Leeds Beckett University
Thank you for expressing an interest in joining our education community! It is my privilege to lead the School of Built Environment, Engineering and Computing at Leeds Beckett University, renowned for its key role as an ‘Anchor’ institution in the region, high-quality teaching, impactful research and its strong links to industry and employers. This combination means the school is uniquely placed to connect leadership with innovation and regional eco systems, and deliver practice relevant, research informed education.
As a result of these successes, we have a range of new and exciting senior academic opportunities to become part of our academic community at School of Built Environment, Engineering and Computing. We are looking for candidates who are passionate about their area of expertise, who are driven to make a difference and deliver excellence. If you are excited by the opportunity to join School of Built Environment, Engineering and Computing and ready to make a significant contribution to our university community then we would be delighted to hear from you!
Professor Akintola Akintoye
Dean of School
Leeds Beckett is a modern, professional university with a dedicated, diverse community. Our vision is to be an excellent, accessible, globally-engaged university contributing positively to a thriving northern economy. Our mission is to ensure we use our knowledge and resources to make a positive and decisive difference to people, communities and organisations.
We are a community of around 28,000 students from over 140 countries and 2,800 staff, and our history dates back to the founding of Leeds Mechanics Institute in 1824. We are a major organisation in our region and the University contributes around £500m to the economy each year.
Leeds Beckett has:
Leeds is a vibrant, modern city with a rich industrial past and on the doorstep of natural beauty. It is the cultural, financial and commercial heart of West Yorkshire and has one of the most diverse economies of all the UK’s employment centres. Leeds is, and always will be, open for business and talent.
Teaching
Working in partnership with our students and the Students’ Union, we have transformed our undergraduate student experience and our students’ learning through exceptional and innovative academic practice and personalised support to our large and diverse student community.
Our teaching activity is organised into 9 Schools creating communities of committed staff and students who are passionate about their subject areas. Our courses feature collaborative, creative and practical learning in modern facilities that enable our students to develop themselves as enterprising citizens whose future contribution has a positive impact.
Research
Our research institutes and centres sustain outstanding research which informs our curriculum and our students’ experience in all areas. This research provides an enriched environment for an excellent research and teaching culture for all aspects of our students’ learning.
The REF 2021 results showed that 53% of the university’s submission was rated 3* and 4* and therefore considered internationally excellent or world-leading. Results were particularly strong in sport and exercise science, leisure and tourism where 89% of the submission was rated 4* or 3*. In the allied health and nursing unit, 80% of the submission was rated 4* and 3*. The results reflect the breadth of our research in these areas which includes improving gender equality in sports coaching, tackling obesity, supporting women with cancer with fertility decisions and improving the training of people working with those suffering from dementia.
Our REF 2021 submission included 352 research staff across 15 units of assessment, double the number of staff included in REF 2014. It included research driving up energy efficiency standards in homes, and understanding and supporting the role of civilian peacekeeping.
Corporate services
Students and colleagues can access a range of professional services within the University designed and operating to support the effective delivery of our academic provision.
Services for students include Libraries, Sport & Active Lifestyles, Student Services and Campus & Residential Services.
Departments including Finance, Estates, Information and Technology Services and Human Resources ensure the University runs efficiently, that colleagues get the support and advice they need, and services for students are accessible and focused on meeting their needs.
Our Schools
Our 9 Schools are:
Our campuses
We provide creative and contemporary learning environments packed with the latest technology, creating a focal point for new and innovative thinking.
City Campus: City Campus is in the heart of Leeds, ideally placed to connect with hundreds of businesses and organisations that offer work placements and employment opportunities to many of our students. The City Campus puts students and staff at the centre of a dynamic business community in a city with a thriving job market. Our award-winning buildings, the Rose Bowl and Broadcasting Place, are located at the City Campus, along with our new state-of-the-art Leeds School of Arts which opened in 2020.
Headingley Campus: Headingley campus, about two miles away from the city centre, is set in 100 acres of beautiful parkland with historic buildings dating from 1752. The rich history and parkland setting coexists with modern sport science laboratories, animation and music studios and the latest computing labs. Our main sports facilities are based in Headingley alongside our iconic new Carnegie School of Sport. Plans are also in development for a new Carnegie School of Education on the Headingley campus.
Equality and inclusion
Equality and inclusion are essential to our academic and business strengths. We ensure our University community is a place where everyone feels respected, valued and supported to achieve excellence.
We are committed to providing a vibrant, ethical and sustainable working and learning environment that values equality and inclusion and recognises the contribution everyone brings to our University community.
Our network of colleague and student groups help us to help others get the information and support they need. These groups provide a safe and supportive environment in which to discuss issues relating to equality and inclusion, as well as provide support and networking and share best practice.
You can read more about our approach to equality and inclusion here.
University Executive Team structure
See our Executive Team structure here.
Further information
You can read much more about Leeds Beckett University on our website here.
Background and current position
The School of Built Environment, Engineering and Computing (BEC) is one of LBU’s 8 Schools. The School in its current form has existed since August 2019 when the School of Built Environment and Engineering (BEE) was merged with the computing and engineering arms of the School of Computing, Creative Technology and Engineering (CCTE). The School now brings together a range of related sectors from built environment and construction; human and natural environments; engineering industries and computing, IT and digital industries in a dynamic and vibrant setting, with a rapidly growing student cohorts from a range of backgrounds.
The School consists of four subject areas:
Vital statistics of the School: staff, students and performance
The School teaches a wide range of disciplines including civil engineering, computer science, cyber security, quantity surveying, construction management, geography, planning, real estate, building services engineering, architectural technology, data science, building surveying, project management and electrical and electronic engineering.
The School currently has 150 permanent and fixed-term staff comprising 118 academics and 32 professional staff. We are in the process of appointing another 10 new academic staff and 5 new professional staff because of increase in student numbers that we have experienced recently.
There are a total of 3611 students enrolled (as a headcount) in the School including those within franchises.
Excluding franchise students, the School has 2626 students who are enrolled on the home campus. Of these:
Our student employability, continuation and progression have continued to improve yearly. Over 90% of our graduates are in employment or further studies, and over 85% of graduates are in highly skilled jobs.
Research conducted in the School of Built Environment, Engineering and Computing covers a wide range of technological, digital and built and natural environment disciplines; and includes a vibrant portfolio of applied research linked to industry and government, particularly in the areas of climate changes, sustainability, green computing, energy management, retrofitting, neighbourhood and cities development; all in response to changing global challenges in sustainability, smart cities, and advances in technology. The impact and influence of our research has continued to grow through production of patents, building regulations, government policy development and international reports.
The School’s research activity has continued to increase which is evidenced through our research income. A significant percentage of the School’s research income is from the UK Central Government funding and EU government bodies. The need to diversify funding sources is recognised particularly through the UK Research Councils funding.
USP, mission, vision, and value
The School of Built Environment, Engineering and Computing at Leeds Beckett University brings together a uniquely broad array of disciplines under a single School to address the multifaceted nature of issues affecting urban and digital sustainability within the built environment. BEC has expertise from planning through to computer science and having such a broad foundation of underpinning disciplines, means it can develop more holistic interdisciplinary approaches to generating and sharing knowledge, to address common societal problems in a progressive, stakeholder led way.
BEC is the only University school in the UK that has a dedicated research institute investigating the sustainability of buildings with full time researchers, which means that cutting edge research can be fed into teaching.
BEC is the only University school in Yorkshire which brings together such a broad range of courses from planning to digital security, meaning it is uniquely placed to holistically address issues facing sustainable communities.
The School of Built Environment, Engineering and Computing are known for having a good working relationship with industry, professional bodies, and the local communities. Our students are at the centre of our teaching and learning, and applied research is at the centre of our research and enterprise activities.
With good employability levels our graduates are working at local, regional, and national levels, solving critical issues of sustainability, digital and environment needs, and the wellbeing of communities in partnership with clients, industries, and professional bodies. Our career-based courses with practical and technical focus prepare our graduates for current and future work roles in the digital and natural and built environment sectors.
Our applied research has a far-reaching impact and is translated into practice and policy at regional, national, and international levels.
Mission
Our mission is to be known regionally, nationally, and internationally for collaboration with industry; for global engagement; and for excellent student experience. We will improve our University league table position and put the wellbeing of our staff and students are at the core of everything we do. Our applied research will be impactful with a clear vision to help achieve sustainable smart inclusive communities, and we will improve and grow the quality of our research outputs and enhance the research culture in the school.
Vision
The vision of BEC at LBU is “to provide an inclusive world leading education, embracing applied research excellence that delivers benefit to our cities, communities, industry and ecosystem”.
We value
Computing at Leeds Beckett University
Computing is one of the four Subject Groups in the School and has one of the largest number of students and academic staff in the school.
The computer subject group is organised into three subgroups:
The subject group presently has 33 academic staff, 7 course administrators and 6 learning support staff who are responsible for the laboratories.
Our computer science awards offer students the opportunity to explore many aspects of computing – including software engineering, AI, smart systems, and cloud computing. We also offer a range of specialist awards that focus on Cyber Security, Digital Forensics and Data Science. We offer courses at undergraduate, post-graduate, or apprenticeship levels.
Our student satisfaction, which is measured by National Student Survey results, is generally high. We were ranked 6th out of 80 institutions offering computing in England for student satisfaction in 2022 and 10th out 103 institutions national wide.
Our research in computing covers Sustainable IT around energy measurement and management, as well as energy efficiency and Data Science, AI, and Data Science. Our going research projects include data science and technologies for health and wellbeing where our work revolves around designing digital solutions that help people live healthier, longer, and happier lives.
We conduct research in close collaboration with stakeholders in the NHS, other healthcare organisations, engineering companies and directly with end users. The research focuses on applying computer science areas such as Human-Computer Interaction, Computational Modelling, and Signal processing, Image and Video Analytics.
Senior Academics in Computing at Leeds Beckett University
The Subject Group of Computing presently has 10 senior Academics as follows:
Enhancing Senior Academics in Computing at Leads Beckett University
We submitted our research to REF Unit of Assessment 11: Computer Science and Informatics with a total category A submitted staff FTE of 10.80 and % of eligible staff submitted of 35%. With this, we achieved 52% overall impact, 56% Output and 75% impact at 3* and above.
We want to enhance our academic and research position and environment in computer science, and hence we have two vacancies of Professor in Computing that we want to appoint into.
There is opportunity for us to develop our computer science specialism more into health, sports and energy sectors, which are growing areas for the University with the emerging tools and methods in digital technologies and data analytics.
Obesity and healthcare, Sustainability and energy technologies and Sport science are well-developed areas of research in the University that a high profile academic in Computer Science could complement. We are looking for well-motivated senior academics in computer science with ongoing research in any of these areas for the posts in our Computing department.
The following are the two positions that we want to fill to support our research, innovation, teaching and learning in Computing:
Post 1: Professor in Data Science/ Data Analytics. This will be a research professor in data science who will bring his/her own research interests and academic expertise in data analytics to support any of the research areas wherein the university has well-developed research groupings, e.g. healthcare, sustainability, energy efficiency and management, and sport science.
Post 2: Professor in Computer Science. This post will be a professor in any field of computer science that complements our research in computing and provides research leadership for our computing subject group. The post will work actively with the School’s Director of Research to provide leadership for our preparation for REF 2028 submission in Computer Science and Informatics UoA
Postdoctoral Researchers and research students may be provided to support the post(s) where necessary. Where appropriate, depending on experience and profile of the candidate, a salary market supplement may be offered to attract a high-quality candidate to the posts.
Our values
In 2021 we agreed as a community that our university’s purpose, decisions, and actions rest on six values we all believe in and try to uphold in the conduct of our daily work.
Last year was about raising awareness, engaging colleagues in the benefits of being a values-driven organisation and sharing understanding of their meaning for us individually in our work. As part of this a group of colleagues from across the university defined what our values mean, and why they matter.
Inclusive | Teamwork | Integrity | Pragmatism | Ambition | Purposeful
This year and beyond is now about embedding our values – bringing them to life in local areas with individuals and teams; using the descriptions we created to explore what the values look like in our everyday interactions and using them to guide how we do our work.
The project team is also working hard to embed our values in key stages of employee journey such as recruitment, appraisals, induction, etc and there’s lots of opportunities for you to get your voice heard and get involved in this work, link is there which you can visit which contains options for how you can get involved.
You can learn more about our values here.
School/Service Built Environment, Engineering and Computing
Post Designation Professor of Data Analytics / Data Science
Grade 10
Salary Salary is competitive. On appointment, staff will normally be placed on the first point of the substantive grade for the post. Appointment above this will only be on an exceptional basis and subject to approval in line with our University’s Pay Policy.
Post to which directly responsible Dean of School (and assisted by the Director of Research and Head of Subject)
Posts for which directly responsible As assigned
JOB DESCRIPTION
Working with the School’s Director of Research and Computing Head of Subject, the post holder will provide research leadership in the School’s Computing Subject Area in Data Science. The post holder will provide research leadership and mentoring to a group of staff in Data Science and will undertake internationally leading cross-disciplinary research working with staff across the School and elsewhere in the University which could include sport analytics, environmental and energy analytics, health analytics, etc. in which the university has ongoing cutting-edge research. Responsibilities of the post include participating in both undergraduate and postgraduate course delivery, engagement with industry, the community, and colleagues within the school and computing discipline.
Main duties and responsibilities
Research and enterprise leadership
Teaching
PERSON SPECIFICATION
All of the following criteria are essential.
Method of assessment: application/interview
Qualifications, Skills, Experience & Knowledge
Performance Attributes
Service delivery (Application/Interview)
Teamwork (Application/Interview)
Communication (Application/Interview)
School/Service Built Environment, Engineering and Computing
Post Designation Professor of Computer Science
Grade 10
Salary Salary is competitive. On appointment staff will normally be placed on the first point of the substantive grade for the post. Appointment above this will only be on an exceptional basis and subject to approval in line with our University’s Pay Policy.
Post to which directly responsible Dean of School (and assisted by the Director of Research and Head of Subject)
Posts for which directly responsible As assigned
JOB DESCRIPTION
Working with the School’s Director of Research and Computing Head of Subject, the role holder will provide research leadership in the School’s Computing Subject Area that embraces Computer Science, Cyber Security and Data Science.
The post holder will provide academic leadership in research and teaching in Computing including leading and developing research within the School. The person appointed should have experience of leading academic staff and mentoring staff in relation to research funding, quality teaching practices, research collaborations, research impact generation and outputs. The post holder, working alongside the group professoriate and Head of Subject, will lead the strategic and operational research activity of the subject group, contribute to the School strategy for such work and provide some teaching and learning in cognate areas.
Main duties and responsibilities
Research and enterprise leadership
Personal research
Teaching
PERSON SPECIFICATION
All of the following criteria are essential.
Method of assessment: application/interview
Qualifications, Skills, Experience & Knowledge
Performance Attributes
Service delivery (Application/Interview)
Teamwork (Application/Interview)
Communication (Application/Interview)
All candidates for Professorships and Readerships must fulfil the following three criteria:
In addition, candidates are required to fulfil criteria within at least one of the following routes.
Research Route
Successful candidates for a Professor through this route will demonstrate:
Terms & conditions
Terms & Conditions of Service are as determined by the Vice-Chancellor for Academic staff (within a framework set by the Board of Governors) and will have regard to any national recommendations arising from negotiations between the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA), and the recognised trade unions in so far as these are adopted by the Board / Vice-Chancellor.
Relationships
The post holder will work closely with both academic and support staff, and students.
Academic staff development
All academics with fewer than two years’ experience teaching in HE and not already holding an Advance HE accredited higher education teaching qualification or HEA Fellowship are required to become Fellows of the HEA within the first two years of appointment. The Centre for Learning & Teaching provide a wide range of events, workshops and networks which are available to support staff with research informed teaching, skills and practice development, to achieve Fellowship and remain in good standing. New staff are actively encouraged to engage in as many sessions as possible across the academic year.
Equal opportunities
We are committed to providing a non-discriminatory and harassment-free working environment for our employees. All our employees are expected to have due regard for those policies when carrying out their duties.
Safety, health and wellbeing
You will maintain a positive attitude to Safety, Health and Wellbeing in carrying out personal responsibilities and co-operate with policy/local rules/codes of practice.
Physical conditions
You will be based at the Headingley, in the first instance. You may be required to work across both campuses if required.
Probationary period
Appointment to this position may be subject to a probationary period of up to 12 months, in line with our probationary policy. A copy of our probationary policy is available on our website or on request from Human Resources.
Pre-employment health assessment
Our University aims to ensure that all employees are placed in a job that is compatible with their health and physical abilities. In accordance with the Equality Act, questions relating to health are asked following an offer of appointment. All offers of appointment are subject to pre-employment health assessment.
Qualifications
In accordance with our pre-employment processes, it is University policy to verify qualifications for successful candidates. We will need evidence of those qualifications required by the employee specification and claimed on the application form.
Anderson Quigley is acting as an employment advisor to the University. An executive search process is being carried out by Anderson Quigley in addition to the public advertisement.
Should you wish to discuss either role in strict confidence, please contact Kiersten Avery on +44 (0)7510 384 735 or kiersten.avery@andersonquigley.com or Elyse Turner Pearce on +44 (0)7808 648 559 or elyse.turner-pearce@andersonquigley.com.
The closing date for applications is noon on 17 October 2023.
Applications should consist of:
www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk 