Administrative Officer (Student Support)

18387BR

Cardiff School of History, Archaeology and Religion

Administrative Support

Advert

Administrative Officer (Student Support)

The School of History, Archaeology and Religion is looking to recruit an Administrative Officer to join our Education Support Team. This would be an excellent career development opportunity in a role which focuses on the support and development of teaching and learning activities. Working alongside our other Administrative Officers, you will be responsible for providing support and guidance to students and staff on all matters relating to teaching and learning activity within SHARE, such as Postgraduate Research (PGR) support, Extenuating Circumstances, Unfair Practice, ISANs, Admissions, Timetabling, Workload Model and Student Voice (student representatives, evaluations and surveys, student/staff panels).

You will need excellent organisational and communication skills as well as being adept at data manipulation and analysis, with the ability to prioritise your workload and work under pressure, and to use sensitivity and professionalism when communicating with varied stakeholders. You will be a creative, flexible, enthusiastic, and responsible person, with the ability to work both as an effective team member and independently. We are looking for a motivated self-starter who can adapt, support and respond to rapid changes in priorities, whilst providing continuity to the standard business alongside this.

Cardiff University offers many excellent benefits, including 40 days annual leave (including bank holidays), blended working (meaning you will be able to work from home for some of your time), a cycle to work scheme and other travel initiatives, annual increments up the pay scale, and more. It is an exciting and vibrant place to work, with many different challenges and is a proud Living Wage supporter.

For informal enquiries please contact either Andrea Jones or Emma Thomas, Team Managers ([email protected]) or Samantha Haines, Education Manager ([email protected]).

Informal enquiries in relation to the recruitment/ application process can be sent to Leah Fowler, HR Administrator - [email protected].

This post has two available positions:

• The first position is full-time (35 hours per week), is open-ended and is immediately available.
• The second position is full-time (35 hours per week), is fixed term until 31st January 2025 and is immediately available.

Please indicate your preferred position on the supporting statement, or if you wish to apply for both.

Salary: £26,444 - £29,605 per annum (Grade 4)

Date advert posted: Thursday, 4 April 2024

Closing date: Thursday, 18 April 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.

Applications may be submitted in Welsh, and an application submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application submitted in English.

Job Description

Job Purpose

Provide comprehensive professional administrative support to the school of History, Archaeology and Religion, providing support and guidance for all teaching and learning activities across the School, which may include quality assurance, timetabling, postgraduate research administration, student support, student recruitment, study abroad, workload modelling, open days, and other administrative activities/projects. 

This role will form a key part of the School’s Professional Services team, working closely with other members of the Education Team, Team Managers, Education Manager, and academic leads.

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.

Duties and Responsibilities
Key Duties

• Provide detailed advice and guidance on processes and procedures relating to teaching and learning activities for internal and external customers (e.g. staff, students or members of the public), using judgement and creativity to suggest the most appropriate course of action where appropriate.   
• In collaboration with others, establish and maintain office systems and processes, suggesting developments and implementing improvements and contributing to their continued development.
• Establish effective working relationships with key contacts including professional services and academic colleagues within the School and College, Registry, the Student Support Centre, and other central divisions to help improve the level of service the team provides.
• Gather and analyse data to make recommendations for management and inform decisions, establishing basic trends and patterns in data and creating reports using SIMS, Business Objects and other IT systems as appropriate.  
• Ensure that academic support tasks are carried out, including the production of work schedules where necessary  
• Work flexibly across the School’s administrative team, contributing to the achievement of the team’s objectives, developing good practice, supporting others and providing cover for colleagues, as required.   
• Produce a wide range of documents including policy and procedural documents, reports, minutes and other materials using a range of applications including Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint.
• Ensure that objectives and deadlines are met throughout the academic year and communicated to central Directorates and School management as required.

Duties continued under additional information.

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 with particular interest in education support, showing your transferable skills and aptitude 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 communicate in writing clearly, concisely, and effectively to provide detailed advice and guidance on a range of administrative support areas.

Evidence of a good standard of numeracy and IT literacy.

Experience of working in an administrative role or environment and ability to set up standard office systems and procedures, making improvements to these as appropriate.

Ability to gain specialist knowledge of administrative processes and regulations relating to higher education and quality assurance

Ability to communicate specialist and complex information effectively and professionally to a range of customers with varying levels of understanding. 

Ability to advise and influence key stakeholders in your area of work.

Ability to explore customers’ needs and adapt the service you provide accordingly to ensure a quality service is delivered.

Ability to use your initiative and creativity to solve problems, respond to queries and make recommendations, identifying and proposing practical solutions.

Ability to work unsupervised to deadlines, planning, setting and monitoring your priorities and those of the team.

Evidence of ability to analyse processes and procedures, and  recommend improvements

Desirable Criteria

Experience of working in a similar role or environment, e.g. Higher Education.

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

NVQ 3/A-Levels or equivalent

Specialist knowledge of administrative processes and regulations relating to higher education and quality assurance

Additional Information

Duties continued:
Specific Duties

• Work closely with the Team Managers and Education Manager, supporting them in the effective execution of their roles and to deputise for the Team Managers (e.g. at meetings) where appropriate.
• Support the Team Managers in the continual review of academic administration and in the implementation of new procedures to ensure that standards of service continuously meet the needs of students and staff as well as complying with quality assurance standards and regulations.
• Undertake academic support activities including areas such as administrative postgraduate research (PGR) support, open days, timetabling (‘My Timetable’), student monitoring and engagement, Athena SWAN, the Welsh Language Act, study abroad activities, and the workload allocation model, leading significant tasks and taking responsibility for areas of work as appropriate.  
• Check and collate records and documentation required for Academic Quality procedures to the highest levels of accuracy, including Institutional Review, Annual Review (ARE), and Periodic Review (PR).
• Organise and service formal and informal meetings and committees, including preparing agendas, taking minutes and recording and following-up actions.
• Represent the School at meetings, events, committees and working groups , as appropriate.
• Provide support for College initiatives, as needed/where appropriate.

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.

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.

Job Category

Admin / Clerical