Job description

The Senior Programme Manager, Taught Programmes is a key role within the Education Support Team that works closely with the Associate Director, Education and the Dean of Education to support and deliver the faculty educational aims via our portfolio of Undergraduate and Postgraduate taught programmes. The post holder will also continue to lead the implementation of strategic projects in the faculty especially those relating to the Curriculum 2029 and the Student Success Transformation Programme workstreams.

Utilising their full understanding of programme administration in Higher Education, the post holder will provide key advice, guidance and support to Programme Administration and Academic Programme teams, line managing 5 Programme Managers ensuring the delivery of a gold standard student centered service.

Liaising with the Quality Assurance Manager, the Student Experience Manager and School Educational Leads, the post holder will ensure that policies and procedures are adhered to, that deadlines are met both at Faculty and College level, resolve immediate problems and issues, as well as developing recommendations in order to manage more complex situations with a full understanding of their impact and consequences.

With responsibility for managing and planning their own workload and that of their team, the post holder will have a proactive approach to leadership with experience of line management and supporting and or creating high performing motivated teams. They will have a significant previous experience and a good understanding of programme administration in Higher Education along with a commitment to continuous improvement and excellent communication skills.

The role is responsible for:

• The effective delivery of programme administration and education support for taught programmes in the faculty, ensuring a consistent, high level of professionalism, and alignment with university and faculty strategies and priorities.
• Leadership of the programme administration staff in the faculty, developing and maintaining effective relationships with senior stakeholders, networks and external partners.
• Monitoring and supporting delivery of high quality customer service through continual review and monitoring of adherence to indicators of service delivery.
• Anticipating and addressing service delivery issues, ensuring resources are fully utilised at times of peak demand and escalating when additional resource is needed.
• Representing the faculty in wider university activities and committees, in support of the faculty’s interests and engaging with university functions.

This is currently a hybrid role, and the role holder will spend part of their working week on campus and part of the week working remotely.

This post is a maternity leave cover and will be offered on a fixed term contract and will be an ideal opportunity for a talented motivated individual who is looking to take the next step in their career.

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

This post will be offered on an  a fixed-term contract until 10-Jun-2024

Key responsibilities

• To lead programme administration staff in the faculty and ensure that staff are enabled to deliver excellent service. 
• To assist academic and professional services colleagues with programme development, to ensure programme teams are supported through planning, resourcing and enacting best practise around programme development. 
• To implement and communicate local and central education regulations and policies and support their development with other professional services leads. 
• To lead on a range of programme-related strategic projects for the faculty. 
• To ensure the involvement of service users and stakeholders in development and improvement of services; including oversight of complex complaints, wider organisational dependencies and ongoing management of service expectations. 
• Embedding a culture of continuous improvement in education teams through identifying areas requiring strengthening and working at a local and university-wide level to define, develop and implement administrative processes and policy and systems which contribute to business resilience. 
• To be an agent of change, championing change management activities across the faculty, working closely with the Associate Director, Education to facilitate this. 
• To generate, analyse, provide reports and present management information data to a wide range of stakeholders. Interpret and analyse management information from a broad range of suppliers to understand and inform the faculty’s position.   
• To support key faculty meetings, including taking responsibility for ensuring actions are clearly noted and followed up on. 
• To represent the faculty’s interests in university wide service improvements projects engaging with relevant stakeholders, groups and committees across the university to influence change. Working closely with programmes teams to implement and assess the impact of service improvements. 
• To maintain an oversight of resource deployment in the context of workload, team structure and utilisation of resource in line with the faculty and university’s strategic plans, reporting on successes and setbacks and providing analysis to inform the changing shape of the service. 
• 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. 
• To work flexibly as part of a team, supporting others in times of high demand, maintaining an oversight of resource levels and to deputise for the Associate Director, Education as and when required. 

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. Education to degree level or equivalent experience.
2. Substantial administrative experience gained within an HE environment, preferably with a focus on taught programme delivery.   
3. Experience of developing innovative solutions and practical implementation for strategic change.
4. Experience of managing projects and managing change.
5. Experience of translating complex regulations, processes and information in suitable formats for a variety of audiences. 
6. Proactive and authentic approach to leadership, strong experience of line management and creating high performing teams, including motivating staff, performance management and maintaining a positive, proactive culture of continual review and development.
7. Strong interpersonal skills including influencing and negotiating with stakeholders across organisational boundaries to deliver a timely positive outcome diplomatically.
8. Ability to build networks with colleagues and stakeholders across the College.
9. Ability to work under pressure in a busy environment. 
10. Proven ability to use initiative, prioritise workloads and respond positively to situations arising at short notice. 
11. Advanced IT skills with particular reference to database use, reporting and the Microsoft Office suite of programmes.

Desirable criteria

1.  Good knowledge of issues facing students in Higher Education.  
2. Evidence of continuous professional development.

Further information

As a fixed term Maternity Leave contract, we would particularly welcome secondment applications from internal candidates who have relevant Programme Administration and line management experience and are interested in developing their career.   

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