Overview

The School of Engineering & Innovation within the STEM Faculty at The Open University is seeking to appoint a Lecturer in Systems Thinking for Sustainability. This is an exciting opportunity to join a world leader in distance teaching and learning and the largest provider of higher education in the UK.

The successful candidate will join an energetic and committed team of academics contributing to the development and delivery of systems thinking and sustainability related distance-learning curriculum, including environmental management and governance, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Teaching at The Open University is a team-based collaborative process, which fully supports the training and induction of new staff into the teaching process. The teaching component of the Lecturer role primarily involves maintaining and updating existing curriculum and authoring new curriculum for students studying remotely. Whilst there are some online and face-to-face opportunities for student engagement, direct student tuition is usually provided by our team of Associate Lecturers.

Candidates should be research active and have relevant academic publications in systems thinking, environmental management and sustainability. If successful, you will be supported to secure external research, enterprise and scholarship funding, and will be expected to undertake research that leads to high-ranking peer reviewed journal publications and to contribute to future REF submissions.

You will need to be resident in the UK at the time of the appointment and will be based at the Open University campus in Milton Keynes. A hybrid working pattern can be adopted for this role if required, where the successful candidate works from home and the office. However, as this role is contractually aligned to our Milton Keynes campus, some attendance on campus will be required. We would expect this to be a minimum of 2 days per week and in response to business needs.

Requirements

We are expecting candidates to demonstrate all the essential criteria and some of the desirable criteria.

Essential:

  • A PhD that applies systems thinking to an environmental management and/or sustainability issue.
  • A Masters degree or a good Honours degree (or equivalent) in same areas as listed for PhD or a very closely related area.
  • A strong commitment to excellence in inclusive learning and teaching for a diverse student population.
  • Demonstrable passion for teaching, whether in distance learning or face-to-face teaching environments.
  • Ability to develop new distance-learning material at all levels of undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum in the field of systems thinking, environmental management, sustainability and related areas.
  • Demonstrable knowledge of developments within the discipline area relevant to teaching, research, and knowledge exchange activities.
  • Strong track record in research related to systems thinking, environmental management and sustainability that is commensurate to the position.
  • Proven ability to work collaboratively with others in an interdisciplinary context for teaching or research, both in person and online.
  • Ability to develop a leadership role in teaching and/or research, commensurate with stage of career.
  • Ability to participate in a research and knowledge exchange programme compatible with the STEM Faculty research strategy and the interests of other research groups in the School and Faculty.
  • Evidence of excellent communication skills, both oral and written in a variety of contexts, including the ability to offer and receive constructive criticism.
  • Evidence of ability to plan and organise work to agreed deadlines.
  • A commitment to the aims, ethos and values of the Open University.

Desirable:

  • Experience of teaching, training or supervision in a relevant subject area.
  • Experience of supporting adult learners within online and/or distance learning in asynchronous environments.
  • Experience of producing online and/or distance learning materials.
  • Application of new technologies to support distance teaching and learning.
  • The ability to write on issues outside of immediate area of expertise but in a related topic, in an informed and coherent manner.
  • Evidence of applying for external funding, taking into account stage of career.
  • A strong publication record in mid to top-ranking peer reviewed journals, commensurate with stage of career.
  • Experience of supervising research students and managing research budgets, appropriate to career stage.
  • Higher Education Academy professional accreditation or equivalent qualification.
  • Experience of working with and influencing sectors beyond Higher Education.
  • Experience of creating social media communications and engaging external audiences.

A hybrid working pattern could be adopted for this role if required, where the successful candidate can work from home and the office. However, as this role is contractually aligned to our Milton Keynes campus, some attendance on campus will be required. We would expect this to be a minimum of 2 days per week and in response to business needs.

Early closing date notification: We may close this job advert earlier than the published closing date where a satisfactory number of applications are received. We would therefore encourage early applications.

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