Digital Media Producer in Edinburgh

Grade and Salary: Grade 7, £37,694 - £47,389 per annum

FTE and Working Pattern: Full‑Time, Open‑Ended

Reward and Benefits: 33 days annual leave, plus 9 buildings closed days for all full‑time staff.

About Our Team: Heriot‑Watt University has been a pioneer in distance, blended and online education for three decades, and has over 9,000 online students across the world. Heriot‑Watt Online draws on expertise from schools, professional services and partnerships to deliver high‑quality, fully online programmes, often at large scale.

Purpose of Role: The Digital Media Producer will work closely with academics and Learning Designers to develop effective, engaging and sustainably produced digital media for courses delivered asynchronously, fully online, often at large scale. The successful candidate will have hands‑on experience of the entire pre‑to‑post production lifecycle—from planning to recording and directing through to editing and publishing—and will possess outstanding communication and technical skills. They will be creative and passionate about digital education and will thrive as part of a highly collaborative team. Experience in education is particularly desirable, but you may come from a background in video production, filmmaking, broadcasting or animation. Above all you must be passionate about working with factual material, work well with subject experts and others unfamiliar with media production, and be able to communicate often complex ideas through creative and appropriate approaches to moving image and sound.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with Learning Designers and subject matter experts throughout online course development projects.
• Lead the production of digital media assets for graduate‑level online courses, including:

• Scripting, storyboarding and production planning
• Producing videos, animations, podcasts and other digital media to agreed specifications, quality expectations and schedules
• Monitoring production against schedules and escalating any risks via project reporting processes and team meetings
• Consulting subject matter experts to review media at key points and resolve any queries or issues
• Ensuring digital media comply with relevant accessibility requirements, e.g. managing captioning and transcription
• Liaising with specialist external providers as required
• Where relevant, review and provide feedback on the quality and consistency of media assets developed by others.

• Identifying requirements for new or replacement media production equipment
• Researching potential production and equipment solutions
• Actively engaging with contemporary digital media production research, techniques and networks
• Using initiative to develop future processes and systems to enhance sustainability and scalability of media production

Person Specification:

Essential:

• Undergraduate degree or equivalent experience
• Demonstrable experience of creating high‑quality video, audio and other digital media working with factual material
• Experience collaborating with subject experts to co‑design, script and produce digital media for education
• Experience of working with subject experts who may be inexperienced or apprehensive about presenting to camera, and techniques to get the best out of such presenters
• Experience of working to fixed deadlines and adapting production approaches based on what is most appropriate and achievable in context
• Expertise in the use of relevant equipment and software, e.g. Adobe Premiere, Illustrator and After Effects within Adobe Creative Cloud
• Ability to foster and maintain good working relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, including subject experts, Learning Designers, IT and senior managers
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (written and verbal), e.g. discussing ideas and how best to convey these via digital media, writing clear and precise specifications and guidance, influencing decision‑makers on digital media design and production and production project management
• Ability to plan and organise workload independently while working collaboratively in a small team
• Ability to use initiative to develop effective practices and systems
• A keen eye for aesthetics and detail and a demonstrable sense of appropriate quality standards
• An innovative, creative and collaborative approach to work

Desirable:

• Undergraduate or postgraduate degree in a relevant field such as digital media, film and television production, animation, multimedia design or online education
• Experience working in a team focusing on digital media and/or online learning in higher education
• Proficiency with Vimeo, 3Play Media, Canvas and/or Coursera LMSes
• An active interest in digital media in higher education
• Knowledge and understanding of usability and accessibility guidelines
• Proficiency in the creation of motion graphics and/or graphic design

Equal Opportunity: Heriot‑Watt University is committed to securing equality of opportunity in employment and to creating an environment in which individuals are selected, trained, promoted, appraised and otherwise treated on the sole basis of their relevant merits and abilities. Equality and diversity are all about maximising potential and creating a culture of inclusion for all.