AHO calls for permanent position as Associate Professor in Service Design

The Institute of Design at The Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO) announces a new full time permanent position as Associate Professor in Service Design.

The Institute of Design wishes to strengthen its professional staff through this new position by building and further developing Service Design particularly in the public sector. This is a prioritized and strategic subject area for the Institute. We emphasize working closely with industry and the public sector to provide the highest level of professional competence through research both for our students and as a means of participating in professional development.

AHO was one of the first design schools in the Nordic countries to develop courses and research activities in Service Design and currently has a strong position both in Norway and internationally. Service Design is one of the main domains of teaching, research and collaboration with industry at the Institute of Design (IDE) at AHO. We currently run a 5-year programme leading to a Master's of Design. Service Design is a part of the curriculum across this 5-year programme. Through the Doctoral School at AHO and the Centre for Design Research at IDE we also offer PhD level research education and support; this is often connected to large funded research projects both with the private and public sector.

We are currently looking for a highly motivated person to fill a position in Service Design. The applicant will need to meet high international standards at all levels with a clear foundation in Service Design suited to a higher education school specializing in design. We are interested in a practiced designer who is also an accomplished educator and researcher with experience, a strong portfolio supported by engaged pedagogy up to Master's level.

The Associated Professor in Service Design will be responsible for developing and teaching curriculum that covers all aspects of Service Design. The applicant should have extensive experience in practice-led and studio-based teaching in design school, and is expected to cover a broad range of topics related to the field. This person will be responsible for managing Master and/or Foundation courses, and contributing to Diploma supervision, and teach across the students' design processes - including methods and tools, prototyping, mentoring of complex projects and collaboration with both private and public sector. The position will ideally involve supervision of PhD fellows. The position will also include collaboration with other research areas and projects at the Institute. Active collaboration, also interdisciplinary and internationally is expected.

As part of the service design research team the candidate is also expected to help develop and conduct research activities in areas related to service design for the public sector. Here there is specific interest in intersections between service and systems design as well as questions relating to 'servitisation' and automation.

• Become an active part of the Service Design team at The Institute of Design and take part in teaching, research, administration and other tasks related to Service Design and the Institute of Design as a whole.
• Planning, developing and teaching at Bachelor and Master's level including supervision. This applies both to take responsibility for bachelor and/or master-semester courses as well as teach in them. Teaching takes place in the ?studio" which combines practical exercises (often in collaboration with external organizations), as well as theory in service design, design thinking and design.
• Supervising and advising student's in their final-semester Diploma projects.
• Development and implementation of courses at the executive level.
• Keeping up to date in the field and contributing to its development.
• Help develop and conduct research activities in areas related to both public and commercial services.
• Support PhD education and supervision
• Developing teaching and research- and development-projects of high quality and ambition
• Communication and dissemination of outcomes of teaching-, research- or development projects towards relevant national and international arenas
• Participation in administrative work

Information on general qualification requirements for appointment to an Associate professor on the basis of academic qualifications can be read her: Regulations No 129 of 9 February 2006   (https://lovdata.no/dokument/SF/forskrift/2006-02-09-129)

The applicant must have the following qualifications:

• A higly skilled service designer with a masters degree in service design or equivalent in a relevant field (e.g. systems oriented design, interaction design, design management, visual communication, product design).
• Candidates with a PhD, within the field of Service Design or eqvalent, will be prioritized
• Extensive experience in the professional practice of service design (the candidate must demonstrate breadth and specialization in their portfolio with approximately 5 years of experience)
• Extensive experience in developing and performing practice-led design teaching at bachelor and/or master level
• Excellent visualization and facilitation skills.
• Interest for both theoretical and practical development of the field of service design.
• Excellent written and spoken English is a requirement, while fluency in a Scandinavian language is an advantage, but not a requirement
• An understanding of public services in a Norwegian/Scandinavian context is also an advantage

The position require residency in the Oslo region.

• Excellent pedagogic skills and related experience
• Outstanding collaboration and communication skills
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to create an attractive research environment will be emphasized.
• Innovative, proactive and solution-oriented perspectives and approaches
• The ability to engage students and colleagues
• Being able to support and flourish in an ambitious atmosphere with periods of high work intensity

Personal suitability for the position will weigh in.

• A stimulating and international professional research and teaching environment
• Depending on qualification, the position is placed in government pay scale, position code 1011 Associate Professor. 
• Membership in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund (a monthly deduction of 2% of gross salary will be made as a contribution to the fund)
• Standard terms applicable for the position

In the light of a personnel policy aiming at a working staff which reflects the composition of the population in general, as regards gender and cultural diversity, women and persons with a minority background are particularly encouraged to apply for the position. AHO is eager to support career development.

As the application is to be assessed by an expert committee, applicants are asked to submit a documented, extensive overview of their design practice, teaching and all other activities of relevance to the position § 1-4 (https://lovdata.no/dokument/SF/forskrift/2006-02-09-129)

The application must include:

• A cover letter stating motivation for the position, that also summarize teaching experience and future ambitions for disciplinary and pedagogical development. The motivation-letter should also include a reflection on the applicant's pedagogical approach.
• A CV
• A list of design practice/ teaching experience / publications / other qualifying works that are to be considered in the application
• Portfolio that shows a range of professionally practice and projects that are relevant to the position (can be online)
• Certificates/ diplomas
• A list of 2-3 references with name, relation to candidate, e-mail and phone number

The applicant is responsible for documenting all aspects of his/her competence in the application. Application with attachments must be submitted via our online recruitment system jobbnorge.no. (http://jobbnorge.no.)Please note that all documentation must be in English or a Scandinavian language.

The applicants will be assessed on an academic basis. The entire breadth of qualifications will be assessed in ranking competent applicants.

At AHO the positions as associate professor is typically distributed within three main components; teaching, research and development, and administrative tasks. The balance between the components will be agreed upon at the conclusion of the contract.

The application deadline is June 22th 2021.

For inquiries or questions, please contact Chair Service Design, Ted Matthews: Ted.Matthews@aho.no or Head of Institute Professor Rachel Troye: rachel.troye@aho.no (http://rachel.troye@aho.no)

For more information about AHO, please visit our website: www.aho.no (http://www.aho.no)