What We offer

Employee benefits

As well as offering a competitive starting salary with the benefit of annual progression through the scale and any agreed cost of living pay awards, plus plenty of development opportunities, we also provide a range of attractive benefits across the Solent University group including:

Holiday

An excellent starting holiday entitlement, plus bank holidays and a Christmas closure

Pension Plans & Life Assurance

A wide range of pension plans are available including Local Government Pension Scheme, Teachers Pension Scheme, Universities Superannuation Scheme and a defined contribution Solent Pension Plan.   To ensure we can support you with your retirement plans, our generous Solent Pension Plan is available to roles within Solent University Services Ltd as well as generous Life Assurance scheme.

Flexible Family Benefits

We encourage flexible working at Solent to ensure you achieve the right work life balance for you and provide enhanced benefits over and above statutory provisions on family leave policies

Voluntary Discount and Savings Schemes

Interest free travel loans for train/buses/bike loan for employees on a contract of over 12 months

University groups and networks

We have a wide range of University groups and networks including LGBTQ+, Staff Scene organised events and lunchtime clubs

Health & Wellbeing Initiatives

We offer a wide range of health and wellbeing initiatives as well as membership to our top of the range sports building

Relocation Scheme

You may be entitled to a 10% relocation allowance on appointment.  Please ask People & Development for more information 

Ways of Working

Our ways of working enable colleagues to work more autonomously and in a smarter and more flexible way that brings benefits to our University, our people's wellbeing, and the environment.   Our ways of working are supported by our Workstyles which ensure that staff are able to adopt the framework in a way that suits the requirements on them for their roles.

Our Ways of Working Principles provide a common foundation to which all requirements are linked and guide our workstyles and ways of working:

• We will prioritise academic excellence and a student-first approach through our ways of working and will take into consideration the aspirations of colleagues wherever possible.
• Our leaders are accountable for the success of their team's ways of working, which is supported by an infrastructure of guidance and resources.
• We recognise the value of in-person interaction with students and colleagues to instil greater collaboration and a sense of belonging.
• We will arrive at decisions around ways of working through inclusive and transparent discussions, with equity and consistency as a priority at all times.
• We will learn from our experiences to continue to evolve our ways of working and workspaces to provide an enriching working environment for our people.

My Development

At Solent, we care about the development of our people. Our aim is to create an inclusive, healthy working environment that provides our people with opportunities that support them to fulfil their potential and contribute to building an excellent University.

Development is about continually building our portfolio of knowledge, skills and experience to enable us to grow on both a professional and personal level.

At Solent we offer a range of opportunities including a programme of essentials training for all staff, degree and higher level apprenticeships, annual performance and development review and access to a wide range of professional CPD programmes delivered in-house and via our online learning platforms. 

We encourage our people to take responsibility for their own learning and development through self-directed learning and by engaging with our Career Pathways.  Our pathways provide opportunities for everyone at Solent to enhance their skills and experiences across our wide range of developmental areas, our pathways are:

Academic Career Pathways:

• Teaching and Scholarship
• Research
• Knowledge Exchange

Professional Service Career Pathways:

• People Support
• Technical Specialist
• Administration
• Management 

Some examples of ways we support people in achieving this can be seen in our My Development Programme:

Reward and recognition

Progress and Development Review

Our people are at the very heart of the University’s mission, vision and strategy. The Progress and Development Review (PDR) Scheme supports this mission and is designed to ensure staff understand how their work contributes to the overall delivery of the University’s strategic priorities, provides feedback on performance and ensures staff are recognised for their contribution and achievements.

PDR provides a great opportunity to reflect on the learning and development that has taken place and to discuss what support may be required in the coming months.

Staff awards

Our annual Staff Awards are a great way to recognise the diverse contributions and achievements made across all staff groups, job roles and work activities undertaken within the University and a fantastic opportunity to celebrate our success as a vibrant and innovative community.

Employee wellbeing

Solent is committed to providing a supportive working environment and promoting the health and well-being of all employees. We have a range of policies, initiatives and training to support this commitment including our generous holiday entitlements, lunch time clubs, free eyesight tests, mental health training, sports centre, staff networks, cycle2work scheme and a confidential counselling helpline.

Benefits of working in Higher Education

Information provided by UCEA, information © 2024 Universities and Colleges Employers Association.

 

This infographic suite shares some of the often overlooked benefits and conditions available to HE sector employees. It was first published in February 2024. The Pensions specific infographics were updated in April 2024 to reflect the new employer contribution rates for TPS in England and Wales.

 Benefits of working in HE (health, wellbeing and family)
 Benefits of working in HE (travel and leave)
 Benefits of working in HE (pensions) - April 2024 version

UCEA Page on benefits of working in HE