Administrative Assistant

18101BR

School of Psychology

Administrative Support

Advert

Please note this post will close early due to sufficient applications being received

Administrative Assistant
School of Psychology
We are looking for an enthusiastic, reliable, professional and diplomatic individual to join the Research and Finance team in the School of Psychology.

In this role, you will:

• Deal with a range of enquires from internal (staff & students) and external (members of the public) customers in a professional manner, establishing their needs and adapting the standard responses accordingly.
• Create good working relationships with key contacts to help improve service levels.
• Undertake a variety of administrative duties to support the team and department.

We’d like to hear from you if you:

• Have experience of working in an administrative or office setting.
• Have experience of using common office IT packages (e.g. MS Office, e-mail etc.).
• Have the ability to use your initiative to solve problems and respond to queries, finding and proposing the best solution.

We can offer you the chance to work in a vibrant organisation, with

great benefits

and opportunities for progression. We are a proud Living Wage supporter.

This role is eligible to be offered on a blended working basis, meaning that as well as spending time working on campus you may spend some time working from another location, e.g. your home. The University is committed to offering this flexibility, wherever the role and business need allows, supporting work-life balance.

This post is fixed-term until 30 June 2025, part-time (21 hours per week) and is available immediately.

Salary: £23,700 - £24,533 per annum, pro-rata for hours worked (Grade 3).  Appointments to roles at Cardiff University are usually made at bottom of scale unless in exceptional circumstances.

For informal enquiries please contact [email protected]

Date advert posted: Tuesday, 30 January 2024

Closing date: Friday, 9 February 2024

Please be aware that Cardiff University reserves the right to close this vacancy early should sufficient applications be received.

Cardiff University is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse range of staff from many different backgrounds who have the ambition to create a University which seeks to fulfil our social, cultural and economic obligation to Cardiff, Wales, and the world.  In supporting our employees to achieve a balance between their work and their personal lives, we will also consider proposals for flexible working or job share arrangements.

Job Description

Provide an administrative service to the School/Directorate, engaging in and completing a range of routine tasks to meet operational and customer service requirements. Provide support and guidance on DedPsy, PGR, Open Access, Ethics and Pre-awards, ensure the Research and Finance team is supported, and key duties undertaken.

This role is eligible to be offered on a blended working basis, meaning that as well as spending time working on campus you can also choose to spend some time working from another location, e.g. your home. The University is committed to offering this flexibility, wherever the role and business need allows, supporting work-life balance.

As the biggest university in Wales – and a major employer, with more than 7,000 staff – we are an ambitious and innovative university located in a beautiful and thriving capital city. We can offer you the chance to work in a vibrant organisation, with great benefits and opportunities for progression.

Main Duties & Responsibilities

Key Duties

• Deal with a range of enquires from internal (staff & students) and external (members of the public) customers in a professional manner, establishing their needs and adapting the standard responses accordingly.
• Work with others to make recommendations for the development and improvement of current University processes and procedures.
• Create good working relationships with key contacts to help improve service levels.
• Undertake a variety of administrative duties to support the team and department.
• Gather and review data to update administrative systems such as databases and spreadsheets, making sure the information is accurate, and highlighting to your line manager basic trends and patterns.
• Actively contribute to the success of the team and support the supervision and management of it.
• Provide advice and guidance on DedPsy processes and procedures to internal and external customers.
• Work with research team to co-ordinate the updating of the DedPsy course documentation and updating and maintenance of the relevant webpages.
• Support the Admissions Team with the applications and offers to DedPsy and PGR candidates.
• Support Postgraduate Research Officer to Co-ordinate all aspects of DedPsy Viva’s, ensuring that regulations are followed, and correct paperwork is completed and returned to Registry.
• Co-ordinate the submission and distribution of all academic assignments and coursework for all three cohorts of DedPsy.
• Working with the Postgraduate Research Officer and the Research & Finance Manager, collate course documentation and evidence in preparation for the Welsh Government annual DedPsy funding claim.
• Provide support to wider research team in the administration of Open Access, Ethics and Pre-Awards.
• Undertake a variety of  administrative duties to support the team and department, including attending University Open Days and assisting with the DedPsy selection process.

Specific Duties

• Produce documentation, plan and organising meetings, take minutes and ensure any catering  arrangements are made.
• Take responsibility for managing workload and updating team calendars and planners.

General Duties

• Abide by all University policies and undergo appropriate personal and professional development.
• Perform other duties which are not included above, but which will be consistent with the role.
• Uphold the Professional Services Values & Behaviours or local equivalent.

Person Specification

We want to employ people with a wide variety of experiences. We welcome applications from all sections of the community regardless of sex, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, trans identity, relationship status, religion or belief, caring responsibilities, or age. We are particularly seeking applications from candidates who come from backgrounds that are underrepresented at the University, including people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities.

We are looking for a team player who will work with colleagues to provide a great service to staff and students. You don’t need to have worked for a University before; this is an opportunity to show your potential and start or continue your career at Cardiff University.

This role may be an opportunity for you to build on your experience from working in a previous administrative role or environment, showing your transferable skills and potential to be successful in the role. You should be enthusiastic about developing your knowledge and skills to become a valued member of the team.

Your application will be assessed against the following essential and desirable criteria for the role. Please copy and paste this section into a new document and give clear examples of how you can evidence meeting each criteria by writing under each one. You can draw on elements from any aspect of your life (e.g. work, home, education/qualifications or community life) as long as you focus on their relevance to the role.

Please save your supporting statement in a separate document with the title [YOURNAME-BR NUMBER-JOB TITLE] and attach it to your application in the recruitment system, available here .

Please note that these are also the criteria shortlisted applicants will be assessed against at interview and/or by other means (e.g. a skills test).

Essential Criteria

Ability to carry out a variety of administrative tasks, including writing clearly and concisely.

Experience of working in an administrative or office setting.

Experience of using common office IT packages (e.g. MS Office, e-mail etc.).

Ability to set up and maintain standard administrative systems and procedures, including using University systems to collate and record data online and in hard copy. (Training will be provided where required).

Ability to communicate with a wide range of people effectively and courteously whilst maintaining professional standards, adapting your language and style of communication depending on who you are communicating with.

Ability to work well with your team, knowing how to give advice, guidance and feedback (to colleagues and members of the public) as appropriate. 

Ability to deal with requests for information or service, resolving customer issues where appropriate, or being able to escalate where necessary.

Ability to plan and organise your own workload within agreed timelines as set by your Line Manager.

Ability to use your initiative to solve problems and respond to queries, finding and proposing the best solution.

A willingness to undertake further training and development

Desirable Criteria

Experience of working in a Higher Education environment.

Ability to speak/understand Welsh or a willingness to learn.

Additional Information

HOW WE WILL SUPPORT YOU IN PERFORMING THIS ROLE

We want to support and develop you in the role, using a combination of the following to help you reach your full potential.

Regular one-to-one meetings with your team leader.

An experienced and supportive team around you.

Support to undertake job-relevant training and development, as identified by your Line Manager. This could be informal or could be an apprenticeship leading to a formal qualification, such as Business administration NVQ.

A staff mentoring scheme.

Support to learn Welsh or to update language skills.

Additional Information

Cardiff School of Psychology

We are recognised internationally for sustained excellence in research, impact and research led teaching. We are a large School with over 50 academic staff, over 600 undergraduates and 150 postgraduate students. In the last assessment the School attained the highest rating of ‘excellent’ for its teaching from the HEFCW Teaching Quality Assessment Panel. Many individuals in the School are leading figures in their research areas. In the last Research Excellence Framework we entered as a unit of over 80 staff with our colleagues in Psychological medicine. We were placed 2nd in our topic area across the UK. We have state of the art laboratories and experimental expertise across the range of psychology, and are currently building one of the largest and best equipped imaging centres in Europe (see: sites.cubric.cardiff.ac.uk). Our collective aim is to understand the psychological and biological foundations of behaviour at both individual and group levels. The research undertaken in the School ranges from 'synapse to society', and includes normal behaviour in development and adulthood, the breakdown of cognition after stress, trauma and in neurological and/or genetic conditions, as well as key psychological issues of broad importance to society, such as prejudice, reproductive health and understanding risk. The School also contributes to cross-disciplinary University Research Institutes in Neuroscience and Mental Health, Sustainable Places, and Energy Systems Research.

Job Category

Admin / Clerical