1. technology and computing
2. software

 Learning and Online Communications Manager Kimmage Development Studies Centre (DSC) is pleased to announce recruitment for the position of Learning and Communications Manager. This role offers the successful applicant the opportunity to be part of a small, dynamic team working to provide support to Kimmage DSC, Ireland’s oldest centre for development studies. Working as part of a core team of educators, international development practitioners and other professionals, the successful candidate will contribute to the realization of our mission to create an international, inter­cultural learning community which promotes critical thinking and action for justice, equitable sustainable development and the eradication of poverty. The position of Learning and Communications Manager is one that requires a good team player with excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with strong skills in information and learning technology. It is a varied role, including aspects of digital marketing, IT support (and management of outsourced IT support), website development and maintenance. The job holder will also have specific responsibility for the support, maintenance, development and administration of the Moodle VLE. This is essentially a communications position which requires strong skills in information and learning technology. This is a full time position. The initial contract will be fixed term, for one year. Ability to work in Ireland is required. Salary Range: Euro 35K ­ Euro 41K depending on qualifications and experience Reporting to: Kimmage DSC’s Executive Director Applications, including CV, cover letter and contact details for two referees to be sent to:
Ms Sandra Kavanagh Kimmage Development Studies Centre, Kimmage Manor, Whitehall Road, Dublin 12 or emailed to: ​
[email protected] Deadline for applications is close of business, 25th March 2015. Learning and Online Communications Manager Background to Kimmage Development Studies Centre For 40 years, Kimmage DSC has facilitated education and training for development practitioners working in a range of occupations from over 65 countries. We have a strong reputation in Development Studies in Ireland and abroad and offer an inter­cultural and experience­based learning environment. Academic programmes on offer reflect a combination of formal and non­formal educational methodologies and are run at undergraduate (BA) and post graduate (MA and Post Graduate Diploma) levels, with options to study on a full­time or part­time basis. Modules from the MA in Development Studies are now available to students through a new Flexible and Distance Learning (FDL) mode of delivery. In addition to our academic programmes, we provide capacity development services devoted to the professional upgrading of Irish and overseas­based international development personnel. These capacity development services are provided as mentoring and organisational support and the provision of short­term practical training either through classroom­based training or open and distance education (KODE). Kimmage Development Studies Centre is an equal opportunities employer. 2 Learning & Online Communications Manager: The Role This role offers the successful applicant the opportunity to be part of small, dynamic team working to provide support to Kimmage DSC, Ireland’s oldest centre for development studies. Working as part of core team to educators, international development and other professionals, the successful candidate will contribute to the realization of our mission to create an international, inter­cultural learning community which promotes critical thinking and action for justice, equitable sustainable development and the eradication of poverty. The position of Learning and Communications Manager is one that requires a good team player with excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with strong skills in information and learning technology. It is a varied role, including aspects of digital marketing, IT support (and management of outsourced IT support), website development and maintenance. The job holder will also have specific responsibility for the support, maintenance, development and administration of the Moodle VLE. This is essentially a communications position which requires strong skills in information and learning technology. Further, more detailed aspects of the role are set out below. E­learning and Moodle Support and Improvements ● Liaise with MA in Development Studies and Kimmage Online and Distance Education (KODE) programme co­ordinators around online learning systems and improvements therein. ● Administer routine queries, resolving issues and providing other general support for teaching staff and participants. ● Provide technical support for queries from teaching staff, course administrators and students. ● Provide training and update Kimmage DSC specific user manuals for users. Existing basic manuals for tutors and participants can be viewed at https://sites.google.com/a/kimmagedsc.org/moodle­guide­tutors/​
and https://sites.google.com/a/kimmagedsc.org/kimmage­dsc­moodle­guide­for­partic
ipants/​
respectively. ● Regulate, provide guidance and encourage a consistent style and course structure on all online modules and courses. ● Research possible improvements and innovations (and encouraging their adoption by teaching staff) for delivering course content on Moodle. ● Make modifications to improve users’ experience based on tutor and student feedback and best practices. 3 Management of Courses ● Import users accounts, adding accounts manually as required, organising users into groups and cohorts and assigning roles. ● Manage user registration, enrolment/un­enrolment and groups. ● Update course and activity (e.g. assignments) properties. ● Organise courses by category and in a logical hierarchy. ● Create new courses either from scratch or based on previous occurrences of the course. ● Ensure that assignment settings are correct for each course so that students and relevant staff have access to the gradebook for correct reporting of offline and online assignments. Liaising with IT support. ● Request upgrades to the latest stable version of Moodle. ● Request installation of plugins when necessary. ● Act as an intermediary between the IT consultant and the tutors and students ensuring that routine queries are dealt with in house as much as possible. ●
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Website & Online Presence Ensure all online activity is in line with our ​
Vision & Mission​
and with the ​
Dóchas Code of Conduct on Images & Messages Regular SEO maintenance of the website using ethical and best practices. Keep the website up to date with news, upcoming events and other relevant information. Communicate with the Development sector and with alumni network, and drive relevant traffic to the website through search, social media, occasional ​
MailChimp campaigns and online advertising. Make design changes to the website as required. This may involve changing the menu structure, the theme, changing and installing plugins etc. Ensure that the website is ‘mobile friendly’. Maintain, monitor and optimise our Google Adwords account. This includes maintaining our eligibility for the ​
Google Grants Pro​
programme. W​
rite text content for the website. E​
nsure web content is well written, free of errors, clear and relevant. 4 ● Make recommendations on the website design and all online content based on suggestions of staff and other users, while always using recommended best practices. ● Maintain course and events applications system. The ​
Formidable Forms Pro​
plugin is currently used for this, and ​
PayPal​
facilities are also used. ● Promote the MA in Development Studies and other Kimmage DSC courses and programmes via various advertising campaigns using Facebook, Google Adwords, Google Display Advertising. ● Maintain a presence on social media sites including Facebook, Twitter and Google+. ● Communicate with and facilitate communication among Kimmage Alumni through maintaining and updating relevant sections of the website and social media platforms, and offer IT support during occasional alumni events. ● Use analytics and insights to monitor web traffic, ad campaigns and SEO, and to subsequently change approaches used if necessary. ● Occasional image editing (using GIMP). Other duties ● General basic IT support to staff and participants. ● Liaise frequently with outsourced IT support with regard to software and hardware requirements, often acting as an intermediary to translate staff needs in IT terms and vice versa, and to seek and take advice. ● Liaise with outsourced IT support to develop and maintain a relational database of current and past participants. This will involve gathering existing data, establishing integrity of this data and eventually producing information for records and for targeted communications. ● Occasional recording and video and sound editing of course content and events. Applicant Profile Essential Requirements ● Minimum two years experience in relevant IT areas, and an interest in international development issues ● Primary degree in IT, social science or other relevant field; Masters preferred. ● Very high standard of the ​
English​
language with excellent verbal and written communication and listening skills. ● Ability to work well with others as part of a team. 5 ● Attention to detail. ● Self­motivated and showing initiative. ● Highly computer literate – capable of reaping the benefits of IT both for efficiencies, communication and the effective delivery of programmes via online learning platforms. ● Ability to maintain ​
Wordpress​
based website carrying out the tasks outlined above. ● Experience of administering ​
Moodle​
for online learning and familiarity with online learning technologies and processes. ● Very good grasp of ​
HTML​
and using ​
CSS​
. ● A good understanding of aesthetic website design and logical website structure. ● Excellent skills in Office software ● An interest in researching new technologies and tools that may benefit Kimmage DSC and its stakeholders.Good problem solving skills. ● An ability to empathise with and communicate with users users of the website and Moodle and other recipients of our online communications. This means making everything as easy, clear, logical and intuitive as possible for the users e.g. helping users find what they want quickly with as few clicks as possible. It also means understanding how best to communicate with current and potentially future stakeholders in a way that gives them relevant information and that does not inconvenience them. Preferred Knowledge, Experience, Competencies ● Experience in the international development sector, and / or distance and higher level education is highly desirable. ● Very good knowledge of SEO best practices. ● Familiarity with Open Source software such as ​
LibreOffice and the Ubuntu operating system​
. Those with good skills in the use of MS Office will be able to learn how to use LibreOffice easily. ● Good basic skills in image editing (using ​
GIMP​
). ● This job also occasionally involves video recording, basic sound editing (using Audacity​
) and video editing (using ​
Kdenlive​
). ● Digital marketing skills. ● Familiarity with ​
Screencast­O­Matic​
(for recording screen captures along with tutor videos and audio), ​
Sigil​
, ​
Calibre​
and the ​
Lucimoo​
Moodle plugin (for creating, editing, importing and updating course material into EPUB format) and Scribus​
for publishing. Prior experience of using these particular software applications is desirable but not essential if the candidate has an aptitude for quickly learning how to use new tools and is ‘technically minded’. 6