Our shared purpose at CIEL

At the Centre for International Education and Languages (CIEL), we share a commitment to delivering world-class, student-centred education that prepares learners to thrive in a complex global society. Our work promotes intercultural understanding, linguistic excellence, and international engagement.

We value every team member’s expertise and contribution, fostering a culture of respect, collaboration, and inclusion. CIEL aims to empower colleagues to work both cooperatively and independently, while continually developing ways to celebrate and strengthen diversity across the Centre.

Collaboration and innovation are central to our approach. We work across disciplines, cultures, and perspectives to enhance teaching, learning, and global engagement. We strive to create an environment of psychological safety – where ideas are shared freely, challenges are welcomed, and everyone’s voice matters.

Grounded in trust, transparency, and integrity, we aim to build strong relationships based on respect and open communication. Together, we seek to create a collegial, inclusive, and forward-thinking Centre that embodies the international ideals we embrace and enables both staff and students to thrive.
 

Putting our values into action

Our cultural values should be reflected in the everyday experiences of our staff. We wish to foster a culture of mutual appreciation and respect. We want to connect people across teams and disciplines, providing opportunities to collaborate, share best practice, and build lasting partnerships within the Centre, the University and internationally.

Professional development is integral to our culture. We encourage colleagues to engage in scholarship, attend conferences, participate in continuing professional development (CPD) and develop their skills through peer learning and reflective practice. We value curiosity and creativity, recognising that innovation grows when people feel empowered to experiment and contribute new ideas, even when they fail.

Our Centre should be a place of psychological safety, where individuals are empowered to share ideas, raise concerns, and innovate without fear of judgement. We actively cultivate an environment where every voice matters and constructive challenge is welcomed. With resilience, we navigate change and complexity, supporting one another through challenges while staying focused on delivering excellence for our students.

Whilst collaboration is central to our work, we also promote staff autonomy, trusting individual staff to manage their own priorities and ways of working. We also celebrate our diversity as a workforce and will continue to work to promote diversity and inclusion through training, events, and policy improvement, ensuring that the Centre is a place where people’s different experiences are not only tolerated but widely understood and appreciated.

Above all, we strive to make CIEL a supportive and inspiring place to work – a community where every colleague feels part of something meaningful, where success is shared, and where the work we do together has real impact, enabling both our staff and students to thrive.
 

Applying to a role in CIEL

CIEL is committed to equality of opportunity, recognising, celebrating and improving our diversity and inclusion. We believe that diverse perspectives drive innovation and strengthen our team. We therefore encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds.

We would like applicants to be comfortable requesting reasonable adjustments during the interview process and to be reassured that this will not have a negative impact on their application. All appointments are based on the individual’s skills and experience to do the job.

Our hiring process is designed to ensure fairness and equal opportunity for all candidates.

Please see below for examples of adjustments we can offer, but let us know if there are any that you require which are not listed:

• We can offer a printed copy of Interview questions at the start of each interview
• Applicants with a physical disability can let us know how we can help accommodate you during your interview by scheduling an interview location that is easily accessible, for example a ground floor room with wide doors
• Applicants with a hearing impairment – please let us know if you require a hearing loop to ensure that our interview room is equipped.