About us

The Defence Studies Department (DSD) is an academic department of King’s College London based at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom at Shrivenham, Oxfordshire. DSD delivers a wide range of professional military education (via a contract with the UK Ministry of Defence) and online programmes (in partnership with Boundless Learning) relating to defence, security, conflict, history and international relations. The Education Planning needs of the department are supported by the School of Security Studies School Office, via a professional services team located at Shrivenham and working closely with academics based in DSD. The School also includes the Department of War Studies (based on the Strand, London) and the King’s Institute for Applied Security Studies, both of which work closely with DSD and the School Office. We are part of the Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy, one of the largest faculties of King’s College London.

About the role

A Planning Manager for Professional and Online Education is required to bring about strategic development of the Education Planning function for King’s Defence Studies Department (DSD), and to enhance team capacity during two simultaneous instances of maternity leave within the wider Professional and Online Education team.

The successful applicant will review and develop systems and processes, based on a comprehensive understanding of DSD’s and the Defence Academy’s delivery needs and capabilities, while also managing and being part of an operational planning team, so as to ensure the efficient allocation of academic resource for teaching and assessment within the Department. You will line-manage and support the Planning Officers, and work in a collaborative and inclusive manner with academic colleagues and with the wider Education support team. You will facilitate the School of Security Studies’ endeavour of cross-site teaching by working as necessary across the School and with KIASS and the Department of War Studies, being an active part of planning working groups and leading on the enhancement and implementation of new systems, process and procedures across departments. You will report to the School Online and Executive Education Manager, and may occasionally be asked to take on additional duties within and related to the Education support function, congruent with the grade and scope of the role.

This is a full time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered an a fixed term contract until 31 March 2026.

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience: 

Essential criteria

1. Educated to degree level or equivalent experience 
2. Proven ability to work under pressure, meet tight deadlines and respond positively to situations arising at short notice 
3. Excellent task management skills both for self and others 
4. Excellent analytical and information processing skills including the ability to assimilate large and complex sets of information quickly and accurately 
5. Proven ability to communicate at all levels to a diverse group of stakeholders, including motivation, influencing and negotiation skills and network-building 
6. Experience in managing systems implementation  
7. Line management experience
8. Good knowledge, understanding and awareness of confidentiality and GDPR 

Desirable criteria

1. Change management experience
2. Experience of managing projects successfully 
3. Experience of planning/timetabling in the education field
4. Advanced knowledge of Excel, including data validation, macros, pivot tables and graphing 

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the next page after you click “Apply Now”. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Further information 

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community. 

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages.

We are not able to offer sponsorship for candidates who do not currently possess the right to work in the UK.