College Administration Coordinator

Updated: over 1 year ago
Location: Durham, ENGLAND
Job Type: FullTime
Deadline: 20 Sep 2022

College of St Hild and St Bede

Grade 5: - £24,285 - £27,131 per annum
Open-Ended/Permanent - Full Time
Contracted Hours per Week: 35
Closing Date : 20-Sep-2022, 6:59:00 AM 

When appointing to this role the University must ensure that it meets any applicable immigration requirements, including salary thresholds which are applicable to some visas.

The Department and role purpose:  

The Colleges and Student Experience Division includes the 14 Maintained Colleges, Experience Durham, the Student Support and Wellbeing Directorate, and the Wider Student Experience Operations Directorate.

The postholder will be involved in a wide range of activities aimed at furthering the College and University strategy, especially in relation to the effective administration of the college.

The College Administration Co-ordinator will provide an efficient and effective administrative support service to the college management team, will be a primary contact for the college student body, and will support the work of the common rooms and their executives.

This role is particularly important to Hild Bede as we go through an exciting period of transition around the development of our estate including, for a period, a move off-site to another City location followed by a move back to our historic home.

Core responsibilities:

  • Act as more knowledgeable team member with some oversight and responsibility for the student support office.
  • Resolve queries and requests for information and advice from students and escalate more specialist and complex queries or issues to more experienced team members.
  • Provide advice, guidance and training where necessary to our student support administration team to disseminate and share practice.
  • Provide feedback to members of the student support administration team about the monitoring and achievement of team objectives and performance expectations.
  • Contribute to the APDR process, assisting with the identification of development needs where appropriate.
  • Provide support with the appointment within College of student employees and interns (bar steward, College librarians and interns)
  • Supervise the implementation of changes to College service operating procedures and practice.
  • Contribute to collaborative decision making within the team with joint planning and team objectives to meet excellence in the stakeholder experience.
  • Work collaboratively across the organisation and/or externally with colleagues and stakeholders to deliver College administration services including support to our trusts and funds, the bodies that award them and students which benefit in terms of student welfare and experience.
  • Provide guidance and advice to resolve problems and queries for a broad range of service users.
  • Plan and organise own workload and activities for others with or without involvement with other project work streams.
  • Organise and schedule resources, activities and events including supporting management of the Principal’s diary and commitments
  • Analyse work activities to ensure the effective and efficient use of capital and consumable equipment and resources.
  • Liaise with contacts internally, particularly academic departments, faculties and professional support departments and possibly externally to build links to pass on information for effective working.
  • Advise others and make recommendations into work processes and procedures for consideration by senior management to improve services.

Role responsibilities:

  • Deliver administrative support services to ensure the effective and efficient running of business processes and systems with a focus on support to our Health & Safety Committee, College Advisory Board and also to the Board of the Caedmon Ceolfrid Trust. 
  • Monitor and evaluate service delivery to ensure compliance with regulatory and professional procedures and standards.
  • Collaborate with colleagues across professional and administrative areas to ensure seamless service provision, including our College Diary of Events
  • Monitor data accuracy checks to identify anomalies and ensure the integrity of data and information.
  • Update data and information on systems and media for recording, storing, communicating and informing service users and team members.
  • Work with internal and external partners to deliver cross-functional administrative, business and financial work streams.
  • Work with internal and external partners to deliver cross-functional services and activities such as the admissions cycle, Open Days and Freshers’ Week and contribute to our web-presence and provision of information to students about other events and activities.
  • Analyse data and statistics and provide reports for higher level decision makers.
  • Accurately record information and data and disseminate within internal networks including committees.
  • Arranging, minuting and servicing a range of college meetings.
  • Contribute to the development and implementation of policy and procedures within own area of working.
  • Any other reasonable duties.

Specific role requirements

The postholder will on occasion be required to be available in the evening and weekends to participate in some College functions.

Working Arrangements

At Durham we recognise that our staff and students are our greatest asset and we want to support the health and wellbeing of all.  Hybrid working supports this ethos and provides many benefits to our colleagues, including empowering people, where their role allows, to work in a manner which is more suitable for them, whilst encouraging our commitment to environmental sustainability.

Depending on the needs of the business and the job role, Durham University is piloting hybrid working for all Professional Services colleagues in the academic year 2021/2022, which may include the opportunity to work both on and off campus and to flex working hours.  If appointed to the post, your line-manager will discuss the specific arrangements with you.  Any hybrid arrangements are non-contractual and may change within the pilot and when the pilot ends.

Reward and Benefits

To support the delivery of the University's People Strategy to attract, retain and reward the very best, we offer a fantastic range of rewards and benefits to our staff, including:

  • 27 days annual leave, plus 4 customary days and 8 bank holidays (pro-rata for part time) and the option to purchase additional leave;
  • Automatic enrolment into a pension scheme;
  • Corporate and local discounts;
  • Wellbeing resources and discounted health benefits;
  • Health discounts on sports and activities at Maiden Castle Health and Activity Centre;
  • Reward and Recognition Schemes;
  • Personal and career development;
  • And SO much more, with further information available here

Recruiting to this post

In order to be considered for interview, candidates must evidence each of the essential criteria required for the role in the person specification.  In some cases, the recruiting panel may also consider the desirable criteria, so we recommend you evidence all criteria in your application. 

Please note that some criteria will only be considered at interview stage.

How to apply

We prefer to receive applications online.

Please note that in submitting your application Durham University will be processing your data. We would ask you to consider the relevant University Privacy Statement https://www.dur.ac.uk/ig/dp/privacy/pnjobapplicants/ which provides information on the collation, storing and use of data.

Information if you have a disability

The University welcomes applications from disabled people. We are committed to ensuring fair treatment throughout the recruitment process. We will make adjustments to support the interview process wherever it is reasonable to do so and, where successful, adjustments will be made to support people within their role.

If you are unable to complete your application via our recruitment system, please get in touch with us on [email protected] .

What you are required to submit

  • A CV;
  • A covering letter which details your experience, strengths and potential in the requirements set out in the essential and desirable criteria;
  • A completion of the application questions, with examples of how you satisfy the person specification and realising your potential approach.  Please ensure you give detailed examples of how you meet these criteria if requested. 
  • Please ensure that you submit all documentation listed above or your application cannot proceed to the next stage.

    Contact details

    For further information regarding this post, please contact; Simon Forrest, Principal of the College of St Hild & St Bede [email protected]

    Contact information for technical difficulties when submitting your application

    If you encounter technical difficulties when using the online application form, we prefer you send enquiries by email.  Please send your name along with a brief description of the problem you’re experiencing to [email protected]

    We will notify you on the status of your application at various points throughout the selection process, via automated emails from our e-recruitment system.  Please check your spam/junk folder periodically to ensure you receive all emails.

    At Durham University, our aim is to create an open and inclusive environment where everyone can reach their full potential and believe our staff should reflect the diversity of the global community in which we work.  We welcome and encourage applications from members of groups who are under-represented in our work force including people with disabilities, women and black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.

    As a University we foster a collegiate community of extraordinary people aligned to the University’s values .  Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) are a key part of the University’s Strategy and a central part of everything we do.  At Durham we actively work towards providing an environment where our staff and students can study, work and live in a community which is supportive and inclusive, and in doing so, recruit the world’s best candidates from all backgrounds and identities. It’s important to us that all of our colleagues are aligned to both our values and commitment to EDI.

    Person specification - skills, knowledge, qualifications and experience required

    Essential Criteria

  • Excellent oral and written communication skills and the ability to develop effective working relationships, both internally and externally.
  • Proven IT skills, including use of Microsoft Office. Five GCSE’s at least Grade C or level four (or equivalent) including English Language and Mathematics (or equivalent experience).
  • Relevant administrative experience in a busy office environment.
  • Demonstrate experience of providing management, oversight, coordination and support to a small team of administrators
  • Demonstrable ability to proactively work with team members to ensure the delivery of high quality services.
  • Demonstrable ability to provide advice and guidance to a range of customers and colleagues.
  • Experience of working on the front line with service delivery, and the ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines without compromising on quality.
  • Ability to effectively network and exchange advice and information for development purposes. 
  • Desirable Criteria

  • Evidence of personal development to maintain skills.
  • Post-16 qualification or equivalent experience.
  • Ability to solve problems as part of a team and resolve issues, plan solutions and make pragmatic decisions.
  • Demonstrable supervisory experience.
  • Knowledge of Higher Education and supporting the needs of undergraduate and postgraduate students.
  • DBS Requirement: Not Applicable.



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