Head of FE

Contractual Hours: 37.5 hours per week, 9.00am-5.30pm Monday to Friday (some weekend working, evenings and flexibility will be required)

About BIMM Institute

With over 35 years’ experience helping students launch successful careers in Music, Film and Performing arts and located in some of Europe’s most creative cities - London, Berlin, Dublin, Brighton, Manchester, Bristol, Hamburg, and Birmingham. BIMM Institute is proud to be the largest and leading provider of creative arts education in Europe.

We offer a broad range of Higher and Further Education courses in popular music, performing arts and film and screen – including BA(Hons)/BMus Degrees, nationally accredited Diplomas and MAs. Our professional, highly vocational, and real-world courses include studies in music performance, performing arts, songwriting, music production, music business, event management, music marketing, media and communication, film and screen.

Person Specification

You will be an experienced professional with a strong background in FE, who will take responsibility for the leadership, creative development and delivery of FE courses. You will need to be a team player who is used to working to tight deadlines and to ensuring that staff and students alike are able to meet exacting standards of educational excellence.  

The role will necessitate strong communication with the FE Programme Leaders to ensure teaching and learning is of the highest standard. The role will also include interaction with other BIMM colleges to ensure parity and compliance.

Retention, achievement, and succession will be key areas for the postholder to focus on, as will a thorough understanding of the requirements associated with the Ofsted inspection framework.  

Essential Criteria

• Experience in managing a team with a view to driving high standards from both staff and students alike.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills 
• Excellent level of IT skills
• Strong background in the delivery of quality teaching and learning
• An understanding of complex systems such as scheduling, timetabling and exams procedures
• Be able to work quickly and accurately under pressure
• Be able to successfully manage a varied workload
• A teaching qualification (or a willingness to work towards)

Desirable Criteria

• An MA level qualification
• Excellent skills in an area of the music industry as well as relevant industry experience
• Relevant experience within Further Education management
• Experience of dealing with awarding partner(s)

Key Accountabilities

1) Curriculum Management

• Continually review the curriculum offering to maintain relevancy and meet current academic standards
• Responsible for upkeep and development of the Course Specification and Module / Unit Guides
• Review local teaching resources and schemes of work to ensure high quality content that provides opportunities for students to be challenged academically and developed creatively
• Drive the creation of high-quality VLE module / unit templates to help enhance learning and teaching. 
• Contribute to the development of new courses and revalidation of existing courses.
• Ensure curriculum enables progression from FE to HE
• Develop initiatives to improve progression from FE to HE
• Oversight and responsibility for student-centric timetables across FE courses working alongside Head of Learning and Teaching and Administrators to deliver this project

2) Line Management and Leadership

• Responsible for the line management and co-ordination of all FE Programme Leaders
• Working with the FE Programme Leaders to agree clear boundaries and distinct responsibilities for on-going projects and weekly tasks
• To Chair FE team meetings and report to the College Management Team as required.
• Attend College Management Team meetings as required

3) Quality Assurance and Annual Monitoring

• Oversee the annual review of all courses.
• Oversee the local authorship of annual monitoring reports (or contributary reports) with a consistent editorial voice.
• Monitor course specific action plans ensuring intended outcomes are measurable, address issues and inform the enhancement of learning, teaching and assessment.
• Contribute to the development of course documentation in consultation with other BIMM colleagues and to be approved by academic committee.
• Ensure accuracy of course documentation available via BIMM VLE.
• Represent BIMM Manchester on group wide committees, as required (eg Student at Risk). 
• Contribute to the College Enhancement Plan: Module Evaluation Surveys, External Verifiers, Self Assessment Reports

4) Assessment

• Oversee and be accountable for examination and assessment arrangements in accordance with published BIMM procedures and awarding body requirements.
• Oversee the production of assessments schedules and assessment feedback templates.
• Ensure accuracy of assessment documentation and submission portals available via BIMM VLE.
• Responsible for FE assessment data reporting through to assessment boards.
• Being accountable for student success rates on all courses at BIMM Manchester, measured against KPIs

5) Lecturer Leadership and Development

• Coordinate Lecturer, Module leader, FE Programme leader CPD alongside the Head of Learning and Teaching 
• Make recommendations to the Head of Learning and Teaching in respect of lecturers to be considered for PG Cert qualification. 
• Undertake annual lecturer observations working as part of the observation team.

6) Student Support

• Liaise with Student Services to ensure effective support is in place for students, including tutorials.
• Work with Student Services, FE Programme Leaders, and Lecturers to respond to issues with attendance and engagement, proactively devising and implementing strategies for improvement.
• Liaise with Student Services to support learners with additional learning support needs.
• Monitor and encourage student engagement with module and course surveys.

7) Staff and Student Recruitment / Induction

• Responsible for the recruitment and induction of Programme Leaders to ensure the FE staffing cohort is fully equipped to deliver the curriculum offering
• Responsible for driving student recruitment via attendance at Open Days, Experience Days, Induction, and Enrolment

8) External Events and Advocacy

• Representing the College as required at external events as agreed by the College Principal.
• Involvement in BIMM Manchester Open Days as and when required, assisting in the delivery of information to prospective students.
• Implementation of DfE guidance
• Build and maintain an external FE college network
• OFSTED - Ensure procedures are OFSTED ready
• OFSTED - Ensure evidence is readily available for an inspection
• Funding Partner - oversee the co-ordination of Maths & English retakes and Student Registration

NB:  This is not a complete statement of all duties and responsibilities of this post.  The post holder may be required to carry out other duties in keeping with the nature of the post as directed by and agreed with their Line Manager / College Principal.  

We are committed to establishing a culture of inclusivity across BIMM Institute, so that we truly represent the diversity of our students and the creative industries, both in what we teach and how we work.

All posts are subject to Right to Work and DBS checks.