Professional Development Adviser

Salary: £35,608.00 - £46,049.00  per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 19 March 2026

The Role

This is an exciting opportunity to join our dynamic and collaborative Academic Practice team, part of our Learning and Teaching Development Service. We are seeking a knowledgeable and people-centred educator to contribute to the strategic enhancement of academic advising.

You will take a leading role in implementing and enhancing the Academic Advising Framework. Working closely with Academic Advisers and Directors of Academic Advising, you will support the development of effective advising practice and evaluate the impact of academic advising on the student experience. A key focus of the role is improving equity across the student journey and building colleagues’ confidence in delivering inclusive, compassionate, and student-centred academic advice.

This role provides an opportunity to contribute meaningfully to colleague educational development and the enhancement of the student learning experience. You will play a key role in delivering the University’s academic practice development agenda in alignment with the Education for Life Strategy 2030+.

Please visit our website to learn more about the Academic Practice team and our work.

This role is suitable for blended working and is fixed term to 31.07.28.

For more information, please contact: Emma McCulloch, Academic Practice Team Manager - Emma.McCulloch@newcastle.ac.uk

Key Accountabilities

• Contribute to devising and implementing the University’s provision to support staff and research students in developing their academic practice in order that the University needs and those of individual colleagues are met.
• Contribute to strategy and policy to ensure that effective academic advising provision is embedded across the University, identifying new and emerging opportunities to enhance support for students. This will include ensuring that advising practices, guidance, and resources remain current, evidence-informed, and responsive to student needs and sector expectations.
• Contribute to the design, delivery, and evaluation of staff development initiatives that build institutional capability in academic advising, supporting colleagues in academic advising roles to deliver effective, inclusive, and consistent advising practices across the University.
• Lead and coordinate institutional stakeholder engagement and collaboration in relation to academic advising, including the facilitation of cross-university forums, alignment of practice, and effective liaison with senior academic and professional services colleagues to support a coherent and strategic advising framework.
• Prepare data/reports for a range of University committees.
• Work collaboratively with key stakeholders to co-develop, embed, and build shared understanding of academic advising approaches across the University, securing engagement and support for advising-related initiatives and reporting through appropriate governance and quality assurance arrangements.
• Work with the Academic Practice Team Manager to provide Heads of Academic Units, and other senior managers, with timely and consistent sources of advice, guidance and support regarding all aspects of academic advising.

The Person (Essential)

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Knowledge of academic staff development theory and practice in the areas of academic advising
• Awareness of current and emerging approaches to academic advising within and beyond the UK higher education sector.
• Ability to plan, organise, teach, monitor and evaluate large volumes of high quality training and development programmes.
• Interpersonal skills to build and maintain effective relationships with Heads of Schools, Deans and other stakeholders
• Ability to work as part of a team
• Good IT skills using Microsoft Office packages and web-based software
• Experience in designing, commissioning, delivering and evaluating academic advising and support activities, from short targeted initiatives to longer-term developmental provision.
• Demonstrable commitment to own continuing professional development (CPD)

Attributes and Behaviour

Planning and Organising

• Excellent organisational skills and the ability to handle effectively a range of tasks simultaneously, work well under pressure and to tight deadlines

Finding Solutions

• Ability to use initiative and judgement within the parameters of responsibility of the role
• Recognises urgency and takes decisive action when required
• Agility and flexibility within the role

Team Working

• Ability to build positive working relationships and deal effectively with stakeholders at all levels

Communicating

• Understands how best to communicate with the others, correctly interpreting the right way to approach a situation.
• Clear and concise; gets the message across to others.

Qualifications

• Qualified to postgraduate level
• Recognised as a Fellow or Senior Fellow by the Higher Education Academy
• Relevant professional qualification or recognition in teaching.

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a Gold Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.  We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.  We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 29129