"Doctoral Supervisor Development Manager"

About us

Our vision is to make the world a better place. King’s College London is a world-renowned university that delivers exceptional education and world-leading research. Our Research Talent department lies at the heart of our commitment to cultivating world-class research and supporting the development of future leaders, in academia, research, education and beyond.

A key element of this is King’s Doctoral College, which supports a thriving community of over 4,200 doctoral researchers. Our comprehensive and inclusive doctoral student development programme includes approximately 300 live workshops each year and an extensive range of on-demand resources. We also support best practice in doctoral supervisor development, both at King’s and nationally, through our involvement in the Next Generation Research SuperVision Project (RSVP). We are deeply committed to inclusion, diversity, and the wellbeing of our staff and students.

The Next Generation Research SuperVision Project (RSVP): transforming the culture of doctoral education and supervision is a £4.6 million, four-year project to transform research supervision practice, funded by Research England. This will be achieved by systematically examining how to improve and enhance research supervision in the UK through scholarship, practice interventions, culture and policy change. RSVP is directed by Dr Karen Clegg, University of York, and Professor Doug Cleaver, Sheffield Hallam University, and King’s College London is a member of the project consortium alongside the University of Nottingham, Coventry University, and the UK Council for Graduate Education.

About the role

The Doctoral Supervisor Development Manager will make a significant contribution to the success of the Next-Generation Research SuperVision Project (RSVP), and positively impact the quality and culture of doctoral supervisor development at King’s College London and beyond. Working under the strategic guidance of the Associate Director (Doctoral Environment & Development), and supported operationally by the Doctoral Development Officer (Supervisors & PGR Leads), the postholder will ensure King’s delivers on its commitments as a key member of the RSVP consortium. This will include leading the delivery of RSVP pilot initiatives locally, while contributing to the development and implementation of new professional development resources across the consortium.

The role involves collaborating closely with colleagues across RSVP partner institutions to co-create, evaluate, and disseminate innovative supervisor development initiatives. The postholder will contribute to the design and facilitation of impactful CPD activities for doctoral supervisors at King’s, such as workshops, peer mentoring circles, and supervision observations.

A key aspect of the role will be engaging with King’s doctoral community – including supervisors, PGR leads, and professional services teams – to ensure development activities are informed by lived experience and disciplinary diversity. The postholder will draw on a range of data sources, including survey results, focus groups, and scholarly literature, to ensure supervisor voices are reflected in programme design and delivery.

The Doctoral Supervisor Development Manager will also support the enhancement of King’s core supervisor development offer, embedding insights and best practice from RSVP into broader institutional provision. They will foster collaborative relationships across the university, proactively seeking opportunities to align with other initiatives and share good practice. The role includes line management of the Doctoral Development Officer (Supervisors & PGR Leads), budget management for local RSVP activities, and contribution to strategic planning within the Doctoral Environment & Development Team.

This is an exciting opportunity for a motivated and collaborative individual with experience in researcher development and a passion for improving doctoral supervision and research culture. The successful candidate will be a confident communicator, skilled in stakeholder engagement, and committed to equity, accessibility, and excellence in postgraduate research.

We work on a hybrid basis, combining remote working with regular in-person contact at our Lavington Street offices.

This is a full-time post, and you will be offered a fixed term contract until 30 September 2027.

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1. Extensive experience of delivering researcher development initiatives or of working in a research environment.
2. Confident communicator, able to influence senior stakeholders by delivering presentations and drafting reports that are accurate, succinct and persuasive.
3. A clear motivation to enhance doctoral supervision and to contribute to building a healthy and positive research culture.
4. Ability to design and deliver effective activities to meet the professional development needs of doctoral supervisors.
5. Experience of working effectively and collaboratively on projects involving multiple stakeholders, priorities, and deadlines.
6. Demonstrable commitment to equality and diversity, and enhancing accessibility of opportunity.
7. Ability to analyse and evaluate quantitative and qualitative data (e.g. surveys, workshop attendance data, focus group responses) and make constructive recommendations.

Desirable criteria

1. A PhD or other postgraduate research degree.
2. Experience of line management and/or project leadership.
3. Experience of contributing to professional development activities for doctoral supervisors or academic staff.

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the page. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Further Information

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's.

As part of this commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and through this appointment process, it is our aim to develop candidate pools that include applicants from all backgrounds and communities.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages.

Grade and Salary: £45,031 - £52,514 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance

Job ID: 127545

Close Date: 26-Oct-2025

Contact Person: Dr Alex Pavey

Contact Details: alex.pavey@kcl.ac.uk