Senior PGR Officer

Job id: 087311. Salary: Salary: £37,332 to £42,099 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance.

Posted: 04 April 2024. Closing date: 05 May 2024.

Business unit: Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences. Department: Dentistry, Oral & Cranio Faculty Office.

Contact details:Keren Dempsey. [email protected]

Location: Guy's Campus. Category: Professional & Support Services.

The post holder will be responsible for high quality programme administration and student support for post graduate research (PGR) provision within the Faculty.   

The primary objectives of the post are to:  

• Support PGR students and supervisors during student recruitment, induction, progression, and assessment, liaising with the Faculty Associate Dean for Doctoral Studies, the Centre for Doctoral Studies, Student Records, Admissions and Education Support Services. 
• Promote student welfare and a positive student experience and support innovations to improve the student experience across the Faculty. 
• Provide an effective administrative service to support the delivery of PGR provisions, working collaboratively within the Faculty Research Support Team, providing cover and support at times of additional pressure, and responding to a wide range of queries from students and staff.  

This post will be offered on an indefinite contract   

This is a full-time

• Act as the Faculty’s first point of contact for research degrees enquiries from both current and prospective students and academic staff, taking responsibility for resolving issues, responding within agreed timeframes, and escalating complex enquiries as appropriate.  
• Maintain oversight of the Faculty’s PGR student cohort including non-credit bearing and visiting students, and manage administrative processes across the PGR student lifecycle including but not limited to; facilitating the recruitment and enrolment processes (including DBS and occupational health arrangements, stipend payments and research passports); overseeing induction arrangements; assignment of work stations; supporting programme returns and liaising with Student Records with regard to any changes to student records, including student interruptions, extension requests and mode of attendance.  
• Work with the Associate Dean for Doctoral Studies to develop new processes and systems to ensure high-quality support and effective administration for PGR activities.  
• Provide support to the Associate Dean for Doctoral Studies, by collating and supplying PGR data, providing PGR updates, organising, and administering PGR-related events, such as PGR inductions. 
• In liaison with both the Quality Assurance and Student Experience Managers in the Education and Students Team:    Contribute to, and maintain, the Student Handbook and PhD resources for the Faculty, ensuring resources are always up-to-date. 

o   Co-ordinate the virtual environment for Doctoral Programme activities ensuring the correct information is displayed to users. 

o   Co-ordinate the Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) and any School questionnaire(s), collating data, providing analysis and reports as required. 

o   Implement a consistent and robust approach for recording and monitoring attendance, ensuring compliance with Tier 4 requirements, with responsibility for Tier 4 reporting to the appropriate team. 

• Maintain oversight of student bench fees, ensuring that fees have been collected, allocated to new budget codes, and utilised appropriately in accordance with both funders’ instructions and the University’s financial regulations. In liaison with Student Records, to produce budgetary information to satisfy relevant sponsors. 
• Oversee the process for the allocation of Faculty studentships and top-up funding and maintaining accurate records of the Faculty’s financial commitment, to assist in the planning of such calls. 
• Work closely with the postgraduate programme academic leads, maintaining oversite of Doctoral programmes run by the Faculty. 
• Ensure information relating to funded studentships is accurate, kept up-to-date and recorded in line with the funders’ requirement.  
• Arrange and service the Faculty’s PGR Committee(s), minuting meetings, and ensuring that relevant datasets are provided in advance and resulting actions are followed through to completion. 
• Coordinate and support the Faculty’s annual Postgraduate Research Day and other Faculty-wide PGR events, including collating abstracts and preparing the programme; booking rooms, AV and refreshments; advertising schedules and ensuring budgetary control. 
• Manage the day-to-day deployment of programme-related resources allocated to PhD students, including laptops, study space and common room areas. 
• Support the implementation and roll-out of initiatives to improve the student experience and enhance student welfare. 
• Work with the Senior Communications Officer to develop and maintain effective communications with PGR students and to ensure the Faculty’s web pages remain informative and accurate for current and prospective students. 
• Administer the Faculty’s travel awards scheme, ensuring that applications comply with award criteria, funds are utilised in accordance with the scheme, and in line with University regulations, and subsequent reports are logged.    
• Build strong working relationships with key partners both within and beyond the University and with the Centre for Doctoral Studies in particular, in order to share best practice and ensure efficient and effective support for Academics and PGR students.  
• Assist with the local dissemination of information issued by the Faculty’s core team and University central teams to the relevant staff and students, providing advice on University and external regulations and policies, interpreting, and explaining these as required, and complying with all regulations and policies in own work. 
• Act as a local champion of new and existing PGR related IT systems, supporting training and the use of standard processes and procedures, and new ways of working.
• Support the Faculty Research and Development Manager in providing data requested by Faculty and University teams for inclusion in appropriate submissions, surveys, and annual reporting processes. 
• Facilitate an inclusive culture, and ethos of collaboration establishing effective communications and relationships, and encouraging staff to work in partnership with colleagues across the Faculty and University to eliminate potential barriers, enhance collegiality, and develop best practice through actively contributing to King’s initiatives including professional networks, and working groups. 
• Actively engage with the Faculty’s contribution to the King’s Vision 2029, and Research and Education strategies. 

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.  

Essential criteria  

1.       Educated to degree level or significant relevant experience 

2.       Experience of programme administration and an understanding of the student life cycle 

3.       Highly numerate with experience of financial management. 

4.       Customer service oriented with excellent communication, negotiation and influencing skills at all levels 

5.       Experience of building an effective network across a complex organisation and with external stakeholders 

6.       Experience of using complex databases and management information systems 

7.       Experience of developing, implementing, and improving procedure 

8.       Solutions and quality focused, with a commitment to good practice, personal accountability, and continuous improvement 

9.       Methodical and detail oriented with excellent task management skills and flexible in approach to work, while maintaining a high level of accuracy  

10.   Proactive with the ability to work under pressure in a busy environment both independently using initiative to make informed decisions, and within a team  

11.   A commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion actively addressing areas of potential bias 

12.   Ability to maintain confidentiality. 

Desirable criteria

1.       Detailed understanding of research-intensive Higher Education institutions, the regulatory, policy and procedural context, and best practice along with the challenges and opportunities faced by the sector. 

2.       Committee servicing.