Career Profiles

							                                THE UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS


                            Role Profiles and Career Pathways

Role Profiles

Role profiles describe typical requirements that could be expected at a particular grade and
are designed to be generic enough to cover all disciplines/areas covered within a career
path (see below for an explanation of career paths).

The role profiles have been developed using information gathered during the role analysis
implementation interviews, taking activities and requirements within current roles and, from
these, summarising typical expectations at a grade. They will remain in draft format until the
appeals process is completed (anticipated to be completed Spring 2007) to ensure they can
fully reflect any additional information presented.

Role profiles link to a number of University initiatives including recruitment and selection,
promotion/regrading and the staff review and development scheme. Role profiles are a
guide to typical requirements and are not intended as replacements for job descriptions or
individual/job specific objectives, nor are they an exhaustive list of requirements at a grade.

Similarly, career paths are designed to describe typical types of roles and the likely
requirements within these. Many roles will have characteristics of more than one career
path. At any point in time a role may be best aligned to one or more profiles and this could
reasonably change as an individual and their manager agree how a role could develop.
Career paths should not be seen as a constraint to this happening.

The role profiles developed as part of the role analysis implementation for academic and
related staff cover the University of Leeds grades 6 to 10. The role profiles for support staff
have been developed from the information gathered during the support staff implementation
and cover the University of Leeds grades 2 to 7.


Career Pathways

There are currently ten career pathways, each described by a set of role profiles. Roles
have been aligned to profiles within career paths that best describe the requirements of that
role. Elements of more than one career path may be evident in any individual role and as
roles develop they may move between career paths.
Academic Career Pathways

There are three typical career paths for academic staff. These are Teaching and
Scholarship, Teaching and Research, and Research.


The Teaching and Scholarship career path includes roles that:
   - involve teaching, scholarship, administration and academic leadership
   - require the application of knowledge of a professional specialism to broader activities
      in the context of responding to pedagogical and practical challenges and the
      development of students to engage in critical discourse and rational thinking
   - require the continuous development of knowledge and expertise
   - contribute to scholarship through the creation of interpretations and understanding
      based on new or existing knowledge
   - require the transfer of knowledge to students and others, building their understanding
      and enabling them to develop critical reasoning skills

The Teaching and Research career path includes roles that:
   - involve teaching, scholarship, research, administration and academic leadership
   - require the application of knowledge of a professional specialism to broader activities
      in the context of responding to pedagogical and practical challenges and the
      development of students to engage in critical discourse and rational thinking
   - require the continuous development of knowledge and expertise, contributing to the
      expansion of the knowledge base
   - develop knowledge and interpretations through the innovative application of research
   - require the transfer of knowledge to students and others, building their understanding
      and enabling them to develop critical reasoning skills

The Research career path includes roles that:
   - involve research, administration and academic leadership
   - require the application of knowledge of a professional specialism to broader activities
      in the context of responding to pedagogical and practical challenges
   - require the continuous development of knowledge and expertise, contributing to the
      expansion of the knowledge base
   - develop knowledge and interpretations through the innovative application of research
   - require the transfer of knowledge to students and others, building their understanding
      and enabling them to develop critical reasoning skills


Professional and Managerial Career Pathways

For academic related (professional & managerial) staff, there are also three typical career
paths. These are Professional Specialist, Managerial, and Technical and Administrative
Professional.

The Professional Specialist career path includes roles that:
   - require the provision of advice and influencing of others to shape their approach to
      planning and delivering organisational objectives;
   - require the application of knowledge and expertise within a professional specialism to
      broader activities in the context of establishing best practice, policies and
      procedures;
   - use knowledge from the external environment to influence operations/best practice,
      interpreting legislative/regulatory requirements;
   - may involve some staff management, although this will not be the main focus of the
      role
The Managerial career path includes roles that:
   - involve the management of people and resources within an area of activity
   - involve responsibility for ensuring the effective operation of an area, seeking
      specialist advice where required
   - involve responsibility for developing the team and the operation to meet current and
      future organisational requirements

The Technical and Administrative Professional career path includes roles that:
   - provide a source of specialist knowledge and expertise for other staff and students to
      draw upon
   - require the application of specialist knowledge to establish, operate and maintain
      specialist systems, processes and equipment to meet Faculty, School or Service
      needs
   - require the translation of broadly defined requirements, often outlined by non
      specialists, into effective, working systems and processes
   - may involve some staff management, although this will not be the main focus of the
      role

Please note, as roles within the Technical and Administrative Professional career pathway
develop it is likely that they will evolve towards the Managerial or Professional Specialist
career paths.


Support Career Pathways

For support (clerical, technical and ancillary) staff, there are four typical career paths. These
are Delivery, Operations, Supervisory, and Systems & Processes.

The Delivery career path includes roles that:
   - provide the support to enable the achievement of academic goals
   - develop and apply knowledge of systems and processes to provide a service to
      others in the area

The Operations career path includes roles that:
   - provide the underlying support that allows the University, staff and students to
      operate effectively
   - apply knowledge, skills and training to provide specific services and maintain the
      fabric of the University
   - may involve a level of physical effort and manual dexterity to operate and maintain
      equipment and services
   - may involve some staff management

The Supervisory career path includes roles that:
   - involve the management of people and resources within an area of activity
   - involve responsibility for ensuring the effective operation of an area, seeking
      specialist advice where required
   - involve responsibility for developing the team and the operation to meet current and
      future organisational requirements
The Systems & Processes career path includes roles that:
   - provide a source of specialist knowledge and expertise for other staff and students to
      draw upon
   - require the application of specialist knowledge to establish, operate and maintain
      specialist systems, processes and equipment to meet Faculty, School or Service
      needs
   - require the translation of broadly defined requirements, often outlined by non
      specialists, into effective, working systems and processes
   - may involve some staff management, although this will not be the main focus of the
      role



CB & JC
January 2007