Alternative Formats Manager
WORLD CHANGERS TOGETHER
Job purpose
Main duties & responsibilities
- Establish, lead, and motivate the Alternative Formats Team, with responsibility for staff development and performance management, ensuring resources are deployed appropriately to ensure service continuity.
- Develop and oversee processes for planning, preparing, and converting required academic materials into alternate formats to be used by students with disabilities. This will include investigating the creation and management of a digital repository for accessible material.
- Provide expert advice and guidance in relation to accessibility of teaching materials, texts, and assessment materials in line with the University’s Accessible and Inclusive Learning Policy (AILP) and supporting the University’s initiatives around accessibility.
- Partner with Disability Services and other key stakeholders to support a whole university approach to accessibility by developing and maintaining suitable workflow processes for students and staff regarding accessible materials.
- Implement reporting tools and internal KPIs to measure success and monitor continuous service improvement, benchmarking against other HE institutions and engaging with students and staff to gain feedback to improve future services.
- Keep abreast of new developments in relation to legislation, research, assessment, assistive technology and accessibility, maintaining a good working knowledge of policy and practice within the HE sector and more widely, to ensure legal and contractual obligations under equality legislation.
- Develop key partnerships with colleagues in Information Services (inc. Business Relationship Management (BRM), IT, and Library Services directorates), Academic & Digital Development, the Disability Service, and with College Learning and Teaching contacts, to support the university in meeting its strategic goals and statutory responsibilities in relation to physical and digital accessibility. This will include leadership on embedding an ‘accessibility by design’ ethos across digital services, in close liaison with the Information Office team based within BRM, and positively influencing key stakeholder groups.
- Identify and promote opportunities to enhance accessibility amongst academic colleagues and raise awareness on reasonable and anticipatory adjustments for students with a range of needs.
- Communicate and liaise effectively across a wide range of audiences including key internal and external stakeholders. This may include representing the Directorate on University on working groups or committees.
Knowledge and qualifications
Essential
- Either: Ability to demonstrate the competencies required to undertake the duties associated with this level of post having acquired the necessary knowledge and skills in a similar or number of different roles.Or: Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework level 9, (Ordinary Degree, Scottish Vocational Qualification level 4), or equivalent (including professional accreditation with relevant formal training), and experience of personal development in a similar or related role(s).
- Excellent IT skills including knowledge of reformatting and digitisation services and technology and of assistive technology for disabled people.
- An understanding of data protection compliance and working with confidential information and of copyright law in relation to accessibility.
- Knowledge and understanding of the Equality Act 2010, Section 6 (Disability) and its applications in Higher Education.
- An understanding of inclusive practice and disability support in a user or customer service environment.
- Demonstrable knowledge and understanding of the latest iterations of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and adjacent local legislative frameworks, such as the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
Desirable
- Knowledge of RNIB Bookshare.
- Knowledge of licensing and delivery of electronic library materials and online reading lists in Higher Education.
- Knowledge and understanding of inclusive design in teaching and assessment.
- Experience of managing digital repository software platforms to deliver digital objects to users.
Skills
Essential
- Accuracy and attention to detail with an aptitude for using own initiative.
- Ability to work independently to demanding project and business deadlines.
- Proficient in problem solving and troubleshooting with creativity, adaptability, and resilience.
- Ability to analyse data from multiple sources, and compile reports with clear findings and recommendations.
- Ability to build effective working relationships with a wide range of stakeholders internally and externally.
- Strong interpersonal skills; motivating, influencing, and engaging across diverse groups and teams.
- Leadership skills and the ability to work collaboratively with others and manage, coach, motivate and develop the performance of team members.
- Excellent oral and written communication skills.
- Able to evidence a pragmatic approach to decision making, ensuring appropriate risk management.
Experience
Essential
- Experience of delivering alternative formats provision and digitisation and of supporting the implementation of universal design strategies.
- Experience of working with and influencing senior stakeholders.
- Experience of managing and developing a team of staff; managing and controlling resources to meet business needs.
- Experience of managing performance, coaching, and motivating staff.
- A strong track record of supporting longer term planning of services, developing innovative solutions and identifying opportunities for improvement, facilitating delivery of strategic goals.
- Experience of managing change projects and implementing new working practices.
- Significant demonstrable experience of providing outstanding customer service in a demanding environment.
Campus development plan
Our Vision
Over the next 10 years, the major investment will expand our campus footprint by 25%, creating a new urban quarter with the University at the heart of a revitalised west end. This is the largest development since the creation of the original campus in 1870.
This is a unique opportunity for a University to extend the boundaries of its historic core in a central city location. It will create:
- New learning and teaching facilities
- Refurbishment and repurposing of existing iconic buildings for specialist uses
- Identification and design of social spaces that support the student and community experience.
The expansion of our Gilmorehill campus into the 14 acre, former Western Infirmary site will transform the West End of Glasgow. The Masterplan for the site will incorporate:
- New learning and teaching facilities supporting our students and making sure they get the best in modern teaching and learning styles and approaches
- Creation of a Research Hub, housing large-scale multidisciplinary projects and incubator space for spin out collaborations with industry. This will encourage further innovation development
- New public cycle and pedestrian routes and a new central square which will link Byres Road to the up-and-coming cultural quarter for the West End, with new links to Kelvingrove and the newly-refurbished Kelvin Hall
- Refurbishment of five listed buildings: The Chapel, the Outpatients building, the Macgregor building, the Tennent Institute and Anderson College
- Commercial opportunities, including a hotel, restaurant, bars and cafes
- The state of the art Learning and Teaching Hub adjacent to the Boyd Orr building on University Avenue will be completed next year.
Find out more
Living in Glasgow
A UNESCO City of Music, a vibrant arts and culture scene, a food-lover’s delight, and a shopper’s paradise. Just some of the highlights of the ‘friendliest city in the world’. As well as that accolade by the Rough Guides poll, Glasgow has also been named a must visit destination by publications including the New York Times, The Guardian, and Wanderlust.
Music
The city hosts an average of 130 music events a week catering for every taste; from rock to rap, and classical to country. Glasgow also has a world class club scene playing host to some of the world’s top DJs.
Shopping
Outside of London’s West End, Glasgow is frequently voted the best place for shopping in the UK. A must-visit destination for any shop-a-holic, it houses high street chains, international designers, and independent retailers. The West End, home to the University of Glasgow, is bustling with vintage fashion, vinyl stores, and second-hand bookshops.
Arts and Culture
Glasgow’s arts scene has gone from strength to strength, and is the base for five internationally renowned performing arts companies including the National Theatre of Scotland and Scottish Ballet. The city has several world-class museums, which are free to the public, and the city’s architecture is a work of art in itself.
Food and drink
You can be in Glasgow and taste the world with its many diverse restaurants, cafes, and bars. And if you’ve yet to sample the delights of haggis and whisky, Glasgow is the place to be.
The City and Beyond
Glasgow has all the opportunities and excitement of a big city but its compact size means you can quickly travel from one vibrant district to the next. You could be relaxing in one of its many parks, before shopping in the quirky West End, and then dancing until the wee small hours in the Merchant City.
And when you fancy getting out of the city you can reach the stunning Loch Lomond in just 30 minutes, climb one of our many breath-taking Munros, play golf at one of Scotland’s many world-class courses, visit one of our ancient castles, or go further North and search for Nessie! Scotland has also just been named the world’s most beautiful country by Rough Guides.
Relocating to Glasgow
Choosing to relocate to Glasgow is a big decision. There are numerous things to be considered, such as the costs of moving, the cost of living, and where exactly to relocate to. We have created two guides to aide you in the decision making process.
Find out more on relocating to Glasgow at the below link:
WORLD CHANGERS TOGETHER
WORLD CHANGING GLASGOW 2025
Our outstanding disciplinary breadth and expertise has enabled us to make world-changing advances in fields as diverse as medicine, physics, linguistics, public policy and global development.
The key to our success is our talented staff and students pushing back at the boundaries of knowledge and understanding together.
Our World Changers Together strategy recognises the fundamental importance of a culture of open cooperation: not just as colleagues and mentors or students and teachers, but as a community of discovery that reaches beyond its walls and draws inspiration and strength from its connections and partnerships worldwide: excellence that's part of something bigger. The strategy is articulated across three themes:
COMMUNITY
- People centred, globally engaged
CONNECTIVITY
- Collaboratively minded, digitally enhanced
CHALLENGES
- Solution focused, impact oriented
Find out more
How to apply
Full details of the role and how to apply can be found by visiting our website:
The closing date for applications is 16 May 2024
Terms & Conditions
It is the University of Glasgow’s mission to foster an inclusive climate, which ensures equality in our working, learning, research and teaching environment. We strongly endorse the principles of Athena SWAN, including a supportive and flexible working environment, with commitment from all levels of the organisation in promoting gender equity.
Our values
The future holds innumerable challenges for our sector, our society, and our world. We will have to adapt and change what we do and what we offer if we are to navigate these successfully. Our strategy and approach may evolve as the landscape changes, but our values will remain constant: a fixed point of certainty in uncertain times.
We have identified our values in consultation and partnership with our staff and student community. Living and upholding these values will ensure that we remain true to the spirit of our community and ourselves:
Ambition and Excellence
- We strive for excellence through our work
- We defend academic freedom globally
- We recognise and celebrate shared success
- We have an unrelenting focus on development
Curiosity and Discovery
- We innovate and solve problems together
- We lead by influence and example
- We engage with lifelong learning and personal development
- We learn from our mistakes
Integrity and Truth
- We uphold honesty, integrity and fairness
- We share our work widely and generously
- We do the right thing, not the easy thing - or we don’t do it
- We take responsibility
An Inclusive Community
- We are one Glasgow team, and we care for and respect one another
- We advocate for diversity and believe in variety as a vital part of a healthy university
- We champion education as an engine for social progress
- We practise and advance sustainability