Professional Development Adviser

Newcastle University; England; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A prestigious UK university is seeking a knowledgeable educator to enhance learning and teaching. The role involves implementing professional development initiatives and requires a postgraduate qualification, along with experience in academic staff development. A commitment to diversity and inclusion in education is essential, as well as strong organizational and interpersonal skills. The position supports blended working arrangements.

Benefits

Generous holiday package

Pension scheme

Health and wellbeing initiatives

Qualifications

• Ability to plan, organise, and evaluate training programs.
• Experience with Advance HE Professional Standards Framework.
• Demonstrated commitment to continuing professional development.

Responsibilities

• Deliver key educational professional development initiatives.
• Contribute to the strategic enhancement of learning and teaching.
• Interact with stakeholders to build support for development interventions.

Skills

Knowledge of academic staff development theory and practice

Interpersonal skills

Excellent organisational skills

Good IT skills

Experience in designing training programs

Education

Postgraduate level qualification

Fellow or Senior Fellow by the Higher Education Academy

Tools

Microsoft Office packages

Job description

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Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits . We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 5 August 2025

The Role

This is an exciting opportunity to join our dynamic and collaborative Academic Practice team, part of our Learning and Teaching Development Service. We are seeking a knowledgeable and people-centred educator to contribute to the strategic enhancement of learning and teaching. You will take a leading role in developing and delivering key educational professional development initiatives, with a strong emphasis on scholarship and evidence-based practice.

This role provides an opportunity to contribute meaningfully to colleague educational development, curriculum design, and the enhancement of the student learning experience. You will play a key role in delivering the University’s academic practice development agenda in alignment with the Education for Life Strategy 2030+

This role is suitable for blended working.

• Contribute to devising and implementing the University’s provision to support staff and research students in developing their academic practice in order that the University needs and those of individual colleagues are met.
• Contribute to strategy and policy so that appropriate staff development interventions are implemented for teaching colleagues, and part-time and postgraduate teachers, identifying new and emerging opportunities to ensure that the University’s provision and advice is up to date and relevant, taking account of sector needs, including the role of the Professional Standards Framework (PSF).
• Contribute to the development, delivery and assessment of the University’s accredited programmes for colleagues in teaching or learner support roles, and the broader Learning and Teaching colleague development programme offered by LTDS.
• Contribute to obtaining and maintaining the validation and accreditation of Newcastle’s CPD Scheme (Advance HE).
• Prepare data/reports for a range of University committees.
• Interact effectively with key stakeholders to co-develop and build understanding and support for development interventions across the organisation, reporting in accordance with the relevant governance arrangements.
• Work with the Academic Practice Team Manager to provide Heads of Academic Units, and other senior managers, with timely and consistent sources of advice, guidance and support regarding all aspects of academic staff development (including where appropriate, local tailored academic staff development events which meet the specific needs of particular groups).

The Person (Essential)

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Knowledge of academic staff development theory and practice in the areas of learning & teaching
• Knowledge of international developments in learning and teaching and more widely in higher education
• Ability to plan, organise, teach, monitor and evaluate large volumes of high quality training and development programmes.
• Interpersonal skills to build and maintain effective relationships with Heads of Schools, Deans and other stakeholders
• Ability to work as part of a team
• Good IT skills using Microsoft Office packages and web-based software
• Experience in designing, commissioning, delivering and evaluating development activities which range from short programmes through to more substantial accredited development initiatives.
• Demonstrable commitment to own continuing professional development (CPD)
• Experience of working with the Advance HE Professional Standards Framework

Attributes and Behaviour

Planning and Organising

• Excellent organisational skills and the ability to handle effectively a range of tasks simultaneously, work well under pressure and to tight deadlines

Finding Solutions

• Ability to use initiative and judgement within the parameters of responsibility of the role
• Recognises urgency and takes decisive action when required
• Agility and flexibility within the role

Team Working

• Ability to build positive working relationships and deal effectively with stakeholders at all levels

Communicating

• Understands how best to communicate with the others, correctly interpreting the right way to approach a situation.
• Clear and concise; gets the message across to others.

Qualifications

• Qualified to postgraduate level
• Recognised as a Fellow or Senior Fellow by the Higher Education Academy
• Relevant professional qualification or recognition in teaching.

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a silverAthena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.