Head: Education Consultancy, Department for Education Innovation at University of Pretoria/Universiteit van Pretoria

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provide strategic leadership, management and holistic support to the Education Consultants (ECs) and the work that they carry out at both the faculty and institutional levels; 
• Provide operational support for the work carried out by the Education Consultants regarding curriculum, teaching, assessment, academic development of staff and student success within a hybrid-learning approach that promotes inquiry-based learning;
• Promote and monitor teaching excellence as one of the strategic drivers of the university, managing stakeholder relationships and managing the communication process at the faculty level;
• Maintain relationships with donor organisations;
• Stay updated with educational developments through research, supporting curriculum development, and empowering academic staff through training and promoting a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

• A relevant Masters degree;
• A teaching qualification (e.g., Postgraduate Diploma in Education/ Academic development);
• Ten years of work experience, of which two years in management:
• In higher education experience, including institutional initiatives for the academic development of students and lecturers;
• In management experience within the higher education environment that includes human resource and financial management;
• Experience in using the affordances of technology to promote student success, student interventions, academic staff development, institutional research, the scholarship of teaching and learning, etc.
• Experience working with donors and other funders;
• Proven experience in the development and application of innovative learning strategies;
• Experience working with teaching, learning or student success projects at a tertiary level.

REQUIRED COMPETENCIES (SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE AND BEHAVIOURAL ATTRIBUTES):

• Knowledge of the higher education policy framework as it relates to teaching, learning and student success;
• Ability to actively participate as a member of a team to move toward the completion of goals;
• A combination of personal and professional skills aimed at conflict resolution, relationship building, management of teams, mentoring of teams and individuals, coaching of teams and individuals as well as monitoring and evaluation;
• Ability to deal with high-stress situations calmly and effectively;
• Knowledge of appropriate policies and procedures for recruiting, selecting, developing, counselling, disciplining, and evaluating the performance of employees to retain a diverse workforce. Ability to administer and ensure compliance with human resources policies and procedures. Ability to observe and assess work. Ability to provide feedback;
• Ability to provide technical supervision of staff. Ability to develop plans for employees to gain necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities. Ability to plan for and support employees in career development opportunities;
• Ability to provide guidance and feedback to help an employee or groups of employees strengthen their knowledge, skills and abilities to accomplish a task or solve a problem, which in turn should improve job performance;
• Ability to present information to individuals or groups; deliver presentations suited to the characteristics and needs of the audience; 
• Ability to convey information clearly and concisely to groups or individuals either verbally or in writing to ensure that they understand the information and the message;
• Ability to listen and respond appropriately to others;
• Ability to identify problems, determine possible solutions, and actively work to resolve the issues;
• Willingness to apply oneself to the task in a focused manner and work hard;
• Observant and aware of environmental changes that affect teaching, learning and student success;
• Computer literacy (MS Word, PowerPoint and Excel).

ADDED ADVANTAGES AND PREFERENCES:

• A relevant Doctorate; 
• Six years of work experience in:
• policy formulation;
• Project management skills, qualifications or experience;
• Research output on higher education student success;
• Additional qualifications or training related to the field of operation;
• Evidence of participation in national forums or collaborations that promote academic development; 
• Proven experience in developing and applying innovative teaching and learning strategies.