Administrative / Optical Assistant (Receptionist)

12607BR

School of Optometry & Vision Sciences

Administrative Support

Advert

Part-time Administrative / Optical Assistant (Receptionist)
School of Optometry and Vision Sciences

Cardiff University is well known for the quality of its eyecare services and we are excited to welcome applications for a part-time Optical / Administrative Assistant to join our front of house team at the University’s Eye Clinic.

We are seeking a candidate to run our busy reception desk, responding to a wide range of queries in person, via phone and e-mail whilst undertaking routine administration to support the clinic. You will be responsible for triaging enquiries and delivering an excellent customer service to all staff and patients from first booking to final prescription.
You will join a small, supportive and welcoming team of professionals and will quickly build rapport with customers, students and colleagues from wider in the School.

If you enjoy active and varied reception roles and consider yourself to be self-motivated with strong organisation skills, this role is for you.

This position is fixed-term for 3 years and part-time (17.5 hours per week – work rota is Wednesday, Thursday and Friday). 

Salary: £18,212 - £19,623 per annum, pro-rata for hours worked (Grade 2)

Date advert posted: Monday, 1 November 2021

Closing date: Monday, 15 November 2021

This post has previously been advertised to employees of Cardiff University only.  We now invite external applications.

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.

The School is proud to have the Athena SWAN Bronze award and welcomes applications from talented people from diverse backgrounds

Job Description

Key Duties

∙ Act as the first point of contact for the School’s Clinics, dealing with those that you meet in a polite, efficient and effective manner.
∙ Deal with both simple and more complex enquiries from internal and external customers in a professional manner, following established procedures, referring complex enquiries to relevant staff members, ensuring all relevant facts and information needed are recorded and communicated correctly.
∙ Establish and maintain excellent working relationships with key contacts in support of continual improvement to service levels.
∙ Undertake a variety of administrative duties to support the team and School such as gathering and to update administrative databases (such as Optix/iClarity) with accurate information.
∙ Contribute to the success of the team, leading others by example.
∙ Take an active role in the team supporting team objectives and other team members and contribute to the training of new team members.

Specific Duties 

∙ In line with practice policy, manage clinic diaries and book appointments, ensuring the accuracy of patient records are maintained and that the appointment slots are booked in the most efficient manner for optometric staff.  Anticipate any changes in circumstances and ensure any potential waiting times are communicated and reduced, wherever possible.
∙ To respond efficiently and effectively to patients, staff, students and visitors via all manners of communication (written and oral).
∙ Advise patients of relevant charges, accept payments and issue till receipts.
∙ In consultation with the clinic manager(s), complete end of day banking, resolving and/or escalating discrepancies, where appropriate.
∙ Advise patients on spectacle lens solutions and aid frame selection.
∙ Assist in the processing of NHS paperwork, ensuring accuracy and working to NHS deadlines.
∙ To assist with orders, tracking spectacle and contact lens orders and receipting deliveries.
∙ Organise meetings, when required. 

General Duties

∙ Ensure that an understanding of the importance of confidentiality and data protection are applied when undertaking all duties.
∙ Abide by University policies on Health and Safety and Equality and Diversity
∙ Perform other duties occasionally which are not included above, but which will be consistent with the role.

Person Specification

Important: evidencing you match the job criteria

It is Cardiff University's policy to use the person specification as a key tool for shortlisting. Candidates should evidence that they meet ALL of the Essential Criteria as well as, where relevant, the Desirable.
As part of the application process you are asked to provide this evidence via a Supporting Statement.  Please ensure that the evidence you are providing corresponds with the numbered criteria outlined below.  Your application will be considered based on the information you provide under each criteria.
When attaching the supporting statement to your application profile, please ensure that you name it with the vacancy reference number:  12607BR

Essential Criteria

Qualifications and Education

1. Basic Numeracy and Literacy (for example NVQ 1/GCSE level D-G)

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

2. Experience of working in a receptionist or similar customer-facing role. 

3. Experience of using Microsoft applications, including Word and Excel, and have confidence to learn new software.

4. Proven high quality standard of organisational and general administrative skills.

Customer Service, Communication and Team Working

5. Ability to deal with customers and colleagues in a professional manner; effectively, courteously and sensitively.

6. Ability to accurately and clearly record information to pass to others.

7. Previous experience of working independently as well as part of a team, working collaboratively with colleagues to achieve team goals.

Planning, Analysis and Problem Solving

8. Ability to plan, prioritise and organise work which will enable you to confidently manage the booking of our patient appointments. 

9. Ability to identify and solve routine problems on their own initiative; ensuring compliance with standard procedures and practice, at all times.

1. NVQ 2 or GCSE’s at A – C, or equivalent

2. Experience of working in an optical practice or similar clinical environment.

3. Experience of working in a Higher Education environment
4. Fluency in Welsh, written and oral.

Additional Information

Additional Information:
The School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, based in Cathays, is a purpose-built facility; credited with being the only optometric training school in Wales and one of the largest in the UK.  With an international reputation for its research and teaching activities, the School includes a number of award winning staff and students and is ranked number 3 in the UK for Optometry (Complete University Guide). There are just over 100 employees in our School, creating a welcoming and supportive culture with a strong sense of inclusivity and collegiality.

Job Category

Admin / Clerical