Employment

Associate Lecturer (AL) Recruitment

As an Associate Lecturer you will have an integral role to play within the University’s delivery of our courses and in supporting our student’s journey to success.

What can you expect from the role?

lady talking across a room

  • Welcoming students into studying with the University
  • Identifying and supporting the student needs to help enable independent study
  • Providing academic and correspondence tuition to help develop students and provide assessment feedback which enhances the learning experience
  • Be the first point of contact for students
  • Champion development and continuous improvement of our courses through sharing feedback
  • Taking personal ownership of developing own knowledge and practice

Our Associate Lecturers can either be online-based or provide face to face tuition through our residential school networks. 

As an Associate Lecturer, your contracted work activities across the academic year will be reflected as a Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) value. Your FTE is composed of the module delivery activities, as well as including time for development, academic currency and annual leave. 

Your working pattern over the year will vary to accommodate student support, tuition and assessment. If your workload decreases, the university will provide additional tasks to maintain your FTE level.

1.0 FTE would be equivalent to 37 hours per week.

graduates looking across the auditorium

How to apply

On the right-hand side panel box, you will be able to locate current live vacancies within each faculty.

To apply please complete an Application Form and send to AL-Recruitment@open.ac.uk, including the vacancy reference number within the email subject heading.

All candidates will be asked to provide proof of eligibility to work in the UK or ROI, read our guidance for more information.

Useful information

You need to demonstrate on the application form how you meet the requirements of both the generic person specification and the module person specification. CVs will not be considered in the selection process, as we will only accept completed AL application forms, therefore you are advised to provide a detailed overview of your experience and qualifications within the form.

The OU's module codes are made up of letters and numbers. The letter identifies the faculty or school that the module belongs to, and the numbers identify the specific module. The first number in the module code indicates the module level. Some modules relate to more than one academic area and have more than one letter in the module code (e.g., DB123, You and your money is owned by the Faculty of Social Sciences and by the OU Business School).

It is a requirement of the role to have access to a personal computer (PC). Please be aware that some OU software will only operate within a Microsoft windows platform. All modules taught by Associate Lecturers require access to the internet as you will be required to regularly access information from a website, for example information relating to your student group.

As an Open University Associate Lecturer, you have three options for ICT equipment provision:

  • Request an Open University (Managed) Windows laptop
  • Purchase a personal laptop using the OU ICT Allowance
  • Use your existing personal device (OU security software will need to be installed. The OU uses Mobile Device Management (MDM) as their security software).

You will also be in receipt of a monthly connectivity allowance to help support internet connectivity costs.

Applications from overseas candidates are permitted provided the candidate intends to move to the UK or Republic of Ireland to take up the position. Any offer of employment will be made subject to proof of UK/RoI residency along with standard pre-employment checks, including Right to Work (RTW). If you are applying from outside the UK/RoI please state your intentions on the application form, otherwise it may not be considered.

Yes, you can apply for any vacancy advertised on our recruitment site providing that you live in the UK, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, or the Republic of Ireland. For modules taught entirely online all applications received by the published application close date will be considered. However, selection for modules with any face-to-face tuition may be defined by your proximity to the vacancy.

The close date for a vacancy is the final date that we will accept applications. We will not accept any late applications that are received after 12 noon on the close date.

If you do not receive acknowledgement within 2 working days after sending us your submission then it means that we have not received it. Please check your Spam folder for error messages before trying again. If you have any problems submitting your form, then please e-mail us at AL-Recruitment@open.ac.uk or you can call us on 01908 541 111

After the closing date, shortlisting will be undertaken within week. We aim to contact candidates within 2 weeks of the closing date. If you have been unsuccessful in your application, you should have received correspondence via email to confirm that is the case. If you have not heard from us after two weeks of the closing date, and you would like an update on the application status, then please contact us on AL-Recruitment@open.ac.uk.

Please amend your originally application form and then resubmit it to AL-Recruitment@open.ac.uk ,with a clear message of explanation for what has been changed.

You should e-mail your request to AL-Recruitment@open.ac.uk and one of the team will gather relevant feedback for you.

The Open University is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion which is reflected in our mission to be open to people, places, methods and ideas. We aim to foster a diverse and inclusive environment so that all in our OU community can reach their potential.

We recognise that different people bring different perspectives, ideas, knowledge, and culture, and that this difference brings great strength. We strive to recruit, retain and develop the careers of a diverse pool of students and staff, and particularly encourage applications from all underrepresented groups.

We also aspire to make The Open University a supportive workplace for all through our policies, services and staff networks.

Search all roles

Visit the Open University careers site to see all roles.

Contact us

If you have any queries or questions about the recruitment process, or regarding your application, please contact: AL-Recruitment@open.ac.uk.

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