Head of Department - Social Work
Department of Social Work
Location:     City South Campus
Salary:     £55,091 to £59,880 per annum
Permanent / Full Time
Closing Date:     Sunday 12 September 2021
Interview Date:     Friday 24 September 2021
Reference:     072021-303

Birmingham City University is a thriving, modern university with a rich history in the city and wider region. With 25,000 students we are focused on teaching excellence and research excellence and place particular emphasis on practice-based programmes that support student employability. 

This is an opportunity to join an expanding, successful and multi-disciplinary School of Education and Social Work. This year we celebrate our 50th Anniversary of delivering Social Work Education and we are looking for someone to take this forward working with an excellent team.  

The Department of Social Work offers a suite of courses to include the BSc Hons Social Work recruiting 90 annually, MSc Social Work recruiting 25 annually, and the Best Interests Assessor, Practice Educator and CPD Programmes. 

The Department links internationally, working in partnership with the West Midlands Social Work Teaching Partnership and key stakeholders throughout the region.  Our regional and national engagement puts experts by experience at the heart of our practice.  

As Head of Department you will provide leadership across all of these activities, ensuring that students, staff and partners are able to benefit from the Department’s further progression and success. Importantly you will also develop a vision to grow the course portfolio and build on success in research. You will be a member of School Senior Leadership Team. The University is seeking to appoint an exceptional individual to this critical role, with an in-depth knowledge of Social Work education and the wider policy landscape. You will have an understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing the sector and the passion to move the Department in to its next stage of development.

You will have had appropriate experience of working within Social Work, management and Learning and Development and will have enjoyed success in leading teams. Ideally, you should have or be working towards a PhD/Doctorate and will be able to demonstrate the capacity to make a valuable contribution to the body of practice-based research in the discipline.

Birmingham City University has set out its vision for transforming the prospects of individuals, organisations and society through excellence in practice-based education, research and knowledge exchange and our Social Work courses are key contributors to this. 

Birmingham City University is at the heart of a vibrant and diverse community and has a proud tradition of championing educational opportunities for all 

The School of Education and Social Work at Birmingham City University is a dynamic and diverse academic community, with a strong track record of delivering excellent education at undergraduate, taught postgraduate and research postgraduate levels. Our location at our City South Campus in Edgbaston, to the south of the City Centre, is home to our Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences and benefited from a £41 million extension in 2018.

The Department of Social Work are particularly interested in hearing from applicants from the ethnically diverse communities and those with disabilities within our society, as we seek to ensure our programme team includes representatives of our diverse student group.  We actively encourage applications from people from diverse backgrounds and the communities we work with.

The interview process will be a series of activities including presentation and meeting with a group staff from the School and experts by experience.

If you wish to know more about this role, and for an informal discussion please contact David Childs Associate Head of School of Education and Social Work on email: david.childs@bcu.ac.uk, email or MS Teams discussion can be arranged.

Please be aware that this position will require an Enhanced +Barred List DBS disclosure, please contact HR on 0121 331 6693 for a confidential self-disclosure form should you wish to declare anything in advance.
The University is committed to internationalism and diversity and welcomes applications from all countries, faiths and backgrounds.

It is each individual successful applicants responsibility to ensure that they have permission to work in the UK. Some applicants may require sponsorship from the University and a visa from UKVI to take up the role if successful. More information on this can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa

Some roles are not capable of sponsorship because they do not meet the UKVI criteria relating to skill and salary level. If you are unsure as to whether you would require sponsorship if successful, or whether the role is capable of sponsorship, please contact us: RTinbox@bcu.ac.uk

Please note on occasions where we receive a large number of applications, we may close the advert ahead of the publicised closing date. If this does happen, we will contact all candidates via email who have started but not yet completed their application, giving 48 hours’ notice.  We would therefore advise that you submit your completed application as soon as possible.

At Birmingham City University we are proud to be an equal opportunities employer.  All staff are expected to understand and enact the University’s commitment to ensuring equality, diversity and inclusion in our employment practice and in all that we do . This commitment is enshrined in our Core Values and is detailed in our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Employment Policy. The University values and celebrates the diversity of our staff and students; we welcome people from the many  different backgrounds and life experiences that reflect the students and the citizens we serve.  We are committed to equality of opportunity for all staff and actively encourage unique contributions, in particular from under-represented groups in respect of age, disability, sex, gender or gender identity, ethnicity, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation or transgender status

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