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Role Profiles

The University has developed a series of role profiles that set out the type of activity that can reasonably be expected from colleagues at every level, and are complementary to the Values for Working Together and Professional Behaviours.

The role profiles have been grouped by job family, of which there are four:

  1. Academic and Research
  2. Professional and Managerial
  3. Academic and Administrative Support (Clerical & Technical)
  4. Ancillary and Operational Support.

The job families are convenient categories that allow the main elements of the majority of roles to be defined. The job family an individual is placed in is based on the elements that most directly relate to their position within the University.

The role profiles are primarily a reference document for line managers that will assist with:

  • Preparing job descriptions and person specifications.
  • Understanding the grading of posts.
  • Inducting new staff.
  • Clarifying expectations at an early stage, particularly for probationary staff.
  • Allocating balanced and reasonable workloads.
  • Setting reasonable objectives and reviewing achievements via the Performance and Development Review (PDR) process.
  • Identifying and addressing under-performance.
  • Recognising excellent contributions and making proposals for rewarding staff.

It is important to note that the role profiles are generic and will not explicitly describe a particular job. The activities are representative and staff will not necessarily carry out all of the activities described at a particular level and some staff may carry out additional duties.

The role profiles are not:

  • A replacement for job/individual specific objectives;
  • A job description;
  • A self-evaluation grading tool. All jobs will continue to be evaluated using HERA to determine the appropriate grade.
  • An exhaustive list of requirements at each grade. Role holders are not expected to match the role profile in every respect.

Equally, the role descriptions do not represent a check-list against which cases for reward and promotion are established; there is a qualitative as well as quantitative element.