Knowledge Manager

We are a world class research-intensive university. We deliver teaching and learning of the highest quality. We play a leading role in economic, social and cultural development of the North East of England. Attracting and retaining high-calibre people is fundamental to our continued success.

Salary: Salary in the region of £40,000 per annum.

Closing Date: 20 October 2023

The Role

We have reimagined the way we deliver our University IT Services, building a world-class IT department responsive to the needs of our global community. We’re growing significantly and we’ve created new opportunities and made changes to how we work. Our people have been at the centre of this change, with a particular focus on development and opportunities to learn new skills.

As Knowledge Manager, you will play a crucial role to develop and deploy a knowledge strategy to capture information to aid the operations of the IT service and help our colleagues and students in the University self-help on standard IT issues by harnessing knowledge assets in a consistent and easily accessible way.

The Knowledge Manager is a key member of the End User Support team and wider service management team to constantly improve service operations across all services from service desk, end user computing, infrastructure, and applications.

The University is an exciting and dynamic place to work, dedicated to world-leading education and research. Benefits include excellent pension; flexible working options; a minimum of 37 days holiday (including public holidays); discounted travel for the Metro and local bus services; and discounts for national retailers. You can find out more on our benefits web page.

We are committed to building and maintaining a fair and inclusive working environment and we would be happy to discuss arrangements for flexible and/or blended working.

Informal enquiries may be made to Andy Grossett, Director of Technology Operations, at andy.grossett@ncl.ac.uk.

Key Accountabilities

• Contribute to the analysis, specification, design and implementation of best practice governance processes and procedures across NUIT to ensure that performance is consistent, effective, and transparent
• The Knowledge Manager is responsible for developing and implementing the NUIT knowledge management process (for internal IT use and for external publication to our customers). The role will also work with other stakeholders to explore opportunities to expand this service for other functions
• The individual is also responsible for developing technical processes that ensure knowledge is captured, recorded in a way that is easily understood by the assumed audience, and supports a strategy of shift left moving resolution wherever possible towards self-help/self-heal
• This role will work with the Project Management Office to ensure that during the lifecycle of projects knowledge is adequately captured, stored, and owned. This will form part of the acceptance criteria by teams that support the ongoing service
• Provide guidance, support, and motivation to all delivery teams to ensure compliance with the knowledge process and adherence to agreed KPIs and SLAs to monitor the capture of knowledge and ongoing review. This will include a focus on first time resolution improvement
• Produce learning materials, documentation and standards, and deliver training to increase awareness and acceptance of best practice processes within and outside of NUIT
• Ensure clear and timely reporting mechanisms are in place to evidence the effectiveness and adoption of NUIT policies and procedures
• Any other reasonable duties that fall within the scope of the post, as allocated by the line manager

The Person (Essential)

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Good verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to explain technical concepts and technologies to stakeholders
• Proven ability in documenting complex processes
• Processes in an IT context e.g., ITIL
• Practical experience of knowledge processes and procedures
• Data manipulation skills with experience of producing and maintaining management reports
• A broad understanding of the IT landscape in a large and complex organisation

Attributes and Behaviour

Planning and Organising

• Identifies quickly what is important and prioritises accordingly
• Establishes clear roles and responsibilities for self and others
• Maintains flexibility in work plans to allow for changing circumstances

Communicating

• Encourages and supports a free flow of communication and information across own area, and the wider University
• Can put forward own view whilst listening and respecting the views and opinions of others
• Understands how best to appeal to the other person/group, appropriately
• Interprets the right way to approach a situation

Influencing

• Uses a variety of influencing styles to suit the audience
• Explains how own proposals will support the interests of others (i.e., using win-win strategies)
• Has a keen sense of timing; seizes opportunities
• Develops plans and strategies for influencing and persuading stakeholders

Projecting Confidence

• Displays the confidence to politely challenge colleagues regardless of seniority
• Confident statements of own position or views
• Demonstrates self-assured manner
• Remains calm when responding to challenging situations
• Believes and values own evidence-based judgement, even if it is different from others

Qualifications

• A degree in information systems, business administration, or an equivalent qualification or experience
   

Newcastle University is committed to being a fully inclusive Global University which actively recruits, supports and retains staff from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from everybody, regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital status/civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, as well as being open to flexible working practices.

The University holds a silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. The University also holds the HR Excellence in Research award for our work to support the career development of our researchers and is a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.