Professional Development Officer

FTE: 1 (35 hours/week)
Fixed Term (Until March 2015)
Reference No 142/2014
Reports To Director

"Confucius Institute for Scotland's Schools"

The Confucius Institute for Scotland's Schools, based within Scotland's National Centre for Languages, urgently requires a Professional Development Officer to support Confucius Classroom hubs. There are currently 12 hubs across Scotland; however, new hubs will be developed this year with further hubs opening in 2015-16. This is an exciting opportunity to work at national level and drive forward the strategic languages agenda in Scotland.

The Professional Development Officer will be responsible for developing and delivering a broad range of support measures to develop the learning and teaching of Mandarin in Scottish schools. This would include, for example, leading professional learning workshops and managing projects such as Business Language Champions, national awards/competitions and other promotional events.

It is expected that the post holder will support practitioners to turn policy into practice to create a positive impact on learners. This will be based on identification of practitioners' needs, with particular reference to the place of Mandarin within the "1+2" Languages Policy and Curriculum for Excellence. The post holder would, therefore, need extensive experience of leading recent initiatives focused on the learning and teaching of Mandarin. A sound knowledge of the curriculum in both primary and secondary sectors is also essential. Ideally s/he will be able to demonstrate experience of external partnership working both at home (parents, community, business, FE/HE) and abroad. The successful candidate will have the ability to work not only on her/his own initiative but also as part of a team and excellent organisational, ICT and communication skills are essential.

The post holder will report to the Manager of the Confucius Institute.

The post is until March 2015 in the first instance, on a seconded or fixed term basis, and there is a very strong likelihood that this will be extended.

Application Procedure

Applicants are required to complete an application form including the name of three referees who will be contacted before interview without permission, unless you indicate that you would prefer otherwise. Applicants should also submit a Curriculum Vitae and a covering letter as a single document detailing the knowledge, skills and experience you think make you the right candidate for the job. Applicants should also complete the Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form.

Other Information

Further information on the application process and working at Strathclyde can be found on our website (http://www.strath.ac.uk/hr/workforus).

Informal enquiries about the post can be directed to Fhiona Fisher, Acting Director - fhiona.fisher@strath.ac.uk, Tel 0141 444 8172.

Closing Date Sunday, 31 August 2014
Interviews: Formal interviews for this post will be held on Tuesday, 16 September 2014.

Equality and Diversity

We value diversity and welcome applications from all sections of the community.

The University currently holds a Bronze Athena SWAN award, recognising our commitment to advancing women's careers in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) employment in academia.

Scotland's National Centre for Languages (SCILT) (http://www.scilt.org.uk/)

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (www.strath.ac.uk/humanities/)