Academic Programme Manager

Established in 1597, Gresham College is a charity which provides high-quality free education to the public in a broad range of subjects. The College aims to stimulate a love of learning and intellectual curiosity and to champion academic rigor, professional expertise and freedom of expression.

Gresham College has been providing free lectures within the City of London for over 400 years. Lectures are attended by an in-person audience and live-streamed around the world. We have currently had 46 million views. To watch please visit our website www.gresham.ac.uk or look on YouTube.

The College is now in year 3 of an exciting 5-year plan which has the primary aim of increasing and broadening the audience which the College reaches. Working at Gresham College is hugely rewarding in terms of the breadth and range of subjects covered and the knowledge and intellectual reputations of our speakers, as well as the opportunities for input into our academic programme.

Purpose To shape and operationalise the College’s programme of lectures, talks and videos in collaboration with the Provost. To be responsible for the day-to-day running and administration of the current and future Academic Programmes.

Reports to The Provost and the Executive Director

Responsibilities

The Academic Programme Manager is responsible for:

Academic (current year)

• Running the current year’s academic programme of the College, liaising with, and advising, professors and lecturers on their presentations.
• Attending many College lectures (c 120 pa).
• Leading on the logistics of academic events/including arrangements for staffing, introductions and security.
• Administering the Professors’ Survey and reporting on its results.
• Working with the Head of Development to report annually on sponsored professorships.
• Providing annual statistics to support the Provost’s annual meetings with professors.

Academic (forthcoming year(s))

• Conducting research into potential speakers and topics, and working with other team members in the commissioning, evaluation, and acceptance/ rejection of lecture proposals.
• Supervision of a team of 3
• Overseeing the composition of the academic programme for the year following, working with the Academic Programme Officer on detailed scheduling, in consultation with the Provost, Professors, and Academic Board on content.
• Working with the Communications Team in producing the draft printed programme.
• Organising new Professorial appointments annually

Other responsibilities

• Conducting research for the CEO/Provost as required, producing reports.
• Assisting the CEO with KPI monitoring, especially the production of reporting materials for Council and the sponsors -- this includes the Annual Monitoring Report.
• Annually updating documents such as the Gresham Professors’ Handbook, letters of agreement and guidance for speakers.
• Briefing the Provost before meetings of Academic Board and other committees.
• Engaging with external stakeholders, including the college sponsors
• Contributing to formulation of College strategy and planning under the direction of the Executive Director and helping to manage the implementation of strategic decisions concerning the College’s development.
• Performing such other duties as the Executive Director and Provost shall from time to time reasonably require.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

• Holder of a university degree, preferably a higher degree or equivalent experience.
• Experienced in academic or cognate administration.
• Experience of direct line management, supervising or leading a team.
• Excellent organizational and time management skills and ability to work on multiple concurrent projects with conflicting deadlines.
• Excellent oral and written communications skills, with a high level of accuracy and attention to detail
• Excellent IT skills
• Experienced in delivery of public events and interaction with members of the public (desirable)
• Intellectually curious and interested in a variety of disciplines.
• Willing and able to work flexible and unsocial hours.

Equal Opportunities

Gresham College encourages applications from those of diverse backgrounds. The College is committed to fairness, consistency and transparency in selection decisions. Panel members are aware of the principles of equality of opportunity and fair selection.

Application Process

All applications will be managed in accordance with the College’s recruitment policy; the process is outlined below.

Formal applications must consist of a Curriculum Vitae accompanied by a letter explaining your suitability for the role in relation to the information and criteria specified in the Job Description and Person Specification.

The selection and interview process will be managed a panel comprised of employees and/or other persons. The final appointment will be made subject to satisfactory references, and any other necessary document checks (e.g., right to work in the UK).

For more information on how to apply for this post please click apply below.

The closing date for the position of Academic Programme Manager at Gresham College is 9.00 am Monday 12 June 2023, but will close earlier if the position is filled