Position Details

College of Social Sciences

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £34,980 to £44,263 with potential progression once in post to £46,974

Grade: 7

Full Time, Fixed Term contract for 12 months initially

Closing date: 30th September 2024

Background

We are looking for an enthusiastic and talented teaching fellow to join our team at the University of Birmingham.  You will teach and support a mix of international postgraduates and UK public sector professionals, helping to develop the next generation of senior public sector managers and leaders.

The Department of Public Administration and Policy is a recently formed part of the University of Birmingham, incorporating the Institute of Local Government Studies (INLOGOV) – the leading UK centre for the study of public service management, policy and governance with over 50 years of experience working with local government and the public sector.

The department sits in the School of Government, which is one of the largest in the United Kingdom – home to more than 80 full-time academic staff, more than 1,200 undergraduate and taught postgraduate students, and more than 70 doctoral researchers. The School is intellectually vibrant with an excellent record in both research and teaching.

DPAP offers a range of postgraduate degree programmes, at Masters and Diploma levels, with a thriving doctoral research community.  Our taught postgraduate programmes include a full-time on-campus Public Management MSc, an on-line Masters of Public Administration, and a blended Degree Apprenticeship in Public Leadership and Management.

DPAP’s teaching is informed by a robust and innovative research agenda.  Building on our rich history of research addressing the institutional and political life of local government and public management, our teaching and research now also reaches beyond these traditional structures and actors to address governance, democracy, leadership, participation, policy-making, performance and financial management, and service delivery at and across multiple scales and issues.

To teach and advise postgraduate and CPD students within own subject area and within an established teaching programme, supervised by an academic member of staff with ultimate responsibility for the design, delivery and assessment of the teaching programme.

Role Summary

• Teaching within own subject area within an established teaching programme (under the supervision from an academic member of staff)

Main Duties

• Teach courses at a range of levels within specified subject area and within own area of subject specialism to postgraduates and CPD students, predominantly through allocated lectures and seminars, so that the School’s teaching objectives are met.
• Contribute to the design of modules with other colleagues.
• Plan and prepare own teaching, including guidance notes and handouts in accordance with the established objectives of the teaching programme.
• Devise and supervise projects, student dissertations and practical work.
• Develop an approach to planning and reviewing own teaching.
• Undertake full range of responsibilities in relation to supervision, marking and examining. (Summative assessment, including assessed work contributing to the final award – as a mark or as a credit – such as unseen examinations, essays, dissertations or presentations, is subject to validation by the academic supervisor.)
• Frequently update own subject expertise.
• Undertake personal professional development in teaching, including self-reflection on own teaching, using student and peer review feedback, to enhance own teaching and learning processes.
• Contribute to knowledge transfer on own specialism that is of manifest benefit to the College and the University, often under supervision of a project leader.
• Undertake management/administration arising from teaching.
• Contribute to Departmental/School teaching-related activities and teaching-related administration.
• Contribute to enterprise, business development and/or public engagement activities of manifest benefit to the College and the University, often under supervision of a project leader.
• Promote equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.

Person Specification

• Higher degree relevant to teaching area (public management, public administration and public policy) or equivalent qualifications
• High level analytical capability
• Ability to design and deliver module teaching materials successfully
• Ability to assess and organise teaching resources effectively
• Understanding of and ability to contribute to broader management/administration processes
• Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day to day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly.

Informal enquiries to Dr Karin Bottom, Head of Education k.a.bottom@bham.ac.uk or Jason Lowther, Head of Department j.lowther@bham.ac.uk

We believe there is no such thing as a ‘typical’ member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website.