Job Title:Departmental Administrator

Job title:Departmental Administrator

Post number:HA5026

Reports to:School Administrative Manager

Department:School of Applied Social Science

Location:Falmer

Grade:4

Purpose of the role

To provide high quality administrative and secretarial support to the Head of School of Applied Social Science in a sensitive and confidential manner; to service committees and working groups within the school and to provide an enquiry and counter service to all staff and students.

Main areas of responsibility:

• To maintain the diary of the Head of School, and other members of the School Management Group as required, organising meetings, providing a reminder service, gathering relevant documentation and initiating travel arrangements;

• To coordinate communication and activities (e.g. meetings) between sites, keeping informed of staff movement, ensuring all staff receive information and that their varying needs are met;

• To contribute to on-going projects, initiatives and issues on behalf of the School Management Grouptaking appropriate actions to ensure that progress is made and deadlines are met;

• To deal helpfully and confidently with a broad range of enquiries from staff, students and visitors providing a friendly and efficient online and in person counter service and acting as the first point of contact for all prospective students and staff attending for interviews;

• To provide general administrative support for a range of tasks and projects supporting the work of the school and acting as the point of contact for Sharepoint enquiries;

• To service a range of schoolcommittees and working groups liaising with staff and external personnel where appropriate, booking venues, organising hospitality, preparing and circulating agendas and taking minutes;

• To set up, maintain and review administrative systems and processes, implementing changes where necessary both in response to external requirements and in order to improve efficiency;

• To create and maintainthe annual school calendar ensuring this links with the university schedule of meetings, organising room bookings and ensuring that clashes are avoided;

• To participate in the organisation of school activities and to lead on the coordination and set up of particular events including Open Days and Applicant Days;

• To maintain the enquiry office area and shared school spaces in a presentable manner, ensuring the areas are tidy, signage is current and stationery supplies are available, ordering and receiving goods as necessary;

• To receive and distribute post, selecting priority items for attention and dealing with routine issues;

• To work as part of a team of support staff providing cover for sickness and holidays and helping as and when there is a heavy workload to be managed;

• To take responsibility for specific areas of work as requested by the School Administration Manager and Deputy School Administration Manager.

General responsibilities

These are standard to all University of Brighton job descriptions.

• To undertake other duties appropriate to the grade and character of work as may be reasonably required, including specific duties of a similar or lesser grade.
• To adhere to the University’s Equality and Diversity Policy in all activities, and to actively promote equality of opportunity wherever possible.
• To be responsible for your own health and safety and that of your colleagues, in accordance with the Health and Safety at Work Act.
• To work in accordance with the Data Protection Act.

The person specification focuses on the knowledge, qualifications, experience and skills (both general and technical) required to undertake the role effectively. Please ensure that your application demonstrates how you meet the essential criteria. You will be assessed by your completed application form (A), at interview (I) and in some instances through an exercise (E).

Essential criteria / A, I, E
Knowledge / An understanding of how to develop and implement office processes and systems;
Good working knowledge of databases and spreadsheets. / A
A, I
Qualifications / Educated to degree level or other evidence of high level analytical and communication skills;
Fast, accurate typing and word-processing skills. / A, I
A, I, E
Experience / Experience of working as part of a team, collaborating effectively and sharing good practice;
Experience of developing and maintaining effective office processes and systems;
Experience of servicing meetings and taking concise yet informative minutes;
Proven experience of maintaining customer service standards. / A, I
A, I
A, I
A, I
Technical/work based skills / Ability to plan, prioritise and organise work effectively, problem solving and meeting conflicting work deadlines;
Ability to communicate information to staff and students in an understandable way both orally and in writing;
Ability to develop and maintain good working relationships with colleagues at a variety of levels;
Ability to deal with confidential information in a discreet manner;
Ability to work with a minimum of supervision and take responsibility for setting and meeting own objectives. / A, I, E
A, I, E
A, I
A, I
A, I
Other requirements / Excellent level of computer skills including Microsoft Office, databases and online systems;
Ability to adapt and develop to meet changing situations. / A, I, E
A, I
Desirable / A familiarity with the HE sector, its aims and objectives;
A familiarity with Sharepoint;
Working knowledge of SITS (CAMS). / A, I
A, I
A, I

• Any appointment is generally made at the bottom of the salary range for the grade dependent upon experience and previous salary.
• This is a full time post and is temporary for approximately 9 months to cover a period of maternity leave.
• The University of Brighton welcomes job sharers. Job sharing is a way of working where two people share one full-time job, dividing the work, responsibilities, pay, holidays and other benefits between them proportionate to the hours each works, thereby increasing access to a wide range of jobs on a part-time basis. The advert for the post for which you are applying will indicate whether applications from job sharers can be considered (this may not be possible for a post that is already part time for example) and further information can be found on the ‘Balancing Working Life’ section here Benefits and facilities.
• Annual leave entitlements are shown in the table below and increase after 5 years’ service. In addition, to the eight Bank Holidays, there are university discretionary days between Christmas and New Year. All leave, including bank holidays and discretionary days, is pro-rated for part time employees.

Grades / Basic entitlement per year / Grades / After 5 years’ service
1-3 / 23 days / 1-3 / 28 days
4-7 / 25 days / 4-7 / 30 days
8-9 / 27 days / 8-9 / 30 days
Band 10 and above / 30 days / Band 10 and above / 30 days

• More information about the department/school can be found hereProfessional Services Departmentsor hereAcademic departments (schools and colleges)
• Read the University’s 2016 - 2021 Strategy
• The University has an attractive range of benefits and you can find more information about them on our website.

Date: September 2017