Faculty People & Culture Manager

Job description

We are looking for a self-motivated and innovative EDI professional to join our team in the role of Faculty Manager for People & Culture in the Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine (FoLSM), King’s College London.   

 

Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) are central to King’s College London’s strategy. EDI is not only a central function of the university, but is embedded within our Faculty and Schools. As a Faculty we aim to lead the way in all aspects of people and culture.  We have recently developed a number of initiatives (see further information) and whilst we have achieved much there is more to be done. The People and Culture Manager will be key to helping us shape and realise these opportunities.

 

In this role you will provide operational leadership and influence strategic direction in the areas of equality, diversity & inclusion within our large and complex Faculty. You will work closely with the Faculty’s Academic Lead for People and Culture, School DDI leads and other Faculty colleagues to ensure the Faculty continues to build on its successful research and teaching track record and inclusive agenda. Alongside these colleagues you will support and shape the work of the Faculty Diversity, Development and Inclusion Committee.  

 

Outside of the Faculty you will foster strong working relationships with King’s Organisational Development and Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Teams, and other necessary teams/departments across Faculties and the University. Working with these teams you will also develop and be responsible for delivery of strategic initiatives that distinguish the Faculty as an innovative thought leader within the areas of diversity, development and cultural change, and will be responsible for the delivery of these strategic initiatives.

 

​The Faculty offers a friendly and collegial working environment that encourages teamwork and innovation, and supports individual members in achieving their personal work goals. The People & Culture Manager will be a valued member of the team, able to offer expertise and advise on aspects of equality, diversity and inclusion and shaping a positive culture in the Faculty. In the role you will have the opportunity to put in place drivers to improve organisational and personal development and enact cultural change. 

 

We are looking for the post holder who shares our vision to ensure all our staff and students feel supported, valued and included, such that colleagues can thrive, and are able to maximise their potential. 

 

 

This post will be offered on an indefinite contract 

This is a full-time post. 

 

Whilst our preference is to appoint to an indefinite contract, we are also willing to consider a fixed term secondment opportunity for internal applicants.

 

Key responsibilities

Delivery of Faculty People & Culture initiatives:  

•        Working closely with the Faculty’s Academic Lead for People and Culture, define and manage the delivery of the Faculty’s priority objectives within the wider context of King’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, to ensure the Faculty has the structures in place to value and harness its diverse community of staff and students.   

•        Plan, develop and manage implementation of key strategic initiatives and action plans to help the Faculty continually improve and strengthen our positive workplace culture and staff development, taking account of trends and overall diversity data and taking accountability for objectives.  

•        Ensure compliance, where appropriate, to relevant polices and statutory requirements. Integrate and embed diversity and inclusion into processes, tools, etc and provide support for driving culture change. 

•        Contribute to, in collaboration with Faculty colleagues, efforts to integrate diversity and inclusion and cultural change into curricular and co-curricular initiatives. 

•        Identify and help lead/prepare applications for external accreditations and relevant grants or similar to support or recognise the Faculty’s people and culture activities. 

 

Strategy and Leadership:

•        Working with the Faculty’s Academic Lead for People and Culture, provide leadership in the areas of diversity, development and cultural change across the Faculty. 

•        Working with Executive Dean, Academic Lead for People & Culture, Director of Operations and Head of Strategic Projects, develop and deliver compelling, strategic initiatives that distinguish the Faculty as an innovative thought leader within the fields of diversity and innovation.   

•        Contribute to Faculty strategy, ensuring it embraces the commitment to an inclusive and innovative workplace. 

 

Communication and relationships:

•        Utilise specialist expertise in diversity, development and culture to generate original ideas for innovations in relation to diversity, inclusion and cultural change.  

•        Provide advice on Faculty priorities, opportunities and risks around diversity, development and cultural change. 

•        Working with Faculty colleagues, using relevant data and evidence, identify current and future needs and trends to inform the evolution of interventions around positive culture, inclusion and staff development.  

•        Foster excellent working relationships across King’s and externally, to deliver improvements in the areas of diversity, development and cultural change, working effectively with colleagues across an array of operational and academic functions. 

•        Collaborate with colleagues in HR and Faculty Business Intelligence team to develop sustainable robust data systems to monitor, inform and evidence activities in diversity, development and cultural change, including definition of quantitative benchmarks to evaluate the effectiveness of initiatives. 

•        Ensure the ongoing development of a qualitative evidence base within the Faculty, which serves to contextualise quantitative data, and further augment strategic initiatives.  

Management/business-as-usual: 

•        Manage junior colleague(s) working in the area of People and Culture, including responsibility for team member development, performance management and pastoral care, as appropriate.  

•        Oversee business-as-usual activities delivered by junior team members, planning and managing the work of others and allocating work appropriately. 

•        Manage the development and sharing of key resources. 

 

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 

1.      Educated to degree level or significant relevant experience 

2.      Awareness of people and culture challenges facing HEIs, particularly relating to EDI but also relating to areas such as staff development and recognition, workload and wellbeing, bullying and harassment, and desire to help bring about positive cultural change. 

3.      In-depth knowledge of relevant equalities and human rights legislation, including the application of the Equality Act 2010 and Public Sector Equality Duty within Higher Education or a similar regulated sector/organisation. 

4.      Experience of developing and delivering EDI-related activities and/or organisational development interventions, in response to data trends and patterns of inequity, and knowledge of how these relate to diversity and inclusion legislation and strategies to bring about cultural change 

5.      Excellent project management, including experience of developing and delivering project plans, taking ideas from early concept to implementation 

6.      Experience of engaging a range of stakeholders, including organising focus groups, and ability to employ excellent communication and interpersonal skills to interact with stakeholders at all levels, both inside and outside the organisation 

7.      Excellent communication, analytical and IT skills, including MS Office 

8.      Experience supporting junior colleagues, either through direct line management or more informally, including planning and objective setting, performance management and pastoral care 

9.      Ability to work independently and flexibly, using initiative and creativity to address challenges, as well as working well as part of a team 

10.   Ability to handle situations sensitively, exhibiting a high level of awareness and confidentiality, tact and diplomacy. 

 

Desirable criteria

1.        Experience of analysing data, presenting results graphically, and interpreting findings to support the development of action plans 

2.        Qualification in project and/or change management e.g. Prince 2, APM, Lean, Six Sigma Certification 

3.        Experience working in EDI/organisational development in Higher Education 

Further information About the Faculty 

The Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine is one of the largest and most successful centres for biomedical research and education in the UK, with an annual turnover of more than £280m and operates across four main campuses. The Faculty has internationally-leading expertise in basic, translational and clinical research, and delivers renowned education programmes. The Faculty employs over 2000 staff and supports over 7000 students. It has a comprehensive programme of initiatives to support an inclusive environment and culture, and promote diversity across our staff and student communities. The Faculty’s activities embody the King’s ambition to serve our society – both at a local and global level which underpins the King’s Vision 2029 and the university’s international strategy. 

 

In the past year, within our Faculty we developed a pilot postgraduate research mediation process to facilitate dispute resolution between PhD students and supervisors, launched in January 2023. We also continued and expanded our Confidential Advisor scheme supporting staff and PhD students affected by bullying and harassment, including recruiting new advisors and developing activities to promote the scheme across the faculty.

 

In the area of race equality, we were awarded a Royal Academy of Engineering Diversity Impact Programme Grant ‘Success for Black Engineers’ to introduce mentoring for black school-age and undergraduate students, aimed at increasing black applicants to engineering programmes and increasing attainment and wellbeing. We also facilitated tailored ‘Conversations about Race’ sessions in collaboration with King’s Race Equality Network.

 

The Faculty’s medical (MBBS) programme progressed its EDI strategic plans, including initiating a review to decolonise materials, expanding a ‘reverse mentoring’ pilot, analysing attainment gaps and providing active bystander training. We held activities exploring Faculty culture, including the Faculty leadership away day, which identified numerous actions in priority areas, including increasing staff recognition and professional services development opportunities. In July, we launched our 2022 People & Culture Survey to capture experiences of working in FoLSM and inform future actions to improve staff experience. We also continued academic promotion workshops and our Learning and Development Fund, which supports career-enhancing activities for professional services staff, funding more that 20 successful applicants in 2022.