Position Details
Academic Services
University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
Full time starting salary is normally in the range £58,225 to £67,468 with potential progression once in post to £87,974
Grade: 9
Full Time, Permanent
Closing date: 27th September 2026
UK and International travel may be required for this role
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, and we are 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 to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide-range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career 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 and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of 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 days paid holiday a 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 the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham
Background
The University of Birmingham is a global institution working within a diverse and vibrant city, offering an inspiring education to our students, and undertaking critically important research. We are a place of open, critical thinking, and the creation, sharing and dissemination of knowledge. Professional Services play a crucial role in this by providing outstanding support to our researchers, enable an exceptional educational experience for our students, and help the University to grow its influence regionally, nationally, and globally. They ensure the University’s resources are used wisely, manage and improve the infrastructure which sits at the heart of the institution, and support decisions to be made quickly and based on sound evidence. Our Birmingham Professional programme operates across the University, supporting colleagues to network and collaborate, offering opportunities to learn and develop, contributing to the delivery of the University’s objectives, and helping everyone to understand the broader context within which we work.
Team overview
Education Technologies and Learning Environments (ETLE) is a newly formed, pioneering team — one of the few of its kind in UK higher education — sitting at the heart of the University of Birmingham's ambition to become a global top 50 institution. As part of Libraries and Learning Resources within Academic Services, ETLE occupies a uniquely pivotal position: bridging the worlds of technology, pedagogy, and physical space to enable truly transformative education.
Our vision is bold: learning experiences where technology enables genuine human connection, curiosity is cultivated, and students and academics flourish together — driving discovery that shapes society and addresses global challenges. To realise that vision, ETLE works in close partnership with the University's academic community to navigate educational transformation at pace and at scale. We deliver reliable, responsive support that sustains excellence today, while pioneering innovative learning experiences that harness emerging technologies and pedagogies. Through our work, we enable world-class education, foster collaboration across disciplines, and contribute to the University's ambition to unlock new potential and change how the world works.
This is an exciting and defining moment to join ETLE. As a newly established team, we are building something genuinely significant — and this role offers a rare opportunity to help shape our culture, our direction, and our impact from the ground up. If you are driven by the desire to lead, innovate, and leave a lasting legacy in higher education, ETLE is where you belong.
Role Summary
This is an exceptional and rare leadership opportunity for a technically authoritative, strategically minded professional who is ready to shape the future of learning environments at one of the UK's most ambitious universities. As Assistant Director, Learning Environments, you will provide expert strategic leadership across a bold and high-impact portfolio encompassing AV and media services, learning space design, immersive and emerging technologies, study spaces, and space operations. With direct influence over more than 300 centrally managed teaching and learning spaces, a budget in excess of £1 million per annum, and a talented, diverse team of over 30 professionals, this is a role where your expertise will genuinely matter: shaping the spaces, technologies, and experiences that define how thousands of students learn, discover, and thrive. If you are passionate about innovation, inspired by the power of great learning environments, and ready to lead at the highest level, this is the role for you.
Main Duties
- Strategic Leadership of Learning Spaces & AV Services: Lead the development and implementation of a comprehensive service design and AV strategy across all University teaching, study, and event spaces, ensuring a consistently high-quality, user-focused suite of services across over 300 centrally managed spaces.
- Learning Space Design & Capital Projects: Provide expert leadership and authority on learning space design, including input into new building developments and campus redevelopment projects. Work collaboratively with Estates, ITS, and academic stakeholders to shape the design, specification, and commissioning of innovative, future-ready learning environments.
- Immersive & Emerging Technology: Act as the University's expert authority on immersive and emerging learning technologies (including XR, VR, and lecture capture). Horizon-scan to proactively identify, evaluate, and recommend emerging tools, technologies, and service models that will enhance the quality and innovation of learning spaces and services.
- Standards, Policy & Governance: Devise, maintain, and review a robust framework of standards, policies, and procedures relating to AV, presentation, video conferencing, lecture capture, immersive learning, and study space services, ensuring compliance with relevant legislation, codes of practice, and University policies.
- Strategic Planning & Reporting: Contribute to the development of the Library and Learning Resources directorate's strategic and operational plans. Produce high-quality reports, business cases, and briefings for senior leadership, project boards, and governance committees, using data and expert judgement to inform strategic decision-making.
- People Leadership & Team Development: Lead, motivate, and develop a diverse team of over 30 AV/Media Technologists, learning space designers, and student workers through two direct reports (Service Team Lead and Design Team Lead). Foster a high-performance culture, ensuring the team has the technical expertise, skills, and capacity to deliver excellent services. Provide expert technical guidance and upskilling to support team development.
- Service Quality, Evaluation & Continuous Improvement: Lead the development and implementation of evaluation methodologies to assess the effectiveness and impact of learning space services and projects. Use data, insight, and expert judgement to drive continuous improvement and influence future service and investment decisions.
- Stakeholder Engagement & Partnership: Develop and maintain effective relationships with a broad range of internal and external stakeholders, including the Assistant Director of Digital Education, Head of Portfolio Development, Estates, ITS, academic colleagues, the Library and Learning Resources Senior Leadership Team, and external suppliers and contractors. Engage with senior University leadership, including University Executive Board members and project boards, as required.
- Student & Academic Experience: Ensure that service design and space development decisions are informed by student and academic feedback, usage data, and pedagogical best practice, maintaining a clear and consistent focus on enhancing the quality of the learning and teaching experience across the University.
- Budget & Resource Management: Hold accountability for an annual budget in excess of £1 million, ensuring resources are allocated effectively and efficiently across service delivery, equipment lifecycle, and design projects. Identify financial risks and trends, taking independent action to implement appropriate solutions and ensure delivery on budget.
- Asset & Lifecycle Management: Provide strategic oversight of the lifecycle management of all AV and learning space assets across centrally managed spaces, ensuring timely maintenance, replacement planning, and accurate records of assets, stock, and service activity to support operational and financial planning.
- Supplier & Contract Management: Lead the management of relationships with external installation engineers, maintenance contractors, and technology suppliers, ensuring value for money, quality of delivery, and alignment with University standards and strategic objectives.
- Procurement & Tendering: Lead or contribute to procurement exercises and tendering processes for AV equipment, learning space technology, and associated services, ensuring compliance with University procurement policies and public sector regulations where applicable, and securing best value for the University.
- Risk Management: Identify, assess, and manage operational and strategic risks associated with learning space services, AV infrastructure, and project delivery. Ensure appropriate mitigation plans are in place, escalating risks to senior leadership where necessary, and maintain a proactive approach to risk across all areas of responsibility.
- Business Continuity: Lead the development and maintenance of business continuity plans for critical AV and learning space services, ensuring operational resilience and minimal disruption to teaching and learning activity in the event of service failure or other unforeseen circumstances.
- Equality, Diversity & Inclusion: Champion and embed a culture that promotes equality, values diversity, and fosters inclusion across all aspects of the team's work, in line with the Equality Act 2010 and the University's EDI strategy. Actively challenge unacceptable behaviour and ensure EDI principles are reflected in service design, space design, and people management practices.
- Accessibility & Inclusive Design: Ensure that all learning spaces, AV services, and technologies are designed, procured, and maintained to meet accessibility requirements, supporting an inclusive experience for all students and staff, including those with disabilities, in line with the Equality Act 2010 and relevant accessibility standards.
- Sustainability: Promote and embed sustainable working practices across the team and its services, supporting the University's sustainability agenda through resource-efficient service development and delivery, asset and lifecycle management, including procurement, and space design decisions.
- Any other duties commensurate with the grade.
Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience
Qualifications
- Degree-level education in a relevant discipline such as Audio-Visual Technology, Music Technology, Broadcast Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, Educational Technology, or a related field; or equivalent level qualification; or substantial relevant practical experience gained through a series of progressively more demanding roles.
- Full, clean driving licence, required to support the operational needs of the department including the transportation of AV equipment across sites.
Technical Knowledge & Expertise
- Authoritative knowledge of AV systems and infrastructure, including AV programming platforms (e.g. Extron, QSC), AV-over-IP protocols, Dante audio networking, network architecture and deployment, and the integration of non-traditional networked devices such as switchers, image and audio processors, digital signage, and display systems.
- Strong knowledge of video conferencing platforms and systems (e.g. Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Cisco), including their deployment, management, and integration within teaching and event spaces.
- Demonstrable knowledge of lecture capture systems (e.g. Panopto, Echo360), including their strategic deployment, management, and integration with University teaching infrastructure.
- Knowledge and practical understanding of immersive and emerging learning technologies, including Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Extended Reality (XR), and their application in educational contexts.
- Ability to provide expert technical guidance and upskilling to a large and diverse AV and learning technology team, acting as the authoritative technical reference point for the team. Leadership & Management Experience.
- Significant and demonstrable experience of leading AV, learning technology, or learning space services at a senior level, with a track record of strategic leadership, team development, and service improvement.
- Proven experience of leading, motivating, and managing large and diverse teams, including through periods of change, and of developing high-performance cultures through indirect as well as direct management structures.
- Demonstrable experience of budget management at scale (e.g. in excess of £500,000 per annum), including resource allocation, financial planning, risk identification, and independent decision-making to ensure delivery on budget.
- Experience of procurement and tendering processes, including the management of supplier relationships and contracts, and compliance with public sector or institutional procurement regulations.
- Experience of working in complex organisations, successfully navigating matrix management structures and influencing across organisational boundaries. Stakeholder Engagement & Communication.
- Excellent interpersonal communication skills, including the ability to produce high-quality reports, business cases, and briefings for senior leadership and governance audiences, and to adapt communication style effectively for a wide range of stakeholders.
- Proven ability to influence and negotiate with senior stakeholders, including University Executive Board members, academic leaders, and external partners, inspiring confidence and commanding authority across a range of professional contexts.
- Demonstrable experience of active engagement with users of teaching technologies, maximising the benefit and uptake of AV and learning space services through effective stakeholder engagement and training provision.
Strategy, Analysis & Planning
- Ability to translate strategy into operational plans, horizon-scan for emerging technologies and service models, and adapt to changing circumstances while maintaining delivery of priorities.
- Proven analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to use data, insight, and expert judgement to identify and implement improvements, efficiencies, and innovations across a complex service portfolio.
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
- Demonstrable commitment to and experience of championing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in service design, space design, and people management, including the ability to identify issues with the potential to impact on protected groups and take appropriate action, in line with the Equality Act 2010.
Desirable
Qualifications & Professional Memberships
- Postgraduate qualification in a relevant discipline (e.g. Educational Technology, AV Technology, Management, or a related field).
- AVIXA CTS, CTS-D, or CTS-I certification — strongly desirable, as these are widely recognised as the benchmark of professional expertise in the AV industry. Candidates who are actively working towards certification and can demonstrate equivalent knowledge and experience are encouraged to apply.
- Membership of a relevant professional body, such as:
- CMALT (Certified Membership of the Association for Learning Technology — ALT) — the leading UK professional recognition for learning technologists.
- APM (Association for Project Management) — relevant to capital project involvement.
- CMI (Chartered Management Institute) — relevant to senior leadership and management practice.
Knowledge & Experience
- Experience of working in a UK Higher Education environment, or a demonstrable understanding of the HE sector, its structures, and the specific challenges and opportunities of delivering AV and learning space services within an academic context.
- Knowledge of learning space design principles and familiarity with construction and estates project processes (e.g. RIBA stages), enabling effective collaboration with Estates and capital project teams.
- Knowledge of accessibility standards and inclusive design principles as applied to learning spaces and AV technology (e.g. BS 8300, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines).
- Experience of developing and implementing evaluation methodologies to assess the impact and effectiveness of technology services and learning space projects.
Familiarity with sustainability frameworks and resource-efficient procurement practices relevant to AV and learning space services.
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Informal enquiries to Allison Hall, email: [email protected]
View our staff values and behaviours here
Use of AI in applications: We want to understand your genuine interest in the role and for the written elements of your application to accurately reflect your own communication style. Applications that rely too heavily on AI tools can appear generic and lack the detail we need to assess your skills and experience. Such applications will unlikely be progressed to interview.
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 everyone on our website .
