Academic Associates

The Higher Education Academy (HEA) is building a community of Academic Associates to deliver and develop support for learning and teaching in higher education.

Expressions of interest are sought from academics with current experience, who are leaders in their field, can work as part of a team, and who share the HEA's ambition to improve learning and teaching and the student learning experience.

Academic Associates are wanted for a variety of areas including:

  • Learning and teaching enhancement in any discipline to support and complement the work of the HEA's 28 discipline leads and other academic staff.
  • Supporting strategic institutional change initiatives.
  • Developing teacher excellence including the application of the Professional Standards Framework through accreditation and recognition.
  • Relationship building with HEIs or groups of HEIs.
  • Project working.
  • Editorial support for journals or other publications.
  • Delivery of workshops or training and/or development of learning materials.
  • Practice and policy in relation to employability, internationalisation, assessment and feedback, reward and recognition, student retention and success, flexible learning or education for sustainable development.

"Higher education is about people - the students who study, the academics and other staff who support them, and the societies in which they live. A great strength of the new HEA model is the possibilities it creates to draw on a wide range of experience and institutions. This broadens and strengthens the contribution the HEA can make to student learning and the student experience across the UK to improve their employability globally."
Robert Barlow, Member of the HEA Board of Directors

Person specification

Academic Associates will have expertise in learning and teaching in higher education in one or more of the following discipline and/or thematic areas:

  • Any academic discipline
  • Teacher excellence
  • Academic practice development
  • Institutional strategy & change
  • Internationalisation
  • Assessment and feedback
  • Employability
  • Flexible learning
  • Student retention and success
  • Reward and recognition of teaching
  • Student support and engagement
  • Open Educational Resources
  • Islamic studies
  • Foundation Degrees
  • HE in FE
  • Education for Sustainable Development

Academic Associates may have:

  1. Experience of teaching in higher education.
  2. Academic leadership and management expertise in higher education
  3. Senior leadership/management experience in HE institutions.
  4. Experience of leadership in curriculum development and enhancement of the student learning experience.
  5. A thorough understanding of HE institutions' approaches to supporting and developing the student learning experience.
  6. Experience of professional development and an understanding of the Professional Standards Framework.
  7. Experience of managing key projects or change and delivering to plan in an HEI context.
  8. Experience of providing academic support/consultancy across higher education in relation to any or all of the above.

Academic Associates must:

  1. Provide evidence of successful collaborative and team working.
  2. Provide evidence of well-developed communication and presentational skills.
  3. Be able to demonstrate advanced analytical thinking and sound judgement.
  4. Have knowledge of working with remote systems via the web and other supportive technologies.

Working arrangements

The HEA can offer a wide range of working arrangements. Academic Associates may range from fixed-term secondment to consultancy contracts for a specific number of days, dependant on the nature of the work this could be infrequent or for defined periods of time.

The HEA welcomes expressions of interest from individuals with an academic background whose substantive role is or has been within a university or college and who have availability to undertake occasional or short term projects.

Many Academic Associates will be contracted on a daily rate to deliver specified activities or projects.

Other Academic Associates may be contracted to provide a continuous service on a part-time or fractional basis. For example a number of one-day-a-week roles will be available to lead the HEA's work on disciplines with relatively small student or staff numbers.

Remuneration will be commensurate with relevant academic roles within HEIs.

Expressions of interest

To express your interest please complete the expressions of interest form. Please also attach a curriculum vitae with your current responsibilities, academic background and areas of expertise relevant to the HEA and its work. Please remove sensitive personal data (such as marital status, ethnicity and age) from your curriculum vitae as this is not relevant to the selection process. You should also complete and attach, an equal opportunities monitoring form (DOC, 89kB) 

The HEA will contact potential Academic Associates as opportunities arise.

If you have any queries email associates@heacademy.ac.uk

Closing date

There is no specific closing date for expressions of interest as this is an ongoing process.