Senior Language Tutor / Academic Leader

Job Details

We’re looking for a Senior Language Tutor / Academic Leader who can and wants to work across our full range of programmes. Whilst our academic year can be dominated by our very large pre-sessional, we’re also busy with in-year academic language and skills, contributions to foundation programmes, and intensive general English courses, to name but just three. Thus, whilst your first year with us is very likely to involve a co-ordination role on our pre-sessionals, the following years could see work on these or indeed any of our other areas.

With that in mind, flexibility and recognizing the positives of potential ‘role variety’ is a key need, and we’d suggest a major factor if you’re going to enjoy your time with us.

Within the University our internal stock is high, and externally it seems like we’re doing the right thing with the British Council rating us as the joint top University Centre, and BALEAP giving us a stellar Summer 2024 report. So we think you’d be joining a good Centre that has the fundamentals roughly correct, but in truth – like everyone else – we’re navigating the reality and possibilities of modes of delivery whilst digesting the complexities of GenAI.

We’re a group of people who ask, or indeed are asked about – the ‘what’, ‘how’, ‘where’ and ultimately ‘why’ of everything we do – and our responses would indicate that we’re not always in pedagogical agreement. Every time we do something, we probably end up with as many questions as answers, and this creative uncertainty – as well as an increase in the speed of change – is and will be a constant. We would politely suggest this has to appeal and excite over other responses.

In that context, your ability to do the role as described should be a given and (obviously) the more qualifications and experience you have, the more the chance to shine in the application process. If that ability comes with significant energy, some examples of how you’ve achieved and applicable initial thoughts on what we do, then you should apply. To note, the more that you can tie in these attributes with the job description when you complete the ‘additional information’, the easier it will be for us to see how you’d contribute.

Ultimately, we really need to know that whoever joins us will add to the ‘well, we can…’ conversations, not the ‘we can’t…’ – and we’ll be looking for that in the process. In other words, work with us to identify the problems, remember our students are key, and help us develop, organize and teach what we come up with.

Job Description and Main responsibilities
• Coordinate, revise, review, develop, plan, update and teach all areas of Centre course delivery as per guidance and discussion
• Demonstrate awareness concerning the development and implementation of courses from i) internal UCAE, ii) University and iii) external contexts
• Report to and liaise with the Director and/or Deputy Director of the Centre (or those delegated to by these positions), with regard to the delivery of the Centre’s courses and the responsibilities of the Academic English tutors
• Teach / tutor in all skills of the English language (up to 388 contact hours per year)
• Lead on curriculum development as instructed by the Director and/or Deputy Director of the Centre
• Participate in the organisation and delivery of courses, including the leading of teaching teams
• Lead and participate in recruitment and admissions activities if requested
• If required and agreed with the Director and/or Deputy Director of the Centre, delegate and supervise assistant co-ordinating duties amongst Centre colleagues
• Assist with staff development initiatives including delegated line management, helping to conduct Performance and Development Reviews (P&DR), observations and reviews of teaching
• Solve day-to-day problems related to teaching, and the design, review and development of materials on Centre courses
• Develop mechanisms, approaches, and materials to help guide and enable students in independent and asynchronous language learning
• Monitor student progress, enable student experience initiatives and provide academic support in consultation with the Director and/or Deputy Director of the Centre (or those delegated to by these positions), and relevant Professional Services colleagues
• Set and mark assessments, and potentially provide feedback, in all skills
• Act as personal tutor/academic advisor to students if requested
• If there is clear delivery need, occasionally provide instruction outside usual Universityteaching and working hours
• Attend meetings as required and requested by a more senior member of the Centre
• Keep up to date in technological ‘upskilling’ and be collegially responsible for a culture where continuous professional development and achievement are seen as the norm
• Lead and participate in course evaluation and Quality Assurance processes and contribute to ensuring the resulting actions are applied
• Undertake other teaching and administrative duties/responsibilities as may be required

Person Specification
Essential –
• Possess a first degree and an educational background appropriate to the delivery of the specified duties
• Possess a Master’s in Applied Linguistics, TESOL or other relevant academic areas
• Possess a recognized Diploma-level (NQF Level 7) ELT qualification (e.g., UCLES DELTA or Trinity Diploma in TESOL) or be in the process of completing such at the time of accepting the contract
• Possess teaching experience on a Higher Education Academic English programme
• Ability to lead on the creation of high-quality materials design and the development process
• Demonstrate excellent communication and interpersonal skills, and a collaborative and supportive work ethic
• Demonstrate excellent planning, analytical and project management skills, and a positive and resilient approach to change
• Demonstrate flexibility in approaches to teaching and learning
• Contribute through leading by example to the ongoing development of a high performing culture within the Centre
• Be able to work as required during July, August and September and able to take most annual leave outside these months
• Be able to work on campus (potentially 5 days a week), as and when required

Desirable –
• Fellowship of Advance HE, engaged in the BALEAP TEAP scheme and/or a CertPT in Teaching EAP
• Experience of learning technologies in an Academic English context
• Experience in curriculum and syllabus design
• Co-ordination / Management experience
• Experience of assessment design and development
• Teaching experience on any programmes that provide university-wide Study Skills / Academic Literacies support to all students (international and home)
• Teacher training qualifications and teacher training experience

Job Salary & Benefits

Grade 7 – £45,585 – £56,021

In addition, you will receive –
* Fantastic market leading Pension scheme
* Excellent employee health and wellbeing services including an Employee Assistance Programme
* Exceptional starting annual leave entitlement, plus bank holidays
* Additional paid closure over the Christmas period
* Local and national discounts at a range of major retailers

Further Information

To apply and view all job details, please visit https://www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetail?JobId=31255

Appointment timeline and interview process-
Our aim is for the successful candidate to start in April 2025. Please note that a starting date later than Tuesday 22 April will be very tricky to enable.

Our plan is for the interview process to have two stages.
1. An online interview (up to 30 mins) on Monday 17 February.
2. Successful candidates will then be invited to come to Manchester to meet potential future UCAE colleagues, and to have a second ‘face to face’ interview on Friday 21 February.

For enquiries about the vacancy, shortlisting and interviews, please contact:
Lisa Jameson (Deputy Centre Manager)
Email: lisa.jameson@manchester.ac.uk

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