Accreditation and Rankings Manager

Closing date: 7/2/23, 10am

Full-time (35 hours per week), Open Ended.

33 days of annual leave and 9 buildings closed days.

Heriot-Watt University has established a reputation for world-class teaching and leading-edge, relevant research, which has made it one of the top UK universities for innovation, business and industry.

Heriot-Watt University has five campuses: three in the UK (Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Orkney), one in Dubai and one in Malaysia. The University offers a highly distinctive range of degree programmes in the specialist areas of science, engineering, design, business and languages. Heriot-Watt is also Scotland's most international university, boasting the largest international student cohort.

About Edinburgh Business School 

Edinburgh Business School, part of School of Social Sciences, one of five academic schools at Heriot-Watt University, has a strong presence in the University’s international campuses in Edinburgh, Dubai and Malaysia. 

The Edinburgh Business School comprises seven academic disciplines: Accounting, Economics, Finance, Marketing, Human Resource Management and Law, Operations Management and Logistics, and Strategy and Enterprises. The wider School of Social Sciences is also the home for departments of Psychology as well as Languages and Intercultural Studies. 

For full details on our university please view our Careers at Heriot-Watt 
http://www.hw.ac.uk/about/careers-at-heriot-watt.htm 

The Role:

The Accreditation and Rankings Manager will be required to liaise closely with the two accreditation bodies of AACSB and EQUIS to gain the highest quality stamp for the Business School.  Work is underpinned by a continuous improvement cycle to maintain an accreditation, gathering appropriate data and configuring this to the needs of the accreditation bodies.

Acting as a spokesperson for EBS, the role holder will be expected to communicate matters of a complex and specialist nature so that non specialists, and specialist alike, understand. The role holder will be expected to liaise with internal staff within EBS, and external bodies to relay complex and detailed information in relation to the Accreditation cycle which runs over a 3- and 5-year period. Complex and detailed data gathering is required internally within EBS and interpreting information to relay to external accreditation bodies in the format required. Therefore, excellent oral and written communication is essential.

The right candidate will work alongside the Exec Dean for SoSS as well as other senior colleagues, to develop, monitor and deliver improvement plans to ensure the school meets accreditation standards and metrics.

• To deliver and retain external accreditations for the School of Social Sciences and Edinburgh Business School. Key accreditations are AACSB, EQUIS, SBC, PRME and BPS.
• To develop and implement a rankings strategy for the School of Social Sciences and Edinburgh Business School. Key rankings include Corporate Knights, FT and QS rankings.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• To manage the School’s external accreditation portfolio, mapping and managing individual accreditation cycles.
• Understanding accreditation standards and managing the communication (internal and external) of information related to external accreditation.
• To build long-term relationships with accrediting bodies in order to understand the developments and implications for the School and wider sector.
• To ensure sufficient resources and support is in place in line with the cycle of external accreditations and manage such resources efficiently.
• Working alongside the Director of Accreditation and Operations for EBS (and other senior SoSS colleagues) to develop, monitor and, where appropriate, deliver improvement plans to ensure that the School meets accreditation standards and metrics.
• To ensure timely completion and submission of any accreditation reports, surveys or requests for data, and to provide progress reports and updates as required for colleagues in the School and the wider University.
• To map existing staff to AACSB faculty definitions as needed, and to keep this information up to date, as well as ensuring the School adheres to BPS staffing requirements
• To be responsible for the collection and interrogation of data from internal and external sources against specific criteria outlined by the external accreditation bodies and for creating and maintaining systems to track the process for data collection and input.
• To be responsible for managing external accreditation review visits.
• To work alongside the Executive Dean and relevant Directors in reviewing and taking forward new accreditation initiatives.
• To arrange faculty attendance at conferences and seminars organised by external accreditation (or QA) bodies.
• To liaise with colleagues at other universities regarding best practice in the management of accreditation processes.
• To initiate improvements in operational practice required for accreditation and aligning these with the School’s strategy.
• To review the rankings performance of the School, and in particular EBS, and develop plans to address areas for improvement as well as highlighting areas of exceptional performance.
• To develop a system to monitor performance against ranking dimensions on an ongoing basis and provide regular updates to the School Executive Board.
• To maintain close working relationships with publishers of identified key rankings and ensure that the School is fully aware of evolving changes in methodologies and metrics
• To line manage the Accreditation Project Officer and other staff, permanent and temporary, appointed to support the securing of key accreditations.

Essential Criteria:

• Qualified to degree Level
• Strong leadership and project management skills
• Experience of successful accreditation across multiple accreditation bodies
• Proven experience of managing multiple projects in parallel
• Excellent communication skills – written and verbal
• Strong data analysis skills – including use of software
• Experience of managing academic colleagues
• Strong relationship building skills

How to apply:

Applications can be submitted up to midnight (UK time) on Tuesday 07 February 2023

Please must submit via the Heriot-Watt on-line recruitment system (1) Cover letter describing their interest and suitability for the post; (2) Full CV that includes the list of publications.

Heriot-Watt University is committed to securing equality of opportunity in employment and to the creation of an environment in which individuals are selected, trained, promoted, appraised and otherwise treated on the sole basis of their relevant merits and abilities.  Equality and diversity are all about maximising potential and creating a culture of inclusion for all.

Heriot-Watt University values diversity across our University community and welcomes applications from all sectors of society, particularly from underrepresented groups. For more information, please see our website https://www.hw.ac.uk/uk/services/equality-diversity.htm and also our award-winning work in Disability Inclusive Science Careers https://disc.hw.ac.uk/ .

We welcome and will consider flexible working patterns e.g. part-time working and job share options.

Use our total rewards calculator: https://www.hw.ac.uk/about/work/total-rewards-calculator.htm to see the value of benefits provided by Heriot-Watt University