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Dr Ian Tidmarsh FIScT CSci, Dr Jane Eagling MIScT, Dr Hayley Andrews FHEA, Seb Bate MMath, Dr Harish Charan, Dr Robert D. Crapnell CSci FHEA, Dr Nicky Morgan BSc (hons) MSc PhD FHEA MIScT, Phil Moss MEng, Matt Smith MSc PGCert BEng (Hons) MCSP HCPC FHEA and Evan Wilson
The higher education sector has long faced a critical challenge in retaining its highly skilled technical workforce. The ongoing national technical skills shortage is directly linked to an absence of clear progression pathways, leaving highly skilled technicians unclear on their next career move. For decades, technical professionals have been confronted with a difficult choice. They must either transition into management and leadership roles or leave higher education to advance their careers. To address this crisis and retain vital expertise, Manchester Metropolitan University has implemented a pioneering solution developed in partnership with the National technician Development Centre (NTDC). By launching sector leading Technical Services Promotion Pathways, the university provides the framework needed to deliver visibility, recognition, and reward.
Development of Sector Leading Promotion Pathways
The creation of these promotion pathways was part of a large-scale collaborative effort, designed to resolve a sector wide issue:
National Collaboration: To address the specific lack of visibility, recognition, and progression for education focused technical staff, a dedicated national working group was established. This group comprised representatives from 20 universities (including top QS World Ranking UK institutions) alongside the Institute of Science and Technology. The group delivered the National Education Technical Professional Pathway, made open access to the sector in March 2025. The NTDC has led technician career and promotion pathways development via the Higher Education Technical Taxonomy (HETT) framework since 2014.
Manchester Met Collaborative Delivery: A diverse, cross-university project team successfully co-created and implemented both Education Technical Professional (ETP) and Research Technical Professional (RTP) promotion pathways developed in partnership with the National Technician Development Centre. Manchester Met became the first university to implement both ETP and RTP promotion pathways, delivering a sector leading offer.
Comparison of the Manchester Met Co-Created Pathways
The Manchester Met promotion pathways framework (Figure 1) introduces two distinct promotion routes that allow technical professionals to achieve in-role promotion without the requirement for a vacancy.
Figure 1: Manchester Met promotion pathways
Progression is focused on the demonstration of technical and technology excellence and impact aligned to university strategy. The need to transition to management and leadership roles is eliminated. Table 1 summarises Manchester Met promotion pathways and key sector milestones.
Table 1: Summary of promotion pathways and key sector milestones.
At a recent event, Manchester Met ETPs and RTPs (Figure 2) explored the impact the promotion pathways have had on them as individuals and the wider organisation.
Figure 2: Manchester Met ETPs and RTPs; Top (left to right): Dr Hayley Andrews (RTP I), Seb Bate (RTP I), Dr Harish Charan (RTP I), Dr Robert D. Crapnell (RTP II); bottom (left to right): Dr Nicky Morgan (ETP I), Phil Moss (RTP I), Matt Smith (ETP I), Evan Wilson (ETP I)
Attraction, Retention and Progression
By establishing these formal routes, the promotion pathways actively tackle long standing industry trends like quiet quitting and the technical skills shortage. They ensure that highly refined specialist skills are retained within higher education by driving structural parity of esteem with academic colleagues.
For many technical professionals, the primary draw of the new pathways is their ability to advance by continuing to develop their technical and technology expertise and to demonstrate their impact. The traditional route often necessitated a pivot into traditional management and leadership roles, but the new promotion pathways offer a welcome alternative. Phil Moss (RTP I) notes that the appeal was the ability to progress while remaining in a technical role. Without the RTP and ETP roles, the only progression possible was through becoming a team manager, which was something that did not align to his career aspirations.
This sentiment is echoed on the education side. Evan Wilson (ETP I) highlights that the pathway offered something that simply had not been available before. As his career progressed, he felt himself getting further away from teaching. The ETP pathway enabled him to stay in Technical Services and progress while still having a direct impact on the student experience.
For external talent, the pathways also serve as a powerful recruitment tool. Seb Bate (RTP I) points out that alongside financial incentives, the clear progression milestones for RTP II and III provide an essential roadmap for future career development, making the university an attractive destination for specialists.
Key Achievements: Driving Excellence
The project has successfully embedded new technical professional roles within the university, leading to significant professional development and technical and technology related output. By remaining embedded in their specialist areas, these professionals are uniquely positioned to drive innovation, shape strategy, and elevate the quality of both teaching and research.
● Education Technical Professionals (ETPs): There are currently three ETPs in post across Biosciences, Simulation, and Multimedia Journalism. Two of these professionals are Associate Learning Enhancement and Educational Development Scholars for 2026/27 (leading education innovation initiatives) and two will have presented at national conferences (Figure 3). Dr Nicky Morgan (ETP I) moved to the university specifically for the ETP role because it allowed her to combine technical and technology skills with student education. She adds impact by providing unique and bespoke digital innovations that can be used across disciplines. This leads to further collaborations and pedagogical advantages while allowing her to explore creative teaching styles.
Figure 3: Dr Nicky Morgan (ETP I) and Matt Smith (ETP I) presenting at the 2026 NTDC Partner Forum.
Research Technical Professionals (RTPs): Five RTPs are now in post. Key achievements include two RTPs being accepted onto the Future Research & Innovation Leaders programme (preparing them to be future research leaders) and two securing roles as Co-Investigators across four grants. On the ground, Dr Hayley Andrews (RTP I) plays a leading role in shaping the future strategy for the electron microscopy facility. By working collaboratively with faculty and key stakeholders, Hayley translates research requirements into clear technical specifications, enabling innovative experimental approaches that enhance outputs. Similarly, Dr Harish Charan (RTP I) leverages his expertise in scientific computing to accelerate research. By providing computational assistance and consultancy, he helps researchers scale and enhance their work across a diverse range of scientific backgrounds. Additionally, one RTP has been invited to coordinate an international conference, and another has published six papers since their appointment.
Measuring Impact
A key feature of the promotion pathways is the requirement to demonstrate and record high level outputs. The pathways are delivering measurable improvements across three core themes:
Quality
Reputation
Culture.
Our technical professionals are using robust, multi-faceted approaches to measure the difference they make:
Quality: The ETP pathway is improving student outcomes as evidenced by using the university’s Education Leading Indicators and systematic evaluation model, while the RTP pathway is facilitating our ability to secure prestigious research awards. Matt Smith (ETP I) believes impact should be measured through a combination of evidence rather than a single metric. He looks at student feedback, engagement, and confidence to gauge the effectiveness of learning activities. He also monitors staff feedback and the wider influence of his work through the development of new resources and research outputs. In the research domain, the metrics align closely with institutional priorities. Dr Robert Crapnell (RTP II) measures his impact through four key pillars. These include contributing to high-quality REF returnable publications, securing grant funding, building global reputation through collaborations, and fostering an inclusive and high performing research culture where colleagues can thrive. Earlier this year Dr Crapnell was awarded the 2026 Royal Society of Chemistry Technical Excellence Prize (Figure 4).
Figure 4: Dr Robert Crapnell (RTP II), winner of the 2026 Royal Society of Chemistry Technical Excellence Prize.
Reputation: The clear career development opportunities are attracting a higher calibre of external applicants. The implementation of the pathways has transformed recruitment and staff motivation. Previously, the university required multiple campaigns to attract talent. Recent vacancies have generated significant interest, with an order of magnitude increase in applications resulting in appointment during the first campaign.
Culture: The initiative is generating a more equitable and sustainable workforce by investing in staff growth, improving retention, and fostering an inclusive research and education culture. The Employee Voice Survey indicated that the pathways have created clear career direction and a stronger sense of professional identity. Staff feel that their specialist skills are formally recognised and valued as long term contributors to the university. By enabling technical professionals to be a part of development schemes previously only open to academic colleagues, these colleagues have a greater parity of esteem and increase opportunity.
External Recognition and Awards
The project has elevated the university's reputation as a great place to work and has been recognised in many ways:
The team's work has been presented at four national conferences
The project won the National Technician Development Centre "Promotion Pathways Significant Progress Award"
It was cited as a key contributor to the university winning the Technician Commitment Impact Award 2025
The project also secured internal accolades including the Manchester Met Research Culture Award (Figure 5) and the Project Leadership Award.
Figure 5: Members of the Manchester Met Promotion Pathways Project Team receiving the Research Culture Award from Professor Steve Rothberg, Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Manchester Met. The full Project Team comprised: Dr Ian Tidmarsh (SRO & Co-Lead), Dr Jane Eagling (Co-Lead), Esther Umoren (project Manager) Heather Atkins-Whitehead (Workstream Lead), Abigail Acheson, Ben Dobson, Professor Chris Fox, Professor Craig Banks, Dan Swain, Dave Camlin, David Harmes, Ffion Evans, Gill Dorey, Dr Helen McCormick, Kate Rowland, Professor Jamie McPhee, Dr Judy Brook, Dr Lisa Simmons, Professor Mike Coldwell, Nichola Ellis, Orlagh McCabe, Rebecca Bradley, Sam Gray and Yogita Patel.
Sector Blueprint
Through strategic collaboration with the National Technician Development Centre, Manchester Met has created a sustainable model that directly supports institutional excellence in both education and research. The overwhelmingly positive response from staff, coupled with the marked increase in recruitment and the securing of national accolades, proves that when technical expertise is valued equally alongside academic contribution, the entire organisation thrives. This initiative now serves as a robust blueprint for the wider Higher Education sector.
The foundations have been laid, and the evidence of impact is clear. It is time for universities across the country to embrace this framework, invest in their technical workforce and ensure that these vital professionals are empowered to lead technical and technology innovation.
The National Technician Development Centre
The NTDC has led technician career and promotion pathways development via the Higher Education Technical Taxonomy (HETT) framework since 2014. The NTDC has guided over 70 universities of many sizes and focus to review and enhance their organisational structures including partnering reorganisations. Our most recent clients include Glasgow School of Art (specialist university), Manchester Met (modern university) and Queen Mary University London (Russell Group). If you want to find out how the NTDC could support your organisation, you can learn more across our website, or contact us at enquiries@ntdc.ac.uk.
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