Glasgow Changing Futures Senior Manager
WORLD CHANGERS TOGETHER
Job purpose
Glasgow Changing Futures is a new programme for the University of Glasgow, representing our commitment to integrating our strengths in research, innovation, knowledge exchange, education, economic development, civic and public engagement and partnerships to drive collective action and collaborative impact for societal challenges locally, nationally and globally.
The Glasgow Changing Futures (GCF) professional services team will sit within the Challenge Programmes portfolio in the Research Services Directorate, under the leadership of the GCF Senior Manager. This role holder will lead on projects across the GCF portfolio to provide comprehensive, effective and efficient management, governance, support, and direction. The role holder will contribute as a senior manager to ensure the provision of a strategic, professional, effective and solution focused services which align to the achievement of the GCF ambitions. The GCF Senior Manager will have responsibility for a number of direct reports and additional GCF staff through matrix management.
The GCF Senior Manager will report to the Challenge Programmes Director and work closely with the GCF Director, wider GCF leadership team, the Executive Director of Research Services, the Strategic Research Initiatives Senior Manager and colleagues and senior leaders across the University and beyond.
Main duties & responsibilities
- Lead on the provision of a strategic, professional, effective and solution focused services which align to the achievement of the GCF
- Lead strategic project work within the GCF programme, including initiatives involving internal teams and external advisors to deliver University wide projects, related to GCF's ambitions.
- Provide specialist support and advice to project boards as required, leading on detailed business cases and other analyses, challenging and testing the data provided and ensuring the accuracy and timeliness of reports. Taking a lead role in relevant project meetings and working groups.
- Shape and lead the future of the GCF portfolio, providing strategic oversight, expert analysis and support to inform decision making and development of strategy.
- Provide leadership in the creation and oversight of the GCF framework and the mobilisation of this programme, including the implementation of agreed strategic plans, and monitor performance against those plans.
- Accountable for managing the co-development, delivery, evaluation and continuous improvement of GCF activities in partnership with the Challenge Programmes Director, GCF Director and the GCF academic leadership team.
- Oversee GCF management, governance, financial and reporting structures for GCF, developing and supporting short term and long-term financial and resource planning, forecasting and review for all aspects of GCF, including relevant externally funded programmes, to secure effective delivery of GCF's priorities.
- Provide strategic advice, briefings and support to GCF leadership team to ensure effective decision making, strategic planning, use of GCF resources and appropriate responsive actions.
- Develop mechanisms (such as secondments and internships) to widen opportunities for University of Glasgow staff and students to take part in the GCF programme. Instil a spirit of team-based working.
- Oversee a portfolio of GCF internal funding schemes, ensuring that the processes underpinning the allocation of funding are transparent and fair and that equality, diversity and inclusion is considered in scheme design, delivery and decision-making.
- Lead on the development of a GCF monitoring, evaluation and learning framework, regularly reporting on progress as required, including the production of an annual GCF report to increase the visibility of the GCF approach, its outcomes and impacts.
- Support planning and engagement with key internal stakeholders, and external strategic partners and stakeholders, working with the GCF academic leadership team to create a coherent portfolio of activities and opportunities for mutually beneficial collaborative partnerships to achieve GCF ambitions and objectives
- Oversee the co-ordination of strategic visits from key stakeholders, acting as an ambassador for the GCF programme, liaising with stakeholders, the GCF leadership team and University senior management to design itineraries that meet expectations.
People Management
- Lead, manage, motivate and develop the GCF team, ensuring performance, behaviours and attitudes reflect University values and actively promoting a continuous improvement approach within the team.
- Build organisational capability in the GCF portfolio, developing analytical, reporting and systems skills within the team, shaping service delivery and ensuring the team demonstrates a culture of ownership and accountability to ensure the delivery of excellent services and financial awareness and governance.
- Represent GCF internally and externally as required, including deputising for the Challenge Programmes Director, GCF Director and GCF academic leadership team. Contribute to the Research Services Directorate's regular meetings, planning, joint initiatives, ongoing development and reporting as a team. Lead on strategic initiatives as requested.
Knowledge and qualifications
Essential
- Ability to demonstrate the necessary strategic competencies required to undertake the duties associated with this level of post having acquired the necessary professional knowledge and leadership experience in a similar or number of different specialist roles. Or: Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework level 9,10 or 11 (Ordinary/Honours Degree, Post Graduate Qualification), or equivalent, including being professionally qualified in relevant discipline, with a broad range of professional knowledge and leadership experience in a similar strategic senior management level role.
- Highly developed knowledge of the principles, theory and practice of project and programme management, as well as an awareness of broader developments relevant to challenge-led initiatives.
- Knowledge and experience of the Higher Education research environment.
Skills
Essential
- Excellent management and leadership skills, with the ability to motivate research professional teams and provide high level, effective leadership and direction to staff outside direct line management.
- High level influencing and interpersonal skills, able to quickly build credibility and deliver impact at all levels, including a: high level of verbal and written communication skills and a capacity for and commitment to collaborative teamwork.
- Ability to constructively challenge the status quo, influence change and present arguments based on sound professional judgement and expertise.
- Ability to create an environment of accountability for results and actions.
- Excellent partnership and relationship management skills, with the ability to influence, negotiate and persuade a wide variety of contributors across a large complex organisation, establish and manage relationships at a senior level, internally and externally by building trust and credibility.
- Proven organisational skills (including managing the activities of self and others and working independently and as part of a team), demonstrating drive, enthusiasm, and a high degree of personal effectiveness to cope with a diverse and changing workload in a complex environment.
- Well-developed project and programme management skills, including the demonstrated ability to plan, research, monitor and manage multiple projects simultaneously, deliver work to timescales with competing demands, maintain high attention to detail and drive continuous improvement.
- Strategic thinker, ability to develop strategy and policy and implement effectively.
- A service-focused ethos and the ability to engage with a diverse range of people with different needs in a dynamic and complex environment, and relate to all parts of the University and its aims.
- Aptitude for data analysis and proven problem-solving capability with the ability to work logically through a wide variety of challenges, from information-gathering, through analysis and interpretation of the situation, to identification and recommendations for solutions, and to decision-making leading to a satisfactory outcome.
- A self-motivated individual with the ability to work effectively under pressure and to tight timescales with an aptitude for prioritising and managing competing demands.
Experience
Essential
- Proven track record of managing and developing team(s) of experienced professionals.
- Substantial experience gained in a complex organisation, providing management and leadership support, including project, programme and process management and influencing the activities of senior colleagues.
- Extensive experience in providing advice at a senior level, successfully negotiating with internal and external stakeholders on complex matters with a high level of self-motivation and ability to recommend, develop and implement innovative solutions and contribute to strategic planning and the implementation of strategy and policy in partnership with diverse stakeholders.
- Demonstrable experience of working with and influencing across all levels of an organisation including senior management operating in a political or highly complex environment - providing direction, delivering results, building on relationships and capability and demonstrating personal resilience.
- Proven experience in designing and managing complex projects and operational plans, providing leadership, innovative thinking and delivery against set objectives and timelines.
- Experience of managing and controlling budgets/resources/funding and an understanding of financial management procedures.
- Proven track record of working collaboratively across organisational boundaries to build credible relationships and apply a collaborative leadership approach to achieving shared goals.
- Experience in data reporting, analysis and presentation.
Desirable
- Knowledge and experience relevant to the ambitions and priority areas of the Glasgow Changing Futures programme.
- Experience developing values-based partnerships, especially with collaborators in Lower- Middle Income Countries.
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 23:45 on Sunday 20th October 2024
Terms & Conditions
Salary will be Grade 9, £58,596 - £65,814 per annum.
This post is full time (35 hours per week) and fixed term for 3 years.
As part of Team UofG you will be a member of a world changing, inclusive community, which values ambition, excellence, integrity and curiosity.
As a valued member of our team, you can expect:
A warm welcoming and engaging organisational culture, where your talents are developed and nurtured, and success is celebrated and shared.
An excellent employment package with generous terms and conditions including 41 days of leave for full time staff, pension, benefits and discount packages.
A flexible approach to working.
A commitment to support your health and wellbeing, including a free 6-month UofG Sport membership for all new staff joining the University.
We believe that we can only reach our full potential through the talents of all. Equality, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of our values. Applications are particularly welcome from across our communities and in particular people from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community, and other protected characteristics who are under-represented within the University. Read more on how the University promotes and embeds all aspects of equality and diversity within our community here.
We endorse the principles of Athena Swan and hold bronze, silver and gold awards across the University.
We are investing in our organisation, and we will invest in you too. Please visit our website https://www.gla.ac.uk/explore/jobs/ for more information.
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