Job Description
Job title:
Educational Software and Systems Developer
(PHP Developer) – 12 months fixed term
Department/School:
LTEO (e-Learning Team)
Grade:
7
Location:
Bath Campus
Job purpose
The primary purpose is to manage the technical development and maintenance of robust and
resilient e-learning environments that underpin the University’s teaching practices and which are
mission critical to the excellent student learning experience we offer students. The post holder is
expected to think creatively and strategically about e-learning software development and
implementation, to complement the University’s digital environment and lead the technical
delivery of e-learning innovations.
This will include, but is not limited to, the development of Moodle which is the University’s Virtual
Learning Environment (over 2000 courses, over 19,000 users annually and 8000 unique users
daily). This is one of the institution’s most used systems and requires high levels of availability
and reliability to effectively support content delivery, facilitation of learning, assessment and
feedback and plagiarism detection.
The post holder is expected to support the Senior Developer to facilitate the transition of Moodle
to an externally hosted service in summer 2016.
Source and nature of management provided
Line Manager: Head of e-Learning
When working on specific projects, the post holder will be accountable to the Senior Educational
Software & Systems Developer and the Moodle Operations Manager within the e-Learning
Team.
Staff management responsibility
None
Main duties and responsibilities
LTEO
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June 2015
1
Provide support to the Senior Developer to facilitate the transition of Moodle to an
externally hosted service.
2
Provide technical expertise on developing the e-Learning Team's online learning
environments and stand-alone programs under the guidance of the Head of eLearning and the Senior Developer. These are developed predominantly in PHP
and MySQL and use object oriented programming paradigms.
3
Design and provide solutions to multi-faceted problems, which support and
complement LTEO's work and anticipate how those solutions might enhance the
team's service provision.
4
Deliver technical projects within LTEO as agreed by the Head of e-Learning and
provide guidance on techniques appropriate to the role, including compliance with
legislation.
5
Advise the Head of e-Learning and contribute to the e-Learning Strategic Plan and
other policies/procedures as appropriate to inform strategic direction in relation to
anticipating needs and enhancing the University's digital learning environment.
6
Support the operational embedding of e-learning pilots and services across the
institution. Coding, developing testing, debugging, documenting, implementing and
maintaining software in the learning and teaching domain are a core element of
this role. The post holder will take ownership and responsibility for the quality of
their code and provide feedback, advice and guidance on code produced by team
members.
7
Actively undertake technical evaluations and risk assessments associated with the
implementation and use of learning and teaching tools so as to ensure a high level
of service by the e-Learning Team members to the wider community.
8
Produce, maintain and disseminate web-based information and technical
documentation in support of tools and learning environments produced by the eLearning team to enable high levels of monitoring, evaluation and reporting of
projects.
9
Support e-Learning Team members by highlighting good practice and providing
feedback on software development practices so as to encourage the professional
development of colleagues.
10
Contribute to writing competitive bids for external funding that complement the
work of the LTEO and the University of Bath. This will involve liaising with key
stakeholders, researching institutional priorities and development plans,
understanding levels of expertise and capacity, planning strategies relevant to the
proposed projects (evaluation, dissemination, sustainability, etc).
11
Understanding the requirements of the academic community, creating and
developing relationships and contacts and actively contributing to a variety of
networks within and beyond the university are key requirements of the role.
12
The post holder will from time to time be required to undertake other duties of a
similar nature as reasonably required by the Head of e-Learning.
Special conditions
None
LTEO
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June 2015
Appendix B
Person Specification
Criteria
Essential
Desirable
Assessed by
A/F
I/T
R
X
Qualifications
A first degree or equivalent
X
X
Experience/Knowledge
Demonstrable experience of developing in PHP, and
maintaining local development systems.
X
X
X
A sound grounding in a selection of: object oriented
programming, php, xml, xhtml, css, javascript, mysql
X
X
X
Experience of team based development, including version
control (subversion, github)
X
X
Experience of providing a large scale high availability
service
X
X
Experience of working effectively in an environment with
set protocols and decision making processes
X
X
X
Experience of implementing open source solutions, ideally
for educational purposes
X
X
X
Experience of working with Moodle (or other enterprise
VLE)
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Experience of working in HE
X
Awareness of current accessibility, technical standards
and legislative implications associated with the
implementation and use of for web tools
X
Awareness of appropriate UK HEI / FE organisations
(JISC, CETIS, OSS)
X
X
Exposure to working with mobile learning technologies
X
X
Skills, attitude and behaviours
Recognises the need for change and is forward looking.
Promotes the benefits of change to others and comes up
with new ideas. Has the willingness to adopt new ways of
working and to make improvements.
X
X
Works collaboratively with others, plays a positive role in
teams and establishes and grows relationships across the
team where different skills, expertise and opinions are
valued.
X
X
LTEO
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June 2015
X
X
X
Appendix B
Manages time and resources by prioritising and
organising effectively.
X
Works towards achieving excellence in service delivery
through understanding and meeting the needs of all
stakeholders.
X
Projects a positive attitude, personal confidence and
enthusiasm in order to achieve team success.
X
X
X
Code: A/F – Application form, I/T – Interview/Test, R - References
LTEO
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June 2015
X
X
X
X