Job description
- Teach traditional animation and where appropriate digital animation and design
skills into the BA Animation and Games Art degree, as well as other BA and MA
Design courses.
- Contribute to the continuous enhancement of course curricula to keep them
current, relevant, agile, and distinctive.
- Collaborate with industry and across the University, to widen and enrich the
animation experience for our students and the wider creative community.
- Stay abreast of current and emerging trends within the animation and broader
creative industries, and plan for our students to stay up to date, and where
possible to lead developments in your specialist field.
- Take on the responsibilities of academic leadership as required whether for
modules or programme.
- Provide students with an authentic lens and links into the creative industries
and prepare them effectively for their future employment.
- Build excellence into all aspects of the student experience within your areas of
responsibility and expertise. Take a creative, innovative and flexible approach
to facilitating learning, with a commitment to ensuring an excellent student
experience.
- Engage in research or creative practice that will strengthen future Research
Excellence Framework submissions, which can feed back into your teaching.
- Assist in recruitment activities such as open days and schools/college visits
- Work to enhance the performance of all programmes that you lead or teach
into, in relation to NSS, Recruitment, Retention, Graduate Outcomes and other
key performance indicators.
Key Responsibilities
and Accountabilities:
Faculty Specific:
- Lead and design modules or programme as directed, whether on campus
or in TNE.
- Contribute to the teaching, assessment and feedback of design disciplines
and postgraduate teaching provision as required.
- Support off-campus, transnational and online delivery where appropriate.
- All aspects of teaching, learning, assessment and feedback for your
students.
- Develop collaborations and relationships internally and externally to support
the success and employability of our graduates
- Provide administrative and programme support as agreed with your Team
Leader.
- Provide Personal Tutoring for your students
- Participate in the full student recruitment cycle at promotion and interview
stages, actively partaking in recruitment events and activities as and when
required throughout the academic year.
- Collaborate on curriculum and programme design
- Initiate innovative recruitment activities
- Create innovative extra-curricular student experiences
- Mentor less experienced colleagues
- You may be asked to perform other duties which are not specifically
outlined above, but which will be consistent with the role
Special
Circumstances:
Part 1 B:
Generic to all Senior Lecturer roles (Building on the demands of Lecturer):
Individuals carry out a range of duties and have responsibility taken from the
following. Whilst it is not anticipated that all of the activities listed below will
be covered by one individual, it is expected that over time all individuals will
make a balanced contribution to the three areas of academic activity
(research, teaching and learning and reach-out).
Academic Practice
- Design, plan, review and innovate in activities and materials that support
subject area.
- Use appropriate teaching, learning support and assessment methods.
- Supervise student projects and, where appropriate, field trips and placements.
- Identify areas where current provision is in need of revision or improvement.
- Contribute to the planning, design and development of objectives and material.
- Set, mark and assess work and examinations and provide feedback to
students.
- Develop and implement personal research and reach-out plans.
- Conduct individual and/or collaborative research projects,
- Identify sources of funding and contribute to the process of securing funds and
subsequently plan and deliver projects that are funded, as Co-Investigator or
possibly as Principal Investigator.
- Extend, transform and apply knowledge acquired from scholarship and
- Write or contribute to publications or disseminate research and reach-out
or exhibition of work in other appropriate events.
- Maintain knowledge and understanding at the forefront of the academic
discipline and, if appropriate, also at the forefront of the relevant area of
professional practice.
- Provide expert advice through subject area knowledge, understanding and
Communication
- Routinely communicate complex and conceptual ideas to those with limited
range of media.
- Encourage in others commitment to learn.
Liaison and Networking
- Participate in and develop external networks, for example to identify sources of
the institution, facilitate reach-out, generate income, obtain consultancy
projects, or build relationships for future activities.
- Engage in some external discipline-related responsibilities such as subject
Managing People
- Engage in some supervisory or managerial responsibility for researchers,
other grant-funded staff or research students and provide support for other
staff in their own personal development activities including acting as mentor for
colleagues with less experience and advising on personal development.
- Contribute to effective management of the Academic Area by performing
leader or Associate Dean.
Teamwork
- Act as a responsible team member in Academic Area, School and University
staff.
- Collaborate with colleagues to identify and respond to students’ needs.
Pastoral Care
- Could be expected to act as a module or personal tutor.
- Be responsible for the pastoral care of students within a specified area.
Initiative, Problem Solving and Decision Making
- Identify the need for developing the content or structure of modules with
- Develop ideas for generating income.
- Develop ideas and find ways of disseminating and applying the result of
research and reach-out.
- Advise others on strategic issues such as student recruitment and marketing.
- Contribute to the accreditation of courses and quality assurance and
- Contribute pro-actively to decision making within the academic staff team and
possibly within the Academic Area.
- Comply with the University’s expectation of an individual member of academic
development.
Planning and Managing Resources
- As module leader or tutor, co-ordinate with others (such as support staff or
- Manage personal tasks including planning and delivery of teaching, research
student programmes, research projects and other projects.
Sensory, Physical and Emotional Demands
- Balance the pressures of teaching, research, reach-out, academic
management/administrative demands and competing deadlines.
Work Environment
- Depending on area of work and level of training received, may be expected to
others.
- Adhere to academic governance, equality and diversity, relevant health and
University of Sunderland
Role Profile
Part 2
Part 2A: Essential and Desirable Criteria
These criteria are
assessed at the short
listing stage.
The essential criteria
must be met in order
to be eligible for
interview.
Essential
Qualifications and Professional Memberships:
- Good first degree or equivalent professional experience in a relevant design related
Experience:
- Significant experience of teaching, assessment, and feedback in higher education,
student progression and pastoral support.
- Professional experience and engagement as an animator within the creative
industries.
- A demonstrable range of skills and knowledge of both traditional and digital
stop-motion / claymation and drawn animation through ToonBoom.
- Strong skills and knowledge of Adobe suite and ToonBoom Harmony.
- Ability to work effectively on own initiative as well as part of a close-knit team.
- Experience of developing relationships and collaborations with industry and the
creative industries.
Key Knowledge and Expertise:
- Extensive knowledge of both traditional and digital animation workflow/s.
- Strong anatomical knowledge and draftsmanship / life-drawing skills to bring into
- Strong understanding of the animation principles and their application to various
- A good understanding of how higher education should prepare design students for
Desirable
Qualifications and Professional Memberships:
- Higher Education teaching qualification (e.g. PG Cert)
- Advance HE Fellow or Senior Fellow status or willingness to achieve this
Experience:
- Experience of module/ subject/ programme development and leadership,
- Strong skills and knowledge with DragonFrame.
Key Knowledge and Expertise:
Special
Circumstances:
Achievement of HEA Fellowship
Senior Lecturers without Higher Education Academic Fellowship status will be
expected to achieve Fellowship within two years of commencing their role.
Part 2B: Key Competencies
Competencies are
assessed at the
interview/selection
testing stage
Key Knowledge and Expertise (generic):
- Possess sufficient breadth or depth of specialist knowledge in the discipline
to develop teaching, reach-out and research programmes.
- Able to make informed judgments on complex issues in specialist fields,
- Possess the qualities and transferable skills necessary for the exercise of
unpredictable situations, in professional or equivalent environments.
- Skills in managing and motivating staff (as appropriate) and in project
management.
Analysis and Research:
- Gathers data rigorously and conducts robust analysis, questioning
assumptions and existing knowledge.
- Develops hypotheses and concepts to explain data, events and
- Reports findings to wider community and is able to withstand challenge by
- Ability to expand and explore specialisms that could contribute to
programme growth and
Communication:
Oral
- Summarises and interprets complex, conceptual and special matters to aid
others' understanding and aimed at their needs.
- Uses appropriate styles and arguments to influence and negotiate
- Monitors understanding of others, develops approach and takes corrective
Written
- Conveys information of a complex, conceptual and specialist nature using a
range of styles and media selected to meet the needs of others.
- Presents complex information in formats appropriate to non-specialists
- Monitors the reactions of others and takes appropriate steps to remedy any
Decision Making:
Independent decisions
- Considers wider impact of decisions, assesses possible outcomes and their
- Uses judgment to make decisions with limited or ambiguous data and takes
account of multiple factors.
- Distinguishes between the need to make a decision, when to defer and
Collaborative decisions
- Helps others to explore options that initially appear to be inappropriate or
- Enables others to contribute to decisions.
- Ensures that options are weighed, outcomes identified and chances of
- Challenges decisions, appropriately to ensure consideration and processes
Provision of advice
- Anticipates and highlights issues that need to be taken into account.
- Outlines possible impacting factors, assessing their degree of influence on
- Ensures previous learning is included.
Liaison and Networking
Liaison
- Ensures that accurate information is passed on to the most appropriate
- Co-ordinates own effort with that of others so the work is completed
effectively in line with team objectives.
- Promotes a positive image of the Institution.
Participation in networks
- Works across team boundaries to build and strengthen working
- Shares information and ideas to help others develop their practice.
- Is involved in networks to pursue a shared interest as a requirement of the
Building internal networks
- Leads and builds role related external networks to enhance the work of the
- Actively seeks to build productive relationships between external bodies to
benefit the Institution.
Pastoral Care and Welfare:
- Calms and reassures those in distress.
- Deals with difficult situations or confidential matters, according to policy and
- Involves others or refers elsewhere for assistance if the situation becomes
Planning and Organising Resources
- Actively seeks information to support planning and prioritization of work.
- Ensures that time and resources are used effectively to their maximum
- Checks and reports on progress and achievement against plans to key
parties.
- Develops plans to take account of problems, delays and new priorities.
- Co-ordinates the work of others to improve performance and use of
- Involves other areas appropriately and co-ordinates effort and resources so
performance standards and shared objectives are achieved.
- Reviews performance and uses experience to make improvements to
Service Delivery:
- Adapts services and systems to meet customers’ needs and identifies ways
of improving standards.
- Learns from complaints and takes action to resolve them.
- Collates feedback and views from customers and keeps up-to-date with
- Actively promotes services.
Teaching and Learning Support:
- Contributes to the long term planning and development of learning
programmes.
- Continuously reviews areas identified for improvement and develops
mechanisms.
- Mentors other staff outside the immediate work team.
- Reflects on own and others practice and develops insights into the learning
process.
Date Completed: 30th March 2023