Discipline Lead (Finance & Accounting)

Job Title

DISCIPLINE LEAD (FINANCE & ACCOUNTING)

Salary band:       

Academy Grade F - G

Location:        

Flexible – the post may be based at home/area based or York (Subject to business need) but the post holder will be required to attend York at least 3 days a month if home/area based. UK-wide travel and direct working with higher education institutions will be a key feature of this role.

Job purpose

The Discipline Lead will work closely with the Head of Social Sciences and with Academic Leads to provide the key academic interface between the HEA and the discipline-based lecturers, learning and teaching practitioners and management and support staff working in Higher Education.  The post holder will exercise academic leadership in close collaboration with individuals and teams within HE, and will lead and manage Academy service delivery in the discipline area, forging, developing and supporting specific and defined relationships and activities with academic departments and faculties, and with other relevant organisations.   Managing performance in the delivery of the service will be a key part of the role.

Principal Responsibilities

Provide creative and committed academic leadership, and collaborate as required with departments, individuals and teams within HE, to support improvements in learning and teaching in institutions delivering the cognate subject/disciplinary areas within Social Sciences.

Design, develop and lead a range of Academy services (including workshops, seminars and conferences) across the HE sector to promote excellence in learning and teaching within the discipline and to share and disseminate effective practice in learning and teaching in HE in collaboration with relevant professional, subject, and sector bodies where appropriate.

To seek and promote inter- and cross-disciplinary work, in collaboration with Academic and other Discipline Leads to ensure a coordinated set of activities to academic staff to support learning and teaching improvements in HE.

Work with and support the Head of Social Sciences to plan, coordinate and monitor performance of planned areas of work.

To maintain a modest portfolio of teaching and/or research in association with a nominated HEI.

Develop the content of the HEA resource centre and provide advice and guidance to individuals and the wider subject and disciplinary communities.

Produce written briefings/papers/reports on learning, teaching and research developments in order to inform the discipline and wider sector of developments and initiatives in HE.

Promote and market the work of the HEA, both nationally and internationally, through attendance at institutions and conferences and through producing articles for publication to raise the profile of the Academy.

Support delivery of Academy services within the wider subject area of Social Sciences including working with emerging disciplines.

Build and maintain strong relationships with key sector bodies such as professional, statutory and regulatory bodies, subject associations, and committees of heads of departments.

Lead on the Academy’s services to academics in Finance & Accounting.

Lead, within your subject team, on one more of the following areas of HEA work as determined by your line manager: learning and teaching consultancy ( at department and faculty-level, journals, discipline-specific workshops, new to teaching toolkits, workshops for those new to teaching or teaching development grants.

Any other duties commensurate with the grade.

Responsible to:       

Head of Social Sciences

Responsible for:       

The postholder may be required to line manage Academic Development Officers

Working Relationships

Internal – with colleagues across the HEA

External – with HEIs, professional bodies and other agencies as appropriate.

Essential

Desirable

Experience

• Substantial and significant teaching and/or academic staff development experience in HE in the relevant discipline
• Experience of developing and delivering creative and innovative learning and teaching .
• Experience of undertaking subject-based or pedagogic research in an HEI and interacting with the work of HEA Subject Centre(s)
• Experience of developing networks and managing productive relationships
• Experience of presenting information and data in formats for a range of audiences, including report writing skills
• Experience of quality enhancement/assurance practices which support excellent student learning experiences

• Contemporary teaching and/or academic staff development experience
• Experience of supervising and managing consultants and others
• Experience of building teams and team working
• Experience of having exploited academic enterprise opportunities to generate external income

Knowledge and understanding

• Knowledge of UK higher education and the sector’s current issues, particularly in learning and teaching
• Knowledge of the key challenges and academic development issues affecting learning and teaching in the discipline area.
• Good knowledge of effective teaching and learning practices.
• An enterprising approach, able to identify and help exploit academic enterprise opportunities that align with the Academy’s mission
• A higher degree or equivalent
• Fellow, Associate Fellow or clear potential to gain Fellowship of the HEA
• Knowledge of key trends and developments in the enhancement of the student learning experience in HE

• PG Certificate in Higher Education (or equivalent)

Skills

• Ability to be creative and innovative in the development and delivery of learning and teaching.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Project management skills and experience.
• Evidence of research skills.
• Ability to work independently, undertaking a high level of personal responsibility and initiative as required within the role. 
• Ability to manage demanding workloads including working to conflicting deadlines whilst maintaining attention to detail
• Ability to use networks of HE contacts appropriate to the role.
• Excellent computer skills, including use of MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint)

• Ability to understand and address the learning and teaching issues of academics from disciplines within the wider Social Sciences area.