Lecturer in Responsible Software Engineering

Unit :  Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
Salary :  £45,585 to £49,7694
Location :  Milton Keynes
Please quote reference :  21576
Terms: Permanent, Full Time post
Closing Date :  30 April, 2024 - 12:00

It is anticipated that a hybrid working pattern can be adopted for this role, where the successful candidate can work from home and the office. However, as this role is contractually aligned with our Milton Keynes office, some regular attendance in the office is expected, especially in response to business needs. We’d expect this to be approximately twice per week.

Change your career, change lives

The Open University is the UK’s largest university, a world leader in flexible part-time education combining a mission to widen access to higher education with research excellence, transforming lives through education.

This role will be associated with the Centre for Protecting Women Online, which is funded by a £7.7 million grant from Research England. The centre will be a vehicle for understanding and addressing challenges posed to women’s safety online through a novel, interdisciplinary and ambitious research agenda. This will be combined with cross-sectoral, collaborative outputs and interventions which inform law, policy, technology development and practice to reduce online harms suffered by women and girls; minimise anti-social behaviours online whilst promoting pro-social behaviours and build technology that helps ensure accountability, credibility and helps facilitate justice. 

The successful candidate would be appointed as a permanent member of the Centre, seconded to the School of Computing & Communications for the first 5 years to enable close working with colleagues in the Software Engineering and Design research group (http://sead.open.ac.uk ) and Knowledge Media Institute (https://kmi.open.ac.uk ).

The School of Computing & Communications is part of the Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics, one of the four faculties of The Open University. It brings together a diverse academic community who are passionate about delivering world-leading teaching, research and scholarship in computing and communications. Through these activities, we aim to empower our students, their employers and society in general to develop and use digital technologies to solve the problems of the future.

The role

We are seeking candidates who have a strong background in software engineering, including expertise in the interactions between software engineering and related disciplines like artificial intelligence, responsible innovation, technology policy and law.

The post holder will focus on research relating to responsible software engineering for improving online safety for women. The successful candidate will also contribute to teaching activities in areas aligned with their expertise (e.g., software engineering, artificial intelligence, technology policy, etc).

We welcome applicants from a range of backgrounds, including professionals from academia and industry. Applicants will be considered based on their track record in research, teaching, and academic leadership. In line with our commitment to the Athena SWAN initiative and the Race Equality Charter, we welcome and support all applicants equally.

Skills and experience

• Expertise in software engineering, with a good understanding of the interactions between software engineering, artificial intelligence, responsible innovation, and/or technology policy (commensurate with career stage).
• A strong record of research and/or knowledge exchange that is commensurate to the position.
• Ability to contribute to the distance teaching of topics aligned to the work of the centre.
• Experience of working in multi-disciplinary research teams, ideally in collaboration with social scientists.

More information can be provided via a link to the Job Description .

If you would like to discuss the application or recruitment process before making an application, please contact Harvey Wright at Resourcing Hub on 01908 655544 or [email protected] quoting the reference VRF 21576.

What you get in return

We have a strong commitment to providing training and development in and beyond your current role. This includes thorough induction into the organisation and regular reviews of your training and development needs.

We also offer a great range of benefits that support our employees and their families for the long term. Staff Benefits include an attractive pension proposition and 33 days holiday per annum pro rata, plus Bank Holidays and Christmas closure days.

How to apply

Unless otherwise stated in the advert, all applications are completed online via the instructions on The OU Job’s page. Applications submitted via 3rd party websites will not be received.

Access details for disabled applicants are available from the Resourcing Hub, telephone: 01908 655544, quoting the vacancy reference above.

To apply for this role please submit the following as one document;

• CV
• Personal statement, up to 1,000 words, you should set out in your statement why you’re interested in this role and provide examples of where your skills and experience meet the required competencies for this role as detailed in the job and person specification.

Please save your document with the following file name as appropriate to the vacancy you are applying for: reference, surname, forename.

You will need to have your documents ready ahead of submitting the electronic application. Please click on the APPLY NOW button below to be redirected to our application page.

APPLY NOW

Interview date: 23rd - 24th May 2024

Closing Date: 30th April, 2024 -12:00 noon

You will receive updates regarding your application from [email protected] . Please ensure this email address is added to your list of trusted senders so it does not go to your junk folder.

You can view your application communications on the Candidate portal .

Find out more about us and our mission by watching this short video (you will be taken to YouTube by clicking this link).

The Open University is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion which is reflected in our mission to be open to people, places, methods and ideas. We aim to foster a diverse and inclusive environment so that all in our OU community can reach their potential.  We recognise that different people bring different perspectives, ideas, knowledge, and culture, and that this difference brings great strength.  We strive to recruit, retain and develop the careers of a diverse pool of students and staff, and particularly encourage applications from all underrepresented groups. We also aspire to make The Open University a supportive workplace for all through our policies, services and staff networks.

Job related information : 

Attachment	Size

Attachment	Size
Job Description -LectureshipResponsibleSoftwareEngineering.docx	28.89 KB

• Academic Terms and conditions  (PDF)

• Academic Terms and conditions  (Word document)

Posting Date :  2 April, 2024 - 13:00