Educational Development and Engagement Fellow (Sustainability) - Birmingham Institute for Susta[...]

The University of Birmingham; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 36,000 - 46,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Birmingham seeks a dedicated professional for a full-time role at the Birmingham Institute for Sustainability and Climate Action. This position focuses on embedding sustainability into the curriculum and developing practical learning opportunities, engaging with various stakeholders to promote sustainability education.

Benefits

Generous annual leave entitlement

Pension scheme

Flexible working arrangements

Opportunities for learning and development

Qualifications

• Expertise in sustainability and climate change.
• Experience in developing educational materials.
• Strong leadership skills.

Responsibilities

• Develop and lead workshops for sustainability education.
• Engage with external stakeholders to promote sustainability.
• Create innovative teaching resources.

Skills

Sustainability

Climate Change

Workshop Development

Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Communication

Education

First degree or higher in Sustainability

Job description

Description

Position Details

Birmingham Institute for Sustainability and Climate Action

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,130 to £45,413 with potential progression once in post to £48,149

Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to July 2028 with the possibility to extend or be made permanent

Closing date: 26th May 2025

Our offer to you

People are at the heart of what we are and do.

The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, andweare equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university.We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.

We are committed to helping the people who work here todevelopthrough our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programmewhichprovides allprofessionalservices staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential.With almost 5,000professionalservices jobs in a wide-range of functionsin Edgbaston andin our campus inDubai, there are plenty of opportunities foryou to be able to develop yourcareer at the University.

We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate.We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are,and how we work.

Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees andtothe success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer avarietyof flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working.In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 dayspaid holidaya year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries.

The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site.On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops,places to eat and drink,our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.

Find out more about thebenefits of working for the Universityof Birmingham

Background

Sustainability at the University of Birmingham

The University has a strong commitment to sustainability and our work in this area has real momentum, with strong academic leadership, expert professional colleagues, and a team of committed sustainability champions. We have made big strides forward in the last few years. We are currently ranked 38th in the world in the QS Global Sustainability Rankingsand 68^th in the People and Planet league table, reflecting our long record of substantial contributions to issues of sustainability education, research and operational activities. Sustainability is one of the University’s six key pillars in our 2030 strategic frameworkand a key workstream that will support us in achieving our global top 50 aspirations:

• Using our research and education to make a major global contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• Becoming a sustainable organisation by adopting environmentally responsible practices across our University.
• Activating our regional, national and international networks and partnerships to improve our resilience to global change and co-create sustainable solutions.

Activities developed under sustainability education have been instrumental in enhancing our external reputation and performance. There is a strong connection between sustainability and student recruitment, graduate outcomes and student experience. Most importantly, we aim to equip students with the ability to be climate-literate citizens and sustainability leaders to tackle global challenges for a more sustainable future. To achieve our sustainable education goals, we have several key deliverables to be achieved by 2030:

• Embedding sustainability education into all undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.
• Development of interdisciplinary opportunities and programmes/modules aligned to the United Nation’s SDGs.
• Educating and supporting our staff to competently deliver sustainability education.
• Facilitating practical learning opportunities for all students alongside the curriculum.

Birmingham Institute of Sustainability and Climate Action

TheBirmingham Institute for Sustainability & Climate Action (BISCA)facilitates and delivers world-leading, transdisciplinary research on sustainability and fosters climate action for the research community, students, policy and decision makers, and wider society – leading to better livelihoods and a more sustainable environment in a rapidly changing world.

The Institute takes a distinct approach to leveraging the University of Birmingham’s comprehensive, interdisciplinary research expertise; applying/translating ideas, skills and influence into wider engagement and action on climate change and broader sustainability matters. A key priority of BISCA is to provide a gateway between research and education to facilitate behaviour change and action. This includes supporting the Academic Director of Sustainability Education, in addition to other key members of the central sustainability team and connecting to other relevant staff across the five colleges. In specific relation to this role, BISCA support current opportunities for students such as the Sustainability Internship scheme, the Student Sustainability Day and the Reimagine our Future competition, in addition to supporting collaborative opportunities for engaged academic staff from across the breadth of sustainability.

Role Summary

We have made significant progress on Sustainability Education, but there's so much more to do. To advance our environmental goals, we have created a new role at the Birmingham Institute for Sustainability and Climate Action (BISCA). This role will support University teaching staff in embedding sustainability into our curriculum and creating practical learning opportunities for students. The post holder will also engage with external stakeholders to promote sustainability education in schools and with businesses, policy makers and local communities. We seek someone with expertise in sustainability and climate change, experience in developing educational materials, and strong leadership skills.

The role involves developing and leading workshops, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, and running events to engage students in sustainability. The ideal candidate will be adept at seeking collaboration opportunities, communicating effectively with diverse audiences, comfortable working with ambiguity and able to find solutions to problems.

The post holder must be flexible and able to prioritise their workload to deliver simultaneous and interdependent priorities to a high standard.

This is a full-time role; and the post holder will be based at our Edgbaston Campus. Presence on campus is an important part of the role. The University does support hybrid working where it is feasible and appropriate, the post holder may spend up to two days per week working away from campus, subject to review and agreement and alignment with the University’s hybrid working policy.

The University offers a competitive salary for the post, in addition the University offers a wide range of benefits, including a generous annual leave entitlement and pension scheme, opportunities to join staff networks, formal and informal learning and development opportunities, and flexibility.

We pride ourselves on our collaborative approach and are looking to recruit and individual who has values in line with ours: Ambitious, Open, Responsible, Collaborative and Innovative. We are open and welcoming to people form all walks of life and believe hat a diverse team with a mix of perspectives and experiences provides the best environment for success.

The right candidate will join over 10,000 staff at the University, with opportunities to join staff networks such as the Rainbow Network, Parents and Carers’ Network, Women’s Network, Race Equality Network, and Enabling Staff Network. They will benefit from good holidays and a pension scheme, flexibility (we are currently working to a pattern of three or four days from campus), and lots of opportunities for learning and development.

Through their work, the post holder will role model and foster commitment to environmentally responsible practices, work to embed sustainability education in teaching practices and deliver our strategic objectives.

Main Duties

• Develop and lead workshops (both in person and virtual) to support the development of practitioners able to confidently embed sustainability into their educational practice (in Higher Education but also supporting the pipeline through primary and secondary education in schools).
• Develop innovative teaching resources (e.g. online course and in-person activities) and banks of good practice to facilitate the embedding of sustainability and development of sustainability knowledge.
• Support the management of the Sustainability Education Community of Practice.
• Support and lead on (as appropriate) student extra-curricular engagement activities and opportunities, including, but not limited to, the Sustainability Champions student sub-group (in collaboration with the Guild of Students), Sustainability Competitions (e.g. Reimagine our Future), the Sustainability Internship scheme, UoB Xtra events and activities aligned with UNFCC COP.
• Work closely with the Academic Director of Sustainability Education to inform our approaches to sustainability education to ensure we achieve our strategic priorities.
• Deputise (where appropriate) for the Academic Director of Sustainability Education in committees and working groups (both internal and external).
• Contribute to relevant action groups in the sustainability space and work closely with other relevant roles in BISCA and the central sustainability team to ensure a joined-up approach.
• Support the identification of internal and external resources to support and deliver the University’s sustainability education work, including writing business cases/ grant proposals for resources and/or seeking endorsement to embed initiatives.
• Work with the five colleges and other related institutes and networks at the University to foster a collaborative approach to engage key stakeholders in sustainability beyond BISCA e.g. Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR), Birmingham Water Centre, Birmingham Plastics Network etc.
• Attend national and international working groups and conferences to share best practice, develop external collaborations and promote the external profile of the University in the sustainability space.
• Explore opportunities to develop CPD in collaboration with the relevant Deputy Director of BISCA where required.
• Support the University’s wider sustainability agenda as required, including (but not limited to) league table submission and student survey improvement action plans.
• Promotes equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.

The post holder is required to be flexible in developing their role and will from time to time be required to undertake any other duties commensurate with the grading of the post.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• A first degree (or higher), in addition to the ability to demonstrate knowledge and expertise in an area of sustainability and climate change.
• Strong intellectual confidence and a high degree of personal judgement, resourcefulness, flexibility, and a self-motivating approach. The ability to complete tasks based on only broad direction and with minimum supervision.
• A proven ability to develop educational materials, including online and in-person material, including experience working in virtual learning environments.
• A proven ability to develop, organise and lead workshops and conferences in different formats e.g. in-person and virtual.
• Ability to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of learning initiatives and engagement activities.
• Ability to work with a range of stakeholders, both internal and external to the University, able to develop strong working relationships to support the development of key areas of activity.
• Willingness to drive own personal development.
• Enthusiasm and willingness to meet challenging demands, working with different people and deadlines.
• A high degree of initiative and an ability to bring personal ideas and creativity to projects and tasks and work with others to ensure projects are successfully completed.
• An excellent understanding of higher education and empathy for the academic endeavour of the University, and how sustainability priorities are integrated in this context.
• Strong communication skills, facilitation and presentation skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to inspire confidence and command authority with a range of colleagues and high-profile external contacts, including proven influencing and negotiation skills with the ability to resolve issues at all levels.
• Ability to build cross-institutional networks.
• Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day-to-day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly.

Informal enquiries to Professor Julia Myatt, Academic Director of Sustainability Education, email: [e-mail]

View our staff values and behaviourshere

We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyoneon our website.