Head of Student Experience & Wellbeing - Dubai Operations - 97568 - Grade 8

Description

Position Details

Dubai Professional Services, External Relations

University of Birmingham, Dubai campus

Salary: Competitive

Grade 8

Full time

Permanent

Location: Dubai, UAE

Closing date: 19 June 2021

University of Birmingham Dubai

Having established ourselves in Dubai International Academic City in 2018 we are now moving to a new and exciting phase of our development with the opening of our new state-of-the-art campus in September 2021. This post represents an excellent opportunity to join an ambitious World Top 100 University as we continue to grow our long-term strategic mission in Dubai, the UAE and the wider region. Our campus reflects the very best of Birmingham through our presence in Dubai.

Professional Services Ethos

Our ethos as a Professional Services team has been developed in line with the principles of being a Birmingham Professional. In particular, here in Dubai, this means that all Professional Services colleagues seek to collaborate effectively to ensure the needs of the whole campus community and our stakeholders are met. It also means that we work constructively together to provide a flexible range of service and support that adapt to the changing needs of the Campus as we grow. There are specific focal points in the academic cycle when all Professional Services team members will be expected to contribute regardless of their primary role, for example Welcome or Graduation. In addition, the duties listed below are illustrative of the general nature and level of responsibility of this post which is likely to change over time in response to the needs of the Campus and as you develop your experience and skills. You will have the opportunity to develop and may also need to specialise your duties further, over time, in agreement with your manager.

In order to contribute to the success of the team and the University's vision for the Dubai Campus the Professional Services team will be seeking to continue to recruit and develop colleagues who display:

• a high level of intellectual aptitude;
• strong agility and a portfolio of skills that can adapt to meet changing circumstances;
• an innovative and creative mindset; and
• both an enterprising and entrepreneurial nature to support our growth and pursuit of excellence.

Department Overview

The Services and Support thematic area will focus on providing all students with the University of Birmingham Dubai with a wide range of high quality services and support. This will also support the University and our academic colleagues in the delivery of our academic mission in respect of both Education and Research including:

• Welcome and induction activities
• Careers, employability and skills support
• Programme administration support and services
• Research administration support
• Visa and immigration services
• Information advice and guidance services
• Learning an library services
• Wellbeing services
• Academic Skills support
• Support to the University of Birmingham Dubai Students' Association
• General student administration through to graduation support.

Job summary

The postholder will lead on strategy and high-quality delivery of a range of services that promote and support student wellbeing, student development and an excellent student experience for all UOBD students. They will be an experienced professional in a relevant discipline that will help to embed our approach to wellbeing throughout the student experience.

The postholder will report to the Deputy Campus Director and is a member of the Professional Services Senior Management Team on campus. The postholder is responsible for the leadership and delivery of innovative, high quality, efficient, professional services ensuring that the service follows best professional practice, is compliant with legislative requirements, and other authority or professional regulatory body regulations. The postholder will be responsible for promoting integration and collaboration between Dubai service areas and the wider University of Birmingham. They will also will lead on specific service projects and initiatives for the wider Professional Services team in support of the wider campus development agenda.

The post-holder will be responsible for developing and implementing the Dubai student experience strategy and will lead and line managing a team of people in student experience and support-related roles, ensuring the successful delivery of the agreed strategy. In addition it is anticipated that this postholder develop and implementing a plan for a range of partnerships and collaborations externally to enhance the intended impact and outcomes for students.

The Head of Student Experience and Wellbeing is responsible for the leadership and management of a range of functions which support the overall student experience and include:

• Welcome/Induction
• Wellbeing and welfare support
• Careers and Employability & Employer Relations
• Library service delivery, digital resources development and academic skills delivery
• Liaison with the Student Association and Guild of Students to ensure collaboration in key University student experience operations, strategy, and partnerships.

Main duties

General

• Promotes equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
• Actively manages equality, diversity and inclusion through monitoring and evaluation and actively challenging unacceptable behaviour.
• Undertake continuous personal and professional development.

Strategic Leadership and Management

• Line manage and provide professional leadership to staff responsible for supporting student wellbeing and experience services. This will involve supporting their professional development, focusing on delivery of objectives and on providing excellent customer service. Provide advice and guidance on new developments, significant staffing and structural issues and on budgetary matters.
• Develop strategies for the coordination and future development of wellbeing services in line with sector best practice, changing student needs, advances in technology etc.
• Planning, prioritising, and allocating student wellbeing and experience support against agreed targets, and campus-wide operations, collaborating closely with all other heads of service.
• Ensure effective service delivery to students, develop appropriate tools to evaluate service quality and provide key performance and management data, and ensure effective oversight of outsourced services and suppliers.
• Ensure that the teams effectively utilise technology to administer and manage casework and that service-based systems are integrated with university systems with appropriate safeguards for confidentiality.
• Ensure that policies and processes meet statutory and regulatory requirements and lead on the development of new policies and processes to meet changing requirements.
• Establish effective relationships with staff across the campus, including academic staff, Student Association officers and others, liaising on services provided by the Wellbeing team, building partnerships to facilitate closer links, and resolving significant issues associated with service delivery.
• Determine service priorities when faced with competing demands or resource constraints, basing decisions on an understanding of service data, University priorities, compliance requirements, risks etc and work with staff to deliver activities in creative and innovative ways.
• Provide reports for university committees as appropriate on the work of the Wellbeing and Student Experience team.
• Lead on the reshaping of services to enable the teams to build capacity to meet increasing student demand, develop new services and modes of support and adapt to the changing academic context and learning framework.
• Facilitating appropriate collaboration between the relevant Dubai team and Edgbaston colleagues, and ensuring alignment with key University policies and governance.
• Cultivate a network of external contacts and resources to enable observation of trends, and facilitate horizon scanning, helping to inform the University of developments in wellbeing and student experience matters across the sector.

Mental Health and Wellbeing

• To provide clinical assessments of clients presenting to the service (including students experiencing a mental health crisis) and conduct risk assessments.
• To manage a caseload of students with with complex needs and/or mental health difficulties, including liaison with other University colleagues and/or suitable and timely referrals to external agencies.
• To determine the suitability of interventions available, and/or referral to other services, to support and enable students to manage academic commitments and the wider demands of student life.
• To support the management of critical incidents.
• To deliver evidence-based, solution-focused therapeutic interventions for students experiencing a range of psychological and emotional difficulties, so they can engage successfully with their studies, broader student experience and progression beyond study.
• To deliver a comprehensive groupwork and workshop programme with a focus on emotional and mental health and wellbeing.
• To assess and integrate issues surrounding academic and personal issues into the overall therapy process, including working with students to determine at which point there is a need to prioritise mental health treatment over current continuation of study.
• To maintain a high level of clinical expertise by fulfilling the requirements for on-going accreditation by appropriate professional bodies.
• To attend regular clinical supervision meetings as required.
• To liaise closely with the Student Wellbeing Team at the University of Birmingham Edgbaston campus, ensuring the ongoing monitoring and analysis of trends, looking at service demands and resources and striving to keep them relevant and appropriate for our student population.
• To offer professional consultancy to staff of the University in relation to their pastoral role with students, and provide advice on how to manage the impact an individual student's mental health or other difficulties might have on their academic participation and performance.

Students of Determination and other Disabilities Support

• Leading early intervention planning, alongside academic staff to ensure the availability of appropriate advice and guidance.
• Leading the Reasonable Adjustment Process to ensure that all students have the required guidance and support mechanisms in place.
• Leading assessment planning, in support of academic staff to ensure that there are appropriate support measures in place to support the students.

Wellbeing Partnerships and Collaboration Lead

• Leading UoB Dubai teams in the development and delivering student wellbeing and experience services and activities
• Responsible for urgent intervention and support strategy, with support of the Student Experience and Wellbeing Manager and Officer.
• Provide pro-active support to students and actively promote student health and wellbeing, publicising the work of the UoBD's Wellbeing Service and the wider Student Services Support.
• Responsible for the development of the UoBD Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) strategy with the Dubai Campus Equality Lead.
• Work in partnership with students and internal and external stakeholders to provide integrated services which support and enhance the student experience of the university.
• Facilitate regular UoBD information sharing forums
• Building partnerships on UoBD campus, UoB Edgbaston teams and with local providers (e.g. students of determination support services, UoB Edgbaston Guild of Students & the Dubai Student Association).

Student Experience functions - strategy development

• The postholder will provide strategic direction and senior support to all of the functional areas such as Employer Engagement and Careers, Library Services - education and teaching support skills, digital education support for students and the Student Association.
• They will work collaboratively with the Heads of the various divisions within Academic Services, Edgbaston and the colleges heads of services to ensure alignment in operational standards and strategic direction.

Additional responsibilities

• To undertake such other duties as may be required from time to time, to further the work of the wellbeing services and the development of the student experience, or the University.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Educated to at least first degree level, and significant relevant experience.
• Previous experience of working in a Higher Education institution within related roles.
• A professional qualification in an area relevant to the responsibilities of the post.
• Professional accreditation/current registration with an appropriate organisation for your role/training or preparedness to undertake the relevant training and qualification.
• Evidence of ongoing training and development (CPD) relevant to the role.
• The post holder must complete a satisfactory and enhanced safeguarding/Police good conduct check.
• Ability to think strategically and formulate operational plans to deliver the University's strategic objectives.
• Demonstrable experience of developing a service vision and strategy, and leading a team to ensure successful delivery of that strategy.
• Experience of estimating priorities, and allocating available resources to fulfil defined targets.
• Experience of coordinating work between different teams, departments, or organisations.
• Demonstrable experience of using initiative and creativity to resolve problems, devising varied solutions and approaching the problem from different perspectives.
• Experience of fostering partnerships with stakeholders to enable collaborative working.
• Excellent documentation and report writing skills, with experience of authoring documents to the high standard expected of University committees.
• Excellent inter-personal and communication skills together with the ability to work with and influence senior managers.
• A firm, but diplomatic attitude, with the ability to prioritise, negotiate, and use one's own judgement when responding to staff, student, and other stakeholder enquiries.
• Proven ability to work on multiple projects and/or workstreams concurrently, managing workloads appropriately, to achieve specific deliverables within required timeframes and to required quality standards.
• Proven ability in managing, motivating and developing a team of Professional Services staff.
• Has, and is able to demonstrate, the ability to work independently, accurately, and to deadlines within a team environment.
• Experience of championing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in own work area.
• Ability to monitor and evaluate the extent to which equality and diversity legislation, policies, procedures are applied.
• Ability to identify issues with the potential to impact on protected groups and take appropriate action.

As interest in all of the advertised posts has been extremely high, we encourage you to apply online, tailoring your skillset against the listed criteria in the application form.

Valuing excellence, sustaining investment

We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community and are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working.