Operations Assistant

Salary: £23,700 with progression to £25,138 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits . We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 17 May 2024

The Role

To provide comprehensive clerical support to Business Development & Enterprise - including the Commercial Projects team.  This will include support in relation to the administration of consultancy, CPD, commercial research, tenders and business engagement.  To play an integral role within the Business Development & Enterprise (BDE) team in ensuring the team delivers an efficient and effective support service to end users.

For informal enquiries please contact: [email protected]

Key Accountabilities

• To provide clerical support in relation to the administration of consultancy, CPD and tender projects; including liaising with Finance to set-up new accounts, issuing invoices and raising credit notes.  The post holder will also be responsible for checking payments, reposting revenue to departments and closing accounts.  To also provide admin support for commercial research projects
• To provide a speedy and efficient support to BDE team members to enable the team to deliver the best possible service to academics, other internal stakeholders and external clients
• Working with other team members, establish effective and efficient processes and operating procedures.  Seek to continually improve such processes and procedures
• To provide other clerical support to the team including P2P and SAP transactions, checking online expenses claims, diary management, dealing with incoming correspondence/telephone enquiries and taking action where appropriate including liaison with other areas in the University as well as external organisations
• To arrange and co-ordinate meetings and other activities on behalf of BDE including  liaising with other staff and/or visitors, booking of meeting rooms, catering arrangements, equipment hire etc
• To be responsible for the organisation and expansion of electronic  filing systems to ensure appropriate storage, retrieval and disposal of data including archiving historical documents and folders
• To purchase goods and services on behalf of the team, including travel and accommodation using internal purchasing systems and procedures to ensure timely and accurate transactions
• To show a willingness to learn about other work areas and work proactively to assist members of the team to ensure that all targets and deadlines are achieved

The Person

Knowledge, Skills and Experience 

• Experience of clerical work in a busy office environment
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Experience of working within a customer focussed environment – ensuring the delivery of excellent customer service
• Ability to communicate clearly orally and in writing
• Good IT skills
• Good numeracy skills
• Familiarity with work priorities and those of colleagues.  Ability to work calmly under pressure to manage competing deadlines
• Experience of working in a confidential and discreet manner

Desirable

• Understanding or relevant University policies and procedures and the ability to apply the same 
• Experience of using financial management software (e.g. SAP and P2P) 

Attributes and Behaviour

Planning and Organising

• Works in a planned and structured way
• Sets own priorities in conjunction with team and area objectives
• Ensures all activities are completed on time

Delivering Services

• Demonstrates enthusiasm and commitment to the delivery of excellent service
• Sees others departments/colleagues (both internally and externally) as “customers” and responds to their requests efficiently and effectively
• Has a postive attitude for doing things better
• Looks for ways to make immediate improvements (quick wins)

Team Working

• Shares relevant and useful information with others
• Keeps other team members up to date with progress
• Gets involved in team tasks
• Willing to help others and share workloads

Communicating

• Is factually correct and gives clear and concise support and advise to customers

Qualifications

• Grades A-C in English Language and Mathematics GCSE (or equivalent) or vocational qualifications, plus work experience in a relevant role; or substantial work experience in a comparable setting

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a silver Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.  We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.  We are aDisability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 27038