Course Director- Clinical Ethics Lead

Salary: £113,565 to £150,569 per annum, pro rata.

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 23 August 2026

    
The Role

Accountable to the Board of Medical Studies, through the Office of the Director or Deputy Director of Medical Studies, to plan, organise and manage clinical ethics training and assessment throughout the 5 years of the programme.

The postholder will work closely with local education providers (LEP) within the regional medical school and NUMed, and will ensure the quality of teaching, learning and assessment for all students undertaking clinical ethics education. The postholder will work closely with the Year Leads, alongside primary and secondary care colleagues delivering the courses. They will be directly accountable to Helen Cooke, Head of Year 3 and Dr Sharmila Jandial, Head of Professional Development.

This roles is for a fixed term of 3 years (0.2 FTE)

Informal enquiries may be made to Dr Helen Cooke, Head of 3: [email protected] and Dr Andrea Myers, Deputy Director of Studies/ Director of Education (Clinical): [email protected]

School of Medicine please visit:
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medicine/

For more information about the Faculty of Medical Sciences please visit: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-sciences 

Key Accountabilities

Duties will include:

• Lead the current clinical ethics strand through the programme, applying latest evidence and innovative learning and teaching strategies to build a coherent spiral strand through the 5 years of the programme


• Deliver clinical ethics teaching and support other staff to do so in years 1 and 2


• To work effectively, and in partnership with Year Leads, Course Directors, the designated local leads within the Local Education Providers and including Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia (NUMed), to deliver the clinical ethics strand to the agreed learning outcomes throughout the programme


• To understand the whole curriculum, and where clinical ethics training best fits to deliver an integrated course


• To link with years 1 – 5 Year Leads and Course directors for years 3-5, to ensure the clinical ethics strand integrates with other elements of the programme


• To act as a point of reference in respect of the strand for teachers, and where appropriate students, through the Local Education Providers (LEPs) leads


• To contribute to the assessment processes for the strand and the programme as a whole


• To co-ordinate and quality monitor learning materials used within the clinical ethics strand, including those uploaded to the virtual learning environment


• To contribute to the review of content of shared learning materials, and curriculum documentation within the required timelines to ensure the students receive them in a timely manner


• To actively contribute to curriculum development meetings and other quality monitoring/management meetings as appropriate.  To contribute to the agenda for meetings to ensure the relevance of topics discussed


• To engage with regional medical school leads and other Course Directors to ensure horizontal and vertical integration


• To work with the Head of Staff Development to ensure clinical teachers are appropriately trained for their role, both on-line and face to face


• The postholder will be expected to be a visible presence, with the ability to attend on campus meetings

The Person

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• In a substantive senior clinical role with a minimum of four clinical sessions


• Knowledge of the MBBS curriculum and where the course fits into it


• Knowledge of the relevant subject areas delivered in Years 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the MBBS curriculum


• Understanding of curriculum development and assessment


• Successful leadership experience


• Knowledge and experience of small group teaching


• Experience of developing Interprofessional Education


• At least two years teaching/ assessment experience on the MBBS programme

Desirable:

• Recognition of teaching and or leadership though membership or fellowship with HEA, AoMEd, FMLM or equivalent bodies


• Evidence of successful leadership within medical education

Attributes and Behaviour

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills


• Ability to work collaboratively and across organisations


• Ability to manage change

Qualifications

• Be on the General Medical Council Specialist Register or GP Register

Desirable:

• A recognised teaching qualification (Course Directors will be expected to work towards this if not achieved by the time of appointment)

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a Gold Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.  We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.  We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 29615