CANDIDATE BRIEF

School Manager, School of Music/School of Performance and Cultural Industries, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures

Salary: Grade 7 (£33,797 - £40,322 p.a.)

Reference: AHCMU1009

Closing date: 17th January 2021

Full Time, ongoing contract, post available from 18th January 2021

We will consider job share/flexible working arrangements.

School Manager

School of Music/School of Performance and Cultural Industries /Management and Administration Support Service

Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures

Are you an efficient and effective person who can combine operational efficiency with the ability to think strategically? Are you motivated to support academic excellence in busy and successful Faculty, in a highly rated Russell Group university where change is a fact of life?

As School Manager, you will provide professional support to two heads of schools and other senior role holders, managing the Management and Administration Support Service (MASS) for Music and PCI, and taking day to day responsibility for the smooth running of management support in both schools. You will be part of a Faculty team delivering management support, seeking to continually improve and develop approaches across this large and diverse organisation.

You will act as a point of administrative contact for both schools, alongside the School Education Service Manager (who also supports both Music and PCI), regularly liaising with Faculty and University service colleagues, and will work with the respective heads to ensure that internal processes relating to resource and workload planning, strategic planning, finance, and human resources are all carried out effectively. You will manage a small team of support staff and work closely with technical services managers in both schools.

As School Manager, you will have strong reasoning and analytical skills, demonstrated either through education to degree-level, or through equivalent professional and managerial experience. Administrative experience in a large and complex institution, is also essential, along with excellent data handling skills, strong leadership skills and the ability to effect and manage change. The ability to handle a diverse and busy workload and to prioritise effectively will be essential. You will also possess excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to deal diplomatically and effectively with a range of staff.

What does the role entail?

As a School Manager, your main duties will include:

· Providing high level support to two heads of schools (HoSs) in the overall management of their schools; you will be a member of both School Management Groups (SMG). You will support the HoSs in the management of resources, including reviewing, developing and operating workload models, and in development of school strategy and submissions for the annual Integrated Planning Exercise (IPE) and will be heavily involved in any School wide large scale strategically driven projects in the School

· Being responsible for the checking of data from University sources that drive the Resource Allocation Model (student load data, staff survey, estates survey) and for any management information exercises required by the University;

· Representing the HoSs as a key administrative contact for their schools, when working with colleagues across the Faculty (for example in Finance, Research Support and Human Resources) and in the University's central services (for example IT);

· Oversight of School IT, IT projects and requirements, working closely with key colleagues within the School and the wider University to ensure a high standard of IT provision

· Carrying responsibility for the management, review and development of management support staff within Music & PCI ensuring continuous improvement of the team and its outputs

· Contributing to the development of management support in the wider Faculty and sharing good practice, participating in Faculty or University initiatives and managing one-off projects as appropriate;

· Working alongside Strategic Development Manager (Music) and Stage@Leeds Manager (PCI) to oversee school based purchasing, finance and human resources processes, ensuring they are performed in a timely and accurate manner;

· Strategic oversight of all HR processes across both Schools

· Carrying responsibility for improving MASS processes across both Schools to ensure a consistent and streamlined approach to working

· Ensuring effective co-ordination of induction, probation, Staff Review and Development meetings and Annual Academic Meetings for staff within the schools;

· Delegated responsibility for Health and Safety in the School (Health and Safety Coordinator) ensuring the Head of School is appropriately informed;

· Working alongside the Strategic Development Manager (Music) and Stage@Leeds Manager (PCI) to manage and maintain of the School premises

· Holding overall responsibility for the management of internal communication in both schools, in particular developing and managing SharePoint sites, supporting the HoSs by writing and publishing relevant internal information for staff and contributing to development of the Faculty’s approach to internal communications.

· Representing the School on Faculty Committees as required

These duties provide a framework for the role and should not be regarded as a definitive list. Other reasonable duties may be required consistent with the grade of the post and will vary between the two schools involved.

What will you bring to the role?

As a School Manager, you will have:

Excellent reasoning and analytical skills, demonstrated either through education to degree-level, or through equivalent professional and managerial experience;

Strong leadership skills, with the ability to vary the leadership style to suit the situation, to effectively manage change and to supervise staff, working with staff development and review processes;

Administrative experience in a large and complex institution and experience of dealing with a wide range of issues, such as Human Resources, Finance, IT, Facilities and Estates related issues;

Highly developed data handling skills with the ability to present numerical information clearly and accurately, and a high degree of competence in the use of spreadsheet/database technology;

Experience of supporting the development and implementation of strategy;

Experience of participating constructively in management decision-making processes, with the ability to develop and implement strategic initiatives;

Willingness to understand and engage with the academic mission of the School/Faculty;

Highly developed written and oral communication skills, including the ability to write reports and make recommendations to managers at a high level;

Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to build positive working relationships with a wide range of people;

Excellent organisation and prioritisation skills, with the ability to work flexibly to competing deadlines;

Experience of creative problem solving and a proven ability to take a proactive approach to identifying problems and implementing solutions;

Demonstrable commitment to own professional and personal development;

Experience in the use of Microsoft Office (MS Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint);

You may also have:

· Experience of being involved in a change management project;

· Experience of the development and/or use of workload models;

· Experience of using SAP HR or other equivalent database systems;

· Understanding of Health and Safety regulations and requirements.

How to apply

You can apply for this role online; more guidance can be found on our How to Apply information page. Applications should be submitted by 23.59 (UK time) on the advertised closing date.

Contact information

To explore the post further or for any queries you may have, please contact:

Emily Abbey, Faculty Management Administration Manager

Email: e.abbey@leeds.ac.uk

Additional information

Working at Leeds

Find out more about the benefits of working at the University and what it is like to live and work in the Leeds area on our Working at Leeds information page.

Find out more about the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures.

Candidates with disabilities

Information for candidates with disabilities, impairments or health conditions, including requesting alternative formats, can be found on our Accessibility information page or by getting in touch with us at disclosure@leeds.ac.uk.

Criminal record information

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974

A criminal record check is not required for this position. However, all applicants will be required to declare if they have any ‘unspent’ criminal offences, including those pending. Any offer of appointment will be in accordance with our Criminal Records policy. You can find out more about required checks and declarations in our Criminal Records information page.