JOB DESCRIPTION

Employment status and working hours

Fixed term for 12 months, full time.

Full time hours at the University are 35 per week with the standard working pattern Monday to Friday from 09:00 to 17:00, with some flexibility in start/finish times.

Organisation structure

Education and Students, School of the Built Environment.

Your line manager will be Malcolm Todd, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic).

Place of work flexibility

You will normally spend your total working time at home*, which must be within the UK. You may, on occasions, be expected to attend the Horizons, Reading office to attend meetings or training events. *Working from home is only possible if your environment is suitable – please see the ‘Working from home’ section on our Careers Site for further information.

High level summary of job role

The Deputy Dean (Academic) at the University of the Built Environment will provide academic leadership and play a crucial role in collective decision-making on strategy across the Schools, and is a Senior Leader at university level, helping to deliver the University's ambitions as set out in the Strategic Plan 2025–30 and the longer strategic aim of being the centre of excellence for built environment education.

The prime role of the Deputy Dean (Academic) is to assist the Dean (Academic) in providing strong academic leadership to ensure the University achieves the highest possible standards of excellence across the full portfolio of academic activity. The Deputy Dean is responsible for the development of all aspects of the portfolio to ensure an effective and successful student learning experience. The Deputy Dean is required to exercise leadership, demonstrate vision, and empower others to deliver the agreed strategy within the School and the University and ensure it achieves the highest possible standards of excellence in all its activities.

Specific job role accountabilities and responsibilities

To work closely with the Dean in providing academic leadership, management and support to the academic staff in the Schools in the areas listed below.

Strategic Planning and development across the academic provision

• Translate strategic goals into operational plans and establish and lead the programme teams to implement these operational plans.

• Work with Associate Deans and Programme Leaders to develop and maintain programmes to ensure subject currency, student satisfaction and student outcomes.

• Working with the Associate Dean (Research) to establish a research culture to contribute towards university research ambitions.

Leadership and management of staff

• Be responsible for the effective management and performance of staff within the Schools in accordance with HR policies, procedures and the University’s values.

• Assist in the recruitment, induction and probation of the academic staff, in accordance with the approved recruitment plan, and in line with the workload allocation and development needs of the Schools.

• With the Heads of School, ensure the completion of Performance Development Review activities for all staff within the Schools, and undertake these activities for direct line reports, in accordance with the University’s performance management expectations.

• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with key senior internal and external partners.

Operational performance

• Lead and manage the Schools to meet defined targets and KPIs in support of the University’s CX Strategy.

• Assist in the implementation of the University’s regulations, policies and procedures within the Schools, to ensure the educational progress and wellbeing of students registered on our University programmes.

• Be responsible for ensuring that the delivery of education meets the highest standards and expectations of the Office for Students, Ofsted, Professional Bodies and associated external agencies.

• Present information, analyses and opinions within areas of responsibility to the Academic Board, the Board of Trustees and their respective sub-committees.

• Ensure that there is active engagement between staff within the Schools and Student Representatives, to ensure effective student engagement and recognition of the student voice.

• Represent the University, both externally and internally, at activities and events for the purposes of: marketing and student recruitment; (re)validation and accreditation; quality assurance and inspection; professional and industry engagement.

• Ensure all agreed activities within the scope of the School are appropriately resourced, developed and supported, in line with institutional expectations, for example: module delivery; module development; programme development; academic administration; industry and academic engagement; research, scholarship and knowledge exchange.

• Act as Chair of a range of academic committees, School meetings, working groups and formal quality assurance bodies, as required.

• Undertake other relevant duties, responsibilities and committee memberships appropriate to the post.

Other important features of the job role

Line management responsibilities: Yes, and the number of direct reports is 2-3.

Budget responsibility: Yes.

In this role you will liaise with the following: Academic Operations Team; Digital Learning and Engagement Team; Professional Services; Apprenticeships Team; Admissions Team; Business Development Team; Marketing Team; External Professional Practitioners; Professional Bodies.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

E = Essential person requirement; D = Desirable person requirement

How the person requirement will be assessed:

A = Application; I = Interview; T = Test or other assessment

Please be aware that as part of safer recruitment and onboarding processes, we will seek original documentary evidence of the relevant academic and/or professional qualifications which you include within your job application. This is all part of our comprehensive pre-employment screening which also includes checking your identity, right to work, criminal record history (basic disclosure unless specified otherwise), and three years employment history. This is all part of our commitment to safeguarding our students. Keeping our students safe is a responsibility shared by everyone within the University.

Qualifications and training

First degree in a built environment discipline or cognate subject (E, A).

Doctoral level qualification or equivalent such as professional level experience (D, A).

Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching in Higher Education (or equivalent such as HEA Recognition) (D, A).

Previous experience

Experience in a similar role (E, A, I).

Experience within the education sector / Built Environment / Higher Education (E, A, I).

Experience of identifying risks and options, and of developing strategies to manage and mitigate them (E, A, I).

Behaviours and attitudes

Alignment to the University’s core values and growth mindset approach, which reflect our culture. Refer to the specific behaviours within the Competency Framework (E, I) – summarised within the careers site.

Skills, knowledge, other requirements

Excellent communication skills in both verbal and written form and ability to generate clear and concise documentation (E, A, I).

Ability to work collaboratively and develop positive relationships with a range of senior stakeholders, both inside and outside the organisation (E, A, I).

Self-motivated and proactive in approach to challenges and opportunities (E, A, I).

Creative and innovative with a strong grounding in practical solutions and achieving results (E, A, I).

Able to work on own initiative or as part of a team (E, A, I).

Digital skills confidence: We use MS Office which includes Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and several other systems/technology (E, I, T).

Commitment to delivering positive outcomes for our students regardless of your area of work within the University; we want our students to be successful (E, I).

You must be prepared to undertake mandatory online training should you be appointed. The University is regulated by the Office for Students and Ofsted, and we have specific requirements and expectations around safeguarding, Prevent, and anti-harassment and bullying. This is all part of our Competency Framework requirements (E, I).

PAY AND BENEFITS

Salary: Salary £68,000 per annum.

Holiday: 26 days paid holiday (rising to 28 with service) plus paid bank/public holidays plus up to five paid closure days (typically between Christmas and New Year); all per holiday year Full Time Equivalent. Our holiday year runs from 1 August to 31 July. We also have a holiday buy and sell scheme in place. Sometimes the University does not need to close for five days per year and any balance (for example one day), can be used as a paid Wellbeing Day to take time out for your own physical or mental health.

Pension and life assurance: Pensions auto-enrolment to the Universities Superannuation Scheme which is a default salary sacrifice scheme. You may opt out of salary sacrifice but remain in the scheme, or you may choose to opt out altogether.

Family-friendly policies: Policies in place for all types of family-friendly statutory leave with enhanced pay available from day one of employment for some leave types. Access to Tax-Free Childcare (Government scheme).

Wellbeing: Full access to the Employee Assistance Programme as well as the Thrive Mental Wellbeing app. Several employees are trained Mental Health First Aiders and can support staff. We have a wellbeing policy and we focus on five pillars of wellbeing.

Sustainable travel: Cycle to Work and Electric Vehicle salary sacrifice schemes.

Parking: We have locked sheds for bicycles. For cars, for Horizons based roles, we may in the future be able to offer parking on site however you must not assume this will be possible. Every now and then we may have a spare parking space become available and you can ask to join the waiting list. The University is keen wherever possible, to encourage staff to commute as sustainably as possible.

Other health related benefits: Employer-funded Health Cash Plan (Simplyhealth) and voluntary dental insurance (Unum).

Other valuable benefits:

• Charity giving options available including one voluntary paid day, per annum.

• You will have access to range of lifestyle discounts and everyday savings.

• We offer learning platforms including LinkedIn learning.

APPLICATIONS - THINGS TO CONSIDER

For an informal discussion about the role please contact Marc Fleming on 0118 467 2479 or email M.fleming@ube.ac.uk. For any other enquiries please contact HR on 0118 467 2454 / 2433 or email recruitment@ube.ac.uk

Did one of our employees recommend you? If you apply on the recommendation of an existing employee, please make sure to mention their name within your application.

We're passionate about sustainability and we have a five-year strategic plan: We expect job seekers to be curious about who we are and what we do. We point you towards a couple of resources about who we are and sustainability.

Closing date and next steps

We will receive applications until the advert closes on Monday 21 September 2026 at 17:00. We will not consider late applications. Our ATS does not screen applications, we humans do. Applications may be reviewed prior to the closing date and occasionally, you may be invited to interview ahead of the closing date.

Interview details

Dates for interview will be advised to you later in the process. We'll ask you to tell us about any dates you cannot make, up to 4 weeks from the closing date; this helps us to plan interviews should you be shortlisted, prior to contacting you.

Interviews are normally carried out over Microsoft Teams or Zoom. Depending on the job role and place of work, your interview may be at our Reading or London office. Please be prepared for a two-stage interview process, held on different dates. As part of the interview process, you will likely meet a member of the Senior Leadership Team.

Note for internal candidates

If you are an existing employee, we request you inform your current line manager of your intention to apply for this role.