Faculty Administrator

Social Sciences Faculty Office

Grade 4: - £21,630 - £23,144 per annum
Open-Ended/Permanent - Full Time
Contracted Hours per Week: 35
Closing Date: 16-Dec-2022, 7:59:00 AM
Disclosure and Barring Service Requirement: Not Applicable

Job Title: Faculty Administrator
Department: Social Sciences and Health Faculty Office
Grade: Grade 4
Salary range: £21,630 - £23,144
Working arrangements: Full time, 35 hours per week, Monday to Friday. The University are currently undertaking a hybrid pilot looking at how best our staff can work flexibly and on and off campus.
Closing date: Redeployment - 30th November 22 - Internal & External - 14th December 22
Potential interview date: To be confirmed

The University

At Durham University we are proud of our people.  A globally outstanding centre of educational excellence, a collegiate community of extraordinary people, a unique and historic setting – Durham is a university like no other. 

Across the University we have a huge variety of roles and career opportunities, which together make us a large and successful community, which is a key hub of activity within our region and nationally.  Whether you are at the very start, middle or end of your career, there is a role for you. We believe everyone has their own unique skills to offer. We would be thrilled if you would consider joining our thriving University.  

Further information about the University can be found here  

The Role and the Department

The Faculty of Social Sciences and Health is nationally and globally leading, ranked in the top 50 in the world by the THE World University Rankings. It has an ambitious vision to further develop in its ability to deliver world-class education and research.

The Faculty Office supports the Executive Dean in:

• Development and delivery of agreed strategic and operational projects, activities, and processes
• Departments to deliver the agreed outcomes from the annual planning round;
• Coordination of activities across Departments in collaboration with relevant professional service teams;
• Providing processes to support the delivery of high quality staff and student experience.

The role of the Faculty Administrator is to:

• manage student and staff-facing processes and systems - primarily those in support of the Faculty's education strategy - ensuring that a professional service standard is maintained at all times;
• support to the Faculty Administration Manager for operations processes, including administration of appeal, concessions, Exam Board and HR processes. Ownership and management of student concession, appeals and exam board processes will constitute the majority of the role;
• support the Faculty Leadership Team by providing comprehensive support for meetings, committees and working groups - scheduling meetings, managing paperwork, producing minutes, and following up on actions;
• provide routine office administration

Further information about the role and the responsibilities of the role are listed at the bottom of this job description.

Working at Durham 

A competitive salary is only one part of the many fantastic benefits you will receive if you join the University: you will also receive access to the following fantastic benefits:

• 27 Days annual leave per year in addition to 8 public holidays and 4 customary days per year – a total of 39 days per year.  The University closes between Christmas and New Year.
• No matter how you travel to work, we have you covered.  We have parking across campus, a cycle to work scheme which helps you to buy a bike and discount with local bus and train companies.
• Lots of support for health and wellbeing including discounted membership for our state of the art sport and gym facilities and access to a 24-7 Employee Assistance Programme.
• On site nursery is available and children’s clubs in the summer holidays.
• Family friendly policies, including maternity and adoption leave, which are among the most generous in the higher education sector (and likely above and beyond many employers).
• There is a genuine commitment to developing our colleagues professionally and personally.  There is a comprehensive range of development courses, apprenticeships and access to qualifications and routes to develop your career in the University.  All staff have dedicated annual time to concentrate on their personal development opportunities. 
• The opportunity to take part in staff volunteering activities to make a difference in the local community
• Discounts are available via our benefits portal including; money off at supermarkets, high street retailers, IT products such as Apple, the cinema and days out at various attractions. 
• We offer generous pension schemes.

Durham University is committed to equality diversity, inclusion and values

Our collective aim is to create an open and inclusive environment where everyone can reach their full potential and we believe our staff should reflect the diversity of the global community in which we work.  

As a University equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) are a key part of the University’s Strategy and a central part of everything we do.  We also live by our values and our Staff Code of Conduct.  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. It’s important to us that all of our colleagues are aligned to both our values and commitment to EDI.

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.  If you have taken time out of your career, and you feel it relevant, let us know about it in your application.  If you are a candidate with a disability, 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, reasonable adjustments will be made to support people within their role.

How to apply

To progress to the assessment stage, candidates must evidence each of the essential criteria required for the role in the person specification. It will be at the discretion of the recruiting panel as to whether they will also consider any desirable criteria, but we would urge candidates to provide evidence for all criteria.

While some criteria will be considered at the shortlisting stage, other criteria may be considered later in the assessment process, such as questions at interview.

Submitting your application

We prefer to receive applications online. We will update you about 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 make sure you have not missed any of our updates.

What you need to submit

Please ensure that you submit all documentation listed above (Part 1 AND Part 2) or your application cannot proceed to the next stage.

Contact details

For a chat about the role or for any further information regarding the role, please contact Mrs Jo O’Neill-Jones, Faculty Manager, via jo.o’[email protected]

What you need to demonstrate when you apply/Person specification

When you apply, it is important that you evidence each of the essential criteria required for the role in the person specification.  Let us know what skills/experience you have from a similar role or experience you have which would make you right for this role.  Further information about the role and responsibilities is within this job description.

Your application should cover the following criteria:

Essential Criteria

Desirable Criteria

• Experience of student support or educational processes
• Demonstrable ability to enhance processes to improve the efficiency or quality of the team
• Experience of working in Higher Education.
• Post-16 qualification or equivalent experience.
• Educated to degree level

Further information about the role

Role Delivery

• Resolve queries and requests for information and advice and escalate more specialist and complex queries or issues to more experienced team members. 
• Provide a responsive and proactive support service for all stakeholders, in particular Faculty Leadership Team  
• Focus on checking stakeholder requirements to ensure the delivery of excellence with the frontline stakeholder experience. 
• Provide a prompt response to service users answering and recording standard queries and bookings for activities and/or events, referring to other staff and departments as appropriate. 
• Contribute to the planning of team activities, work and deadlines to ensure the smooth running and timeliness of service for all stakeholders.  
• Solve day-to-day routine problems and source background information within the role. 
• Record data and information accurately and provide reports as required to team members and more experienced staff, to include confidential material.  
• Deal with information requests finding solutions or escalating queries where necessary. 
• Flexible in approach to accommodate the needs of team members and/or service users. 
• Assist team members to organise, plan and prepare for events, meetings and activities such as staff induction, committee meetings, external stakeholder meetings etc. 
• Liaise with internal and external colleagues and organisations to pass on information as appropriate. 
• Apply professional and regulatory procedures and processes and use of systems as instructed. 
• Liaise and collaborate with staff in other areas of the organisation to ensure a seamless, smooth and efficient service. 

Teamwork

• Work with team members to ensure the smooth running of administrative processes to support all stakeholders and business activities.
• Apply standard professional and recognised regulatory procedures to process, check and reconcile anomalies within data and information sets as appropriate.  
• Compile, record, store and archive electronic data and information to ensure the accuracy and safety of information, particularly with respect to student processes, concessions, appeals, exam, personnel, health and safety, contractual/service documentation. 

Communication and Networking

• Liaise with all stakeholders, external professional organisations and agencies where necessary. 
• Use standard office-based digital systems, tools and equipment to carry out data recording, communications and networking. 
• Provide service and support for networks, committees and meetings, to draft and distribute documents and communications, including minutes, in standard professional formats. 
• Process and update key business documentation, particularly with regard to student exam, appeal and concession data as well as HR and other associated policies.  
• Liaise with internal and external suppliers and specialists with the organisation, planning and delivery of services, activities and events. 
• Make venue, catering, travel and/or equipment arrangements for events, meetings and activities to support staff recruitment, research, teaching and network building with internal and external stakeholders. 

Specific role requirements

• Be prepared to work out of normal office hours on occasion and with notice e.g. to support events.
• Please note the University is currently undergoing a hybrid working pilot which, to ensure a vibrant campus, requires staff to spend at least 2 days on site (with arrangements to be determined locally).

Useful Links

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.