THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM
RECRUITMENT ROLE PROFILE FORM
Job Title:
Learning Applications Developer
School/Department:
Libraries, Research and Learning Resources (LRLR) – Learning
Technology
Job family & level:
Administrative, Professional and Managerial Level 4
Salary:
£28,695 - £37,394 per annum, depending on skills and
experience. Salary progression beyond this scale is subject to
performance
Contract Status:
Permanent
Hours of Work:
Full time
Location:
King’s Meadow Campus
Reporting to:
Learning Systems, Team Leader
The Purpose of the Role:
The purpose of this role is to provide technical development expertise for a suite of learning
systems in use at The University of Nottingham. In particular internal software development to
meet the needs of students and teachers, as well as the integration of third party software in line
with University standards (Student Lifecycle, Enterprise Architecture and ITIL). The role holder is
crucial in extending the technology enhanced learning provision at the University by taking a
user-centred design approach and developing tools and services that meet the diverse needs of
our user community.
The post is part of a team of software developers within the University Learning Technology
Section and the role holder is responsible for project managing activities, programming solutions
and the maintenance of services to meet the strategic requirements of the Learning Technology
Learning Systems team. Their remit is to manage assigned development projects for system
extensions and central administration in the utilization of specialized Virtual Learning
Environments and associated technology enhanced learning support tools. The core objective is to
deliver robust online learning environments that underpin, enhance and add value to the learning
provision offered by the University. In addition, the role holder is responsible for technical support
for systems provided, investigating and providing timely resolution at critical times of the year. As
the University operates two international campuses, this may include second line support outside
of normal office hours.
Main Responsibilities
1
% time
per year
Application development, support and maintenance
50%
Internal software development and third party tool integration to support the
development of web-based applications to support technology enhanced
learning:
 Iterative development: requirements gathering/documenting, prototyping,
coding, testing and debugging and evaluation
 Alongside Learning Systems Analyst, liaise with appropriate stakeholders
throughout the University to agree system requirements. Provide technical
assistance in the successful completion of commissioned activities,
ensuring user requirements are met
 Develop technical systems in line with current University standards,
including Student Lifecycle, Enterprise Architecture and ITIL
 Peer review and support to maintain the highest standards across the suite
of tools developed.
2
Server support and systems maintenance
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3
In collaboration with colleagues in IT Services and Corporate Systems
contribute to application installation, updates/patches, security and backup
of University Learning Technology systems
Design and develop, promote, and deliver learning systems solutions that
meet end user requirements and enhance learning and teaching
throughout the University
Complete appropriate technical/test plan/user case studies documentation
to assist the process and ensure on-going sustainability.
User community support

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20%
10%
To explore appropriate strategies and project manage the
deployment/integration of learning technologies for use on a variety of
platforms (including mobile technologies)
Consulting and co-operating with colleagues within the Learning
Technology Section to advise, facilitate and advance the support of
learning systems within the University, in line with the University’s
teaching and learning strategy
To promote, provide training, and raise awareness throughout the
University in order to enhance current, and future, teaching and learning
activities
Provide timely and proactive second line out-of-hours technical support as
required for core learning systems.
2
4
Project planning and project management
10%
Proactively work with LRLR Senior Management Team, Teaching and Learning
Directorate and University stakeholders to agree the scope and shape of the
projects. Provide project leadership and management including management
of project team members and the initiation, co-ordination and activity
management to successful delivery. This will include management of all
aspects of the project lifecycle including planning, delivery, benefits realisation
and closure. Tasks will include the following:
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5
Facilitating agreement with senior management of project scope, goals,
deliverables and success criteria
Compiling the business case and securing funding
Design, planning, and delivering projects, employing appropriate
methodologies (e.g. PRINCE 2) and project tools (e.g.MS project,
Sharepoint)
Co-ordination the activity of internal and external project/work stream
leads
Line management of external contract resources and internal project
team staff
Monitoring and reporting
Initiation and management of project meetings
Development of milestone and operational project plans for team and
project board/stakeholders
Identification of project risks/issues and the creation of appropriate
mitigation plans and/or escalation actions
Management of the budgets to agreed tolerances
Wider context
10%
To contribute to the development of Learning Technologies activity, projects,
communication and engagement:
 Liaising with the appropriate project board or development group and other
customers within the University to ascertain requirements, resolve issues,
advise on queries and pass on information
 Support the team by contributing to the establishment and implementation
of effective practice and procedures for software testing and quality
assurance.
 To ensure that the University is maximising the benefits and sustainability
of Open Source software through contributions to and extraction from the
Open Source Community
 To actively participate in the Learning Technology Section team in order to
facilitate communication within the Section
 To liaise with colleagues throughout LRLR to maintain awareness of
potential developments and plan for their implementation
 To participate in LRLR projects to enhance the service
 To network with colleagues in other HE or external organisations to explore
engagement opportunities in order to generate mutually supportive
partnerships
 Presentation of written or oral reports on projects and initiatives
 Representation of the Team/Section on LRLR/University
working/collaborative groups and at national conference, committees, etc.
3
Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications & Experience
Qualifications/
Education
Knowledge/Skills
/Training
Experience
Essential
 Degree (or equivalent) in an IT
related discipline or equivalent
experience in a similar/relevant
role
 Skills and ability to design,
develop and maintain
sophisticated database-backed
websites using:
o
SQL compliant database
o
PHP
o
XHTML and CSS
o
Server scripting language
 Knowledge of analysis of
user/project requirement and how
these are translated into technical
developments/outputs and project
outcomes
 Good oral and written
communication skills
 Organisational, planning and
prioritisation skills
 Ability to work in a team
environment, supporting
colleagues and sharing expertise
 Ability to work to deadlines and
deal with unforeseen issues and
changing circumstances
 Ability to present complex
technical concepts in a clear
manner
 Ability to contribute to strategic
planning
Desirable
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Demonstrable experience of
server side development
Experience of full life cycle of
developing online web
applications
Experience of user-centred
system design within a PHP
development environment
Proven success of working in a
team environment, supporting
colleagues and sharing expertise
Proven success in influencing,
motivating and directing
colleagues
Ability to work to deadlines and
deal with unforeseen issues and
changing circumstances
Ability to present complex
technical concepts in a clear
4
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An understanding of project
management lifecycle
Knowledge of the pedagogic
capabilities of online systems
Knowledge of learning
technologies and their
application to HE
Knowledge of open standards
Knowledge of the higher
education environment
Knowledge of ITIL standards,
practices and processes
Knowledge of Oracle
PeopleSoft
Experience of working with
open source software
solutions, especially Moodle
Demonstrable
knowledge/experience in
using:
 MySQL
 XML
 JavaScript
 Solaris/Linux
Experience of designing
database-backed websites
using:
 SQL compliant
database
 XHTML and CSS
 Server scripting
language
Experience with

Other
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manner
Ability to contribute to service
development
interoperability standards
(e.g. IMS, SCORM, QTI,
Learning Tools Interoperability
etc).
Critical thinking and problem
solving skills
Enthusiastic and proactive ‘can do’
approach
Customer focused
Decision Making
Please provide examples of the nature of the role and the sorts of day-to-day decisions that will
be:
i) taken independently by the role holder;
 Technical scripting and database design decisions will be made independently but within
University guidelines
 Anticipating difficulties, where they might arise and taking proactive measures to minimise
their impact – identifying resource requirements to resolve any issues (people, technological
solutions, etc.) as appropriate.
 Details of project implementation
 Scheduling of work within agreed deadlines
 Prioritisation of own workload
ii) taken in collaboration with others;
 Identification and integration of new techniques or processes for enhancing Technology
Enhanced Learning production by the Section as a whole
 Deadlines and priorities within projects
 Changes in systems which impact LRLR services
 Strategic training requirements to promote teaching enhanced learning
 Implementation of standards and procedures for the Team
 Changes to systems to enhance functionality, or resolve problems, that require information
from or affect other groups or teams within LRLR
 The instructional design of academic material (in collaboration with the Authors)
 Technology architecture and implementation decisions to be made with colleagues in the
Learning Technology Section (LRLR) and IT Services (IS)
 Event organisation, promotion and facilitation
iii) referred to the appropriate line manager (Learning Systems Team Leader) by the
role holder
 Approval to attend external meetings and courses
 Issues significantly impacting on the work of other Groups, Teams or Sections, or affecting
strategic University-wide projects
 Approval of new standards, techniques and processes which significantly impacts on the work
of the Team
Additional Information
The role holder is based within the Learning Technology Section in LRLR. This role is vital to the
maintenance, upgrade and robust and reliable delivery of the existing online learning systems.
5
The role holder requires experience in all aspects of providing technical expertise, support and
consultancy for a wide variety of learning systems (including Moodle), in order to support the
delivery of learning and teaching content online. The role holder is one of a small number of
technical experts developing bespoke learning system extensions, combining a specific technical
knowledge, organisational skills and effective communication.
6