Role purpose and overview
Birkbeck, University of London, is a world-class research and teaching institution, a vibrant centre of academic engagement and excellence and London’s only specialist provider of evening higher education.
Where once we were known solely for our part-time courses and mature students, today we have a wider mix; our cohort of full-time undergraduates has grown from zero to almost 3,000 over the past six years. Undergraduate students can study for a degree at a pace that suits them, across three, four or six years, while we are the sixth largest provider of postgraduate programmes to Home-EU students in the UK.
This is an exciting opportunity to play an important role in supporting Birkbeck’s unique mission across a varied and evolving remit. The Planning function leads/facilitates discussion of key strategic issues, policy, and the analysis of provision of high quality management information to the organisation. You will be asked to take the lead in key areas, including co-ordinating Birkbeck’s planning and budget setting activities, and developing the college’s position on key issues such as TEF, fees and league tables.
Duties
Planning is a wide remit in the college; the post holder will support the Director of Planning across this remit, and will take the lead on various aspects, depending on skill-set and workload demands. In particular, the post holder will run the ‘planning cycle’, ensuring that the various planning activities are understood and supported with information to support decision-making and hands-on help and advice. Including:
- Proactively engage with Executive Deans, Directors of Professional Services and other senior colleagues to develop credible and costed business cases for academic developments and infrastructure investments.
- Support the Director in engaging with senior colleagues from across the institution to communicate and correlate local strategic plans, corporate strategies, plans for investment, budgets and KPIs.
- Direct and manage the college’s annual budget setting process, ensuring that all components of the process are in place and understood. These include: staff roles and deadlines, supporting management information, the IT that supports the planning process, training and user support.
- Lead the monitoring of plans against stated aims and college KPIs and report outcomes.
- Commission and define market research, data modelling and management information to support decision-making and planning.
- Communicate complex data and concepts in a way appropriate to the audience. (Will include market research outcomes, National Student Survey, Teaching Excellence Framework and others).
- Ensure that the management information and IT that supports the planning cycle is accurate, appropriate, insightful and timely
- Support the Director in ensuring that all aspects of Planning services are meeting the needs of the institution.
The post holder will also:
- Lead the analysis of complex datasets.
- Develop discussion and position papers on key issues affecting the organisation (this may include league tables, the Teaching Excellence Framework, government policy including Brexit).
- Support the Policy Adviser in developing college positions, meeting with civil servants, MPs and influencers as appropriate.
- Line manage senior members of the Planning Team (Head of Management Information and Data Quality, Planning Support Manager, Business Systems Analyst).
- Deputise for the Director of Planning, as required.
Interview date: 9 November 2017
Contact: Nick Head on n.head@bbk.ac.uk
For information and to apply please click here