Technical Officer - Creative Technology & Human Interaction with AI in Manchester

This role forms part of an exciting recruitment campaign within Technical Services, as we invest additional focus and resource into strengthening our capability across broadcast media technologies and the fast-evolving AI landscape. We are growing our Digital Arts team so that students and academics continue to benefit from industry-leading equipment, expertise and support as these fields advance at pace, and this is a great opportunity to help shape that development from the ground up.

About our team:

Technical Services are a large and diverse team of highly skilled technical professionals who ensure the optimal functioning of specialist spaces and resources to deliver an exceptional student experience. We work in specialist laboratories, workshops, studios, resource centres and IT facilities. Our technical professionals play a key role supporting, guiding, and advising students across our university from sciences, art, design and technology, through to sports, ceramics, nursing and physiotherapy.

About the role and you:

This role sits in the Digital Arts team, who provide specialist technical support to the School of Digital Arts (SODA) and the wider Arts & Humanities Faculty through managing studio spaces, supporting the delivery of Technical Skills Sessions to students and providing support to academics. The ideal candidate will offer positive and proactive support and have demonstrable expertise in interaction design, creative coding and human-AI interaction, supporting prototyping, demonstrators and public-facing showcases.

They will be experienced in:

• interaction and AI design/prototyping tools (Figma, Adobe XD)
• creative coding and physical interaction (JavaScript, Max/MSP, Pure Data, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, sensors)
• generative AI prototyping tools (ComfyUI, Stable Diffusion, Gradio, Streamlit)
• user-centred design, usability testing and accessibility
• responsible AI practice (copyright, consent, data protection, bias, dataset provenance)

They will support students and academics in developing industry-standard interaction and human-AI design skills, from early prototyping through to public-facing demonstrators and showcases. Experience of CGI, XR or collaborative creative projects would be advantageous, as well as the ability to demonstrate and instruct to a high standard.

The role will involve supporting staff and students on a diverse number of customer-facing specialist counters and support areas. The successful candidate will have a proven track record of accomplishment in a similar environment. Additionally, they will have a positive and flexible approach to work, be reliable and punctual as well as motivated and willing to undertake all required training and allocated tasks. They will have the ability to work alongside others and be capable of working in a team, whilst striving to deliver excellent customer service. Strong communication and interpersonal skills are key as well as being able to demonstrate ownership of personal workload.

At Manchester Metropolitan University, we are committed to supporting our technical staff in enabling them to undertake development activities in line with the needs of their specialism and work area, so a willingness to learn and develop is essential.

If you are enthusiastic about this area, flexible, and committed to providing a high level of customer service, we would love to hear from you.

If you would like more information about this vacancy, please contact Leighton Moody, Technical Services Manager. Email: l.moody@mmu.ac.uk

Please note, interviews are provisionally scheduled for the week commencing 28/09/2026.

Further information:

Manchester Metropolitan University fosters an inclusive culture of belonging that promotes equity and celebrates diversity. We value a diverse workforce for the innovation and diversity of thought it brings and welcome applications from all local and international communities, including Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, disabled people, and LGBTQ+ individuals.

We support a range of flexible working arrangements, including hybrid and tailored schedules, which can be discussed with your line manager. If you require reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process or in your role, please let us know so we can provide appropriate support.

Our commitment to inclusivity includes mentoring programmes, accessibility resources, and professional development opportunities to empower and support underrepresented groups. Manchester Met is a Disability Confident Leader and, under this scheme, aims to offer an interview to disabled people who apply for the role and meet the essential criteria as listed in the attached Job Description for that vacancy.

£31,236 to £34,610. Grade 6