School Technical Manager in Sheffield

The University of Sheffield is a remarkable place to work. Our people are at the heart of everything we do. Their diverse backgrounds, abilities and beliefs make Sheffield a world-class university. We offer a range of benefits including a highly competitive annual leave entitlement with the ability to purchase more, a generous pension scheme, flexible working opportunities, a commitment to your development and wellbeing, a wide range of retail discounts, and more.

Overview

As School Technical Manager, you will coordinate the technical support activities across the School of Mathematical & Physical Sciences within the Faculty of Science. Working in collaboration with the School Manager, you will be responsible for optimising technical staffing, equipment and facilities across a diverse range of laboratories and workshops across multiple locations.

You will lead the technical staff within the School and deliver a complete technical support service to ensure that all research and teaching laboratory, research facility and workshop infrastructure and equipment is managed efficiently and effectively to meet the needs of users.

You will provide leadership, direction, support and guidance to technical colleagues, setting team and individual goals through the university’s Staff Review and Development Scheme (SRDS), management team meetings and staff welfare.

You will possess excellent leadership, organisational and communication skills and have experience of delivering effective safety management approaches and methods within a technical workplace to ensure compliance with the Health & Safety at Work Act and other statutory and regulatory requirements.

Main Duties And Responsibilities

• Work in partnership with the Head of School and School Manager to lead, manage and deliver an efficient technical service across the School, ensuring an appropriate level of skill and knowledge to allow staff to carry out their activities to a high standard and to ensure continual improvement of service delivery quality.
• Develop strategy, implement and lead change, working collaboratively across the School and with Technical Managers across the Faculty to review and improve processes and develop a culture of service excellence.
• Proactively manage technical resources (core & grant funded), infrastructure, equipment, materials, consumables and running costs in the short-term and plan resources for the future (5-10 year plans).
• Through the School Safety Officer, manage health, welfare and safety in the school’s laboratories, workshops, workrooms and office spaces, ensuring a safe working environment for staff, students, and visitors and ensuring changes to Health and Safety regulations and national legislation are reflected in School policies and procedures.
• Plan and maintain the School’s physical infrastructure, including buildings, fittings, furniture, equipment to underpin the School’s operations and strategy, liaising with Estates and Facilities Management as appropriate.
• Manage equipment service contracts and ensure compliance with equipment and chemical disposal policy and regulations.
• Oversee specific budgets related to the technical workforce or technical work areas as delegated by the Head of School.
• Liaise with key contacts across all the University’s professional services (such as Estates and Facilities, Management, IT Services, Health and Safety, Campus Services, Finance and HR) to deliver a full technical support service and infrastructure.
• Plan the school business continuity, working with the School Manager and members of the school executive, acting as the local incident manager for incidents in the School.
• Liaise with University and Faculty committees and working groups as required.
• Provide detailed input into the annual Planning Round to ensure that technical resources continue to meet the needs of the School in terms of structure, skills and quality of service, preparing robust business cases for staffing, resourcing and investment through reports and presentations.
• Carry out other duties commensurate with the grade and remit of the post.

Person Specification

Our diverse community of staff and students recognises the unique abilities, backgrounds, and beliefs of all. We foster a culture where everyone feels they belong and is respected. Even if your past experience doesn't match perfectly with this role’s criteria, your contribution is valuable, and we encourage you to apply. Please ensure that you reference the application criteria in the application statement when you apply.

Essential Criteria

• Have a good honours degree (or equivalent experience).
• Experience of managing technical facilities, staff and operations in the Higher Education Sector (or equivalent complex environment).
• Ability to concurrently manage multiple work strands and projects, demonstrating strong skills for long term planning, organisation and service delivery.
• Ability to think, plan and act strategically and to develop and deliver strategies and plans, to support organisational objectives and resolve issues using creative solutions and innovative approaches.
• Experience of reviewing individual/team progress and performance and embedding organisational strategy into individual performance planning, with the ability to motivate, support and manage the high performance of others to meet current and future requirements.
• Comprehensive knowledge and understanding of Health and Safety regulations.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills with the ability to present high quality reports and complex information to specialist and non‑specialist audiences.
• Experience of proactively adapting own skills to new circumstances and working flexibly to meet the demands of the post, both to meet current requirements and for anticipated future skill requirements.

Desirable Criteria

• Broad ranging relevant technical expertise, including up to date knowledge of the School’s specialist areas.

Further Information

Grade: 8

Salary: £48,822 - £58,225 per annum with potential to progress to £65,509 through sustained exceptional contribution

Work arrangement: Full‑time

Line manager: School Manager

Direct reports: Technical Staff within the School.

Our website: https://sheffield.ac.uk/mps

Next steps in the recruitment process

It is anticipated that the selection process will take place in August 2026. This will consist of an interview and presentation. We plan to let candidates know if they have progressed to the selection stage within two weeks of the closing date. If you need any support, equipment or adjustments to enable you to participate in any element of the recruitment process you can contact mps-hr@sheffield.ac.uk.

Our vision and strategic plan

We are the University of Sheffield. This is our vision: sheffield.ac.uk/vision.

What We Offer

• A minimum of 41 days annual leave including bank holiday and closure days (pro rata) with the ability to purchase more.
• Flexible working opportunities, including hybrid working for some roles.
• Generous pension scheme.
• A wide range of discounts and rewards on shopping, eating out and travel.
• A variety of staff networks, providing opportunities for social interaction, peer support and personal development (for example, Race Equality, LGBT+, Women’s and Parent’s networks).
• Recognition Awards to reward staff who go above and beyond in their role.
• A commitment to your development, access to learning and mentoring schemes; integrated with our Technical Career Route.
• A range of generous family‑friendly policies
  • Paid time off for parenting and caring emergencies
  • Support for those going through the menopause
  • Paid time off and support for fertility treatment
  • and more

More details can be found on our benefits page: https://sheffield.ac.uk/jobs/benefits.

We are a Disability Confident Employer. If you have a disability and meet the essential criteria for this job you will be invited to take part in the next stage of the selection process.

We are a research university with a global reputation for excellence. Our ideas and expertise change the world for the better, making a real difference to society. Our University Vision outlines our commitment to building a diverse community of staff and students that recognises and values the abilities, backgrounds, beliefs and ways of living for everyone.