Programme Manager

Job description

Working as part of a team to ensure consistent management and delivery of professional and executive taught programmes in The Dickson Poon School of Law through providing high quality administrative support. Responsible for the operational management of a cluster of programmes across the School, ensuring timely and effective delivery in accordance with university and School priorities, timelines and policies. Ensuring consistency of process, quality and efficacy of service, that the team provide a high level of customer support to relevant stakeholders. Providing leadership and line management to Programme Officer and Senior Programme Officer roles, allocating staff resource to ensure consistent and effective service delivery, and developing and delivering training to all levels to enable and embed service resilience and succession planning. Representing the School in wider university activities and committees, in support of the School’s interests and engaging with university functions. Ensure that staff are aware of their purpose and engaging with a shared vision for the university and the School.

This role will present exciting opportunities to shape a new team of current and new staff and together support growing portfolio of the new and existing programmes.

This post will be offered on an indefinite contract

This is a full-time post - 100% full time equivalent

Key responsibilities

• Monitor and review service delivery on a continual basis to ensure compliance with agreed timeframes, expectations, key performance indicators and service level agreements, providing feedback to team members and setting clear expectations. Address contemporaneous and medium-term issues and flag longer term issues to relevant colleagues.
• Ensure consistent management, delivery, and high quality administrative support for a group of postgraduate taught programmes provided for students at various and specific stages of the professional student journey; including those seeking to attain qualification as a lawyer, qualified lawyers, senior qualified lawyers, and professionals in cognate sectors e.g., regulators, IP copyright industries
• Manage the introduction and implementation of new approved credit bearing programmes and, when agreed, opening-up closed (B2B) programmes to the wider public
• Manage the development, delivery and evaluation of short courses for professional audiences, ensuring an excellent customer service for all stakeholders
• Ensure key activities, such as assessment and progression processes, are completed in accordance with university timeframes and policies and to liaise and engage with stakeholders and programme boards as required
• Develop and improve the service through eliciting and responding to service user feedback, identifying and implementing new ways of working through close working with the Senior Programme Manager
• Represent the Faculty’s interests in university wide service improvement projects, engaging with relevant stakeholders, groups, and committees across the university to influence change. Working closely with the Senior Programme Manager to develop and implement service improvements
• Work flexibly as part of a team, supporting others in times of high-volume activity, and reporting on resource issues to the Senior Programme Manager in a timely manner. Organising new starter inductions. Covering staff absence and deputising for the Senior Programme Manager as and when required
• Undertake local line management life-cycle processes, from recruitment, through induction, probation, performance management, enabling development and training activities and completing exit processes
• Produce management information data to meet the needs of a wide range of stakeholders, including utilising data to monitor completion and quality of work undertaken by the team and analysing and providing reports on data from many sources such as module evaluation processes
• Contribute to and inform the development of student systems, including online learning platforms and SITS, and supporting improvements to and implementation of other systems within the university. Contributing to and initiating process improvements, ensuring training and support is provided to the Programme Officer and Senior Programme Officer roles
• Support Senior Programme Officers in managing students’ pastoral care needs, ensuring teams are aware of signposting students to relevant services and that processes and policies are kept up to date
• Have oversight of, investigate and respond to formal and informal complaints within agreed timeframes. Utilise information gathered to inform improvements to services and systems at both a local and a university level
• Ensure that quality assurance requirements and, where required, accreditation requirements are met for all courses. To service committees as directed by your line manager
• To ensure all work is carried out in a professional and timely manner, with appropriate confidentiality and sensitivity. To maintain an up to date knowledge of the Data Protection requirements and to support Freedom of information and subject access requests
• As this role manages teaching and learning activities that may take place outside of King’s standard term time teaching hours, there may be a requirement to occasionally work during the evening or weekend but within King’s standard contracted hours of work i.e. 35 hours a week. Time off in lieu will be given as agreed in advance with the Senior Programme Manager.

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

Essential criteria 

1. Educated to degree level
2. Excellent communication skills including to ability to draft documents and correspondence, lead and contribute to meetings with a range of stakeholders
3. Excellent organisational and time management skills, with the ability to prioritise effectively and delegate tasks appropriately and work to tight deadlines
4. Strong numeracy skills and ability to extract, analyse and present complex numerical data
5. Effective, data driven decision making ability, and able to exercise independent judgement
6. Strong understanding of user-focused, end-to-end service ethos and familiarity with frameworks for effective delivery
7. Experience in the use of databases and student records systems (such as SITS) to provide management information data to a high level of detail and accuracy
8. Experience of leading a team of staff, and experience of managing change, setting standards and developing high performing teams with a development focused and proactive style.
9. Experience of addressing complaints and service setbacks in a professional and efficient manner
10. Have a proactive approach, working independently and exercising professional judgement

Desirable criteria 

1. Experience of having a longer-term view of service provision, and the ability to plan for both the immediate future and the longer term where developments may be in progress