintain an awareness of current policy, Equality legislation and employment law and best practice, and its relevance to the higher education environment and provision of professional EDI advice using specialist knowledge.
  • Contribute to and lead business meetings, working groups and sub-committees at operational service level.

Role responsibilities

  • Provide EDI focused face to face training and create e-learning packages and/or instruction for staff and students.
  • Work with EDI Unit to design and deliver targeted, needs-based, trainings to support the achievement of equality action plans, including training appropriate staff and student leaders as trainers for peer facilitation.
  • Conduct research and reporting on monitoring and evaluation of training programmes, including designing impact metrics and collecting participant data.
  • Be responsible for coordinating the delivery of the EDI training offered to students and staff, including the promotion and marketing of training programmes across the University and working with the Students’ Union, the Common Rooms and Student Associations, and external partner agencies to coordinate and deliver training.
  • Provide proactive and comprehensive EDI support to stakeholder groups to achieve strategic and operational priorities related to training.
  • Process and distribute key EDI learning and development information to all internal and external stakeholders, communicating proactively using appropriate media and methods.
  • Analyse service data and processes and provide reports to the Head of EDI unit and HROD Director and Student Support and Wellbeing Director, making recommendations for improvement as appropriate.
  • Provide advice to stakeholders in relation to University and statutory procedures and regulations with particular reference to EDI.
  • Support the review and improvement of systems, processes and procedures in line with University, School, Department, College or unit frameworks by applying EDI Development interventions in line with the recommendations of the Respect Commission Report.
  • Work with the Head of EDI unit, HROD team and Student Support and Wellbeing Directorate to implement EDI focused projects in collaboration with Divisional Heads, Departmental Heads, Heads of College, Heads of academic and service departments and other relevant peers and specialists.
  • Work collaboratively with Section Heads and managers across the university to ascertain EDI learning and organisation development needs to enable a holistic approach to the provision of development solutions that meet these needs.
  • Design and produce online content when required.
  • Procure and project manage EDI learning and organisation development initiatives that support and develop managers’, teams’ and individual’s, both staff and student’s capacity and capability to deliver against the University’s strategic aims and objectives.
  • Plan, implement and monitor continuous improvements to enhance the delivery of EDI learning and development to stakeholders.
  • Provide management for stakeholder service areas and/or processes ensuring a high-quality and timely EDI development service to all stakeholders.
  • Contribute to operational leadership teams and decision making to shape the nature and level of EDI development services.
  • Demonstrate awareness of the external environment and sector best practice to support high quality EDI training services, including staying up to date on best practice for delivery of e.g. active bystander education and anti-racism education. 
  • Any other reasonable 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 above (including those listed in the section ‘Realising Your Potential Approach’).  

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 evidences the main RYPA behaviours ie Developing myself and others, respecting others and using resources effectively and how you meet these behavioural requirements
  3. Examples of how you satisfy the essential criteria in the person specification, this will require completion of the 'Questionnaire' application section.

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

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; Sophie Sowerby, Head of Organisation Development, sophie.sowerby@durham.ac.uk

Interviews are currently anticipated to take place on 16 March 2021.

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

  1. Excellent oral and written communication skills and the ability to develop excellent working relationships both internally and externally.
  2. Proven IT and numeracy skills, including use of Microsoft Office.
  3. Educated to degree level (or equivalent experience).
  4. Continuing Professional Development required to maintain professional recognition within a training environment.
  5. Professional practitioner with knowledge and expertise used to contribute to the delivery and development of EDI events and activities within the organisation.
  6. Experience of implementing EDI policy and procedures with a particular focus on race equality and involvement with future changes for an EDI service area.
  7. Knowledge and experience of ensuring compliance with EDI regulatory and organisational policy and guidelines.  
  8. Experience of providing EDI specialist advice and guidance with a particular focus on race equality to a range of customers and colleagues, including more senior colleagues and students.
  9. Ability to network effectively and develop strong and productive working relationships, to influence perceptions of the University.
  10. Good commercial awareness, personal presence and credibility.
  11. Determination, resilience and enthusiasm.
  12. Ability to work under pressure and to set and achieve goals within tight deadlines.
  13. Experience of working collaboratively on EDI learning and organisation development priorities and policies.
  14. Engaging presentation and facilitation style that maximises audience participation.
  15. Ability to contribute to planning at operational level and managing cross organisation projects.
  16. Experience of designing, delivering and evaluating EDI learning with a particular focus on race equality and organisation development initiatives both face to face and online.
  17. Able to demonstrate an awareness, relevant knowledge and understanding in the area of active bystander theory as it applies to different forms of unwanted behaviour including racism, sexual misconduct and other forms of discrimination within a higher education environment or demonstrate the capacity to acquire this within a short timeframe.
  18. Experience of designing and delivering training in a wide range of media eg online to a range of stakeholders at different institutional levels.
  19. Experience of evaluating the impact of the training against training objectives  

Desirable

  • Certified member of CIPD or a professional training body and post qualification experience in complex organisations.
  • A thorough understanding of major issues, including EDI issues in Higher Education.

Realising Your Potential Approach

DEVELOPING MYSELF AND OTHERS - Showing commitment to own development and supporting and encouraging others to develop their knowledge, skills and behaviours to enable them to reach their full potential for the wider benefit of the University.

  1.  Encouraging others to contribute to institutional-level activity
  2. Showing awareness of the changing needs of the University and incorporating these into own and others’ development plans
  3. Keeping up to date with what is happening in the wider HE environment and communicating this to your team where appropriate

RESPECTING OTHERS - To embrace diversity by promoting and maintaining an inclusive and supportive work and study environment that enables all members of our University community to achieve their full potential.

  1. Acting as a role model to others by setting high personal standards in both verbal and non-verbal communication
  2. Selecting individuals for training and development fairly
  3. Show a commitment to improving the University by ensuring all staff undertake equality and diversity training to raise awareness
  4. Act responsibly by monitoring staff workloads to ensure fair work allocation
  5. Respecting confidentiality and demonstrating sensitivity if a team member wishes to discuss an equality and diversity issue with you and then taking appropriate action
  6. Ensuring communication with the team is regular, clear and consistent to create an open, transparent working environment
  7. Treating all members of the team in a fair and consistent manner
  8. Developing awareness of the wellbeing of all members of the team and supporting them appropriately
  9. Acting on complaints of inappropriate behaviour following University policies and procedures

USING RESOURCES EFFECTIVELY - Making effective use of available resources including people, information, networks and budgets. Being aware of the financial and commercial aspects of the University. 

  1. Sharing good practice with other parts of the University
  2. Developing cross-service collaboration and being willing to share resources
  3. Identifying ways in which resources can be used flexibly and imaginatively for the benefit of the whole University within agreed limits

ACHIEVING RESULTS - Planning and organising workloads to ensure that deadlines are met within resource constraints. Consistently meeting objectives and success criteria.

  1. Confidently say ‘no’ to activities that are less important or do not fit with University priorities
  2. Critically evaluate the success of projects to disseminate lessons that can be learned
  3. Being effective in gaining buy-in without direct authority
  4. Being knowledgeable about key stakeholders and how they may influence the work of your department

DBS Requirement: Not Applicable.

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