Are you a researcher and practitioner with specialist expertise in immersive storytelling and creative digital practice? Do you bring hands‑on experience of immersive media tools alongside a critical and research‑led approach to what these technologies make possible? Are you passionate about supporting students to make digital and immersive stories that matter to them? If so, this post offers a distinctive opportunity to shape a new area of teaching and research at Birkbeck, with significant new infrastructure behind it.
As Lecturer in Digital and Immersive Storytelling, you will join the School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication, in a new School‑wide role embedded in the creative practice infrastructure of the Birkbeck Creative Practice Lab. The Lab brings together the School's research centres and institutes (including BIMI, the Centre for Contemporary Theatre, BIRMAC, the Derek Jarman Lab, the Peltz Gallery and the Vasari Research Centre) alongside its cinema, theatre and performance spaces and gallery.
You will also draw on and contribute to the Immersive Learning Centre, Birkbeck's dedicated AR/VR and spatial computing facility, and will connect with the Centre for Creative AI where immersive production environments and AI‑assisted tools intersect.
Your research might engage questions of immersive narrative and spatial storytelling; interactive and game‑based form; the politics and aesthetics of presence and embodiment in VR/AR environments; immersive documentary or journalism; or the intersection of real‑time 3D environments and AI‑assisted production.
Your practice might involve working with tools such as Unreal Engine, Unity, VR development environments, 360‑degree capture or spatial audio – developed through professional experience, independent creative practice or academic research.
You will develop the School’s curriculum in immersive storytelling, with teaching that unites students from different disciplines together around ambitious collaborative immersive practice, and you will also collaborate with colleagues across the School's subject areas to build new research and teaching connections around immersive practice.
To succeed as Lecturer, you will hold a PhD in a relevant field, such as digital media, film and media studies, creative arts, game studies, performance studies, digital humanities, or a related discipline in which immersive practice and storytelling feature substantially.
Demonstrable research engagement with immersive media, evidenced through publications, practice‑based outputs or doctoral research is essential. Practical experience with immersive production tools is essential, alongside a commitment to developing expertise as the field evolves.
Demonstrable experience of teaching, training or facilitated learning in some context, whether in HE, further education, community settings, professional training, or workshop‑based practice is also required.
We particularly welcome applications from candidates whose work engages questions of diversity, equity and inclusion in immersive and digital media, and from candidates whose backgrounds would contribute to the diversity of our team.
Candidate Profile
* immersive media practitioner
* XR designer
* game designer or developer
* interactive narrative designer
* digital storyteller
* creative technologist
* VR/AR artist
* performance and technology practitioner
* digital media researcher
* immersive journalism practitioner
* postdoctoral researcher in digital media
* game studies or performance studies
* digital media or creative arts lecturer
Apply now and take the next step in your academic career at Birkbeck, University of London.
Remuneration
£44,247 rising to £60,858 per annum. The salary is Grade LLEC on the College's London Pay Scale which includes a consolidated Weighting/Allowance which applies only to staff whose normal contractual place of work is in the London area.
Benefits of working at Birkbeck: a competitive salary and pension scheme, 31 days paid leave, flexible working arrangements, generous benefits in the HE sector, and being located in Euston, London.
Terms and Conditions
Open‑ended, full‑time (35 hours per week – the default is Monday‑Friday 9am‑5pm, with flexibility including evening teaching). Visa sponsorship available.
We welcome applicants from all sections of the community and backgrounds, and particularly encourage those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities to apply. The College is committed to improving the gender and cultural diversity of its workforce, holding a bronze Athena SWAN award and operating Disability Confident & Mindful Employer schemes.
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