Postgraduate Senior Administrator

Job Purpose

The Postgraduate Senior Administrator will have full administrative responsibility for a suite of postgraduate programmes in the College of Social Sciences and the School of Government and Society, leading a team of Postgraduate Administrators.

The first remit of this post will be to provide and manage administrative support to the College Postgraduate Research Methods Training taught programmes, including the MA in Social Research - a programme that provides research methods training to doctoral researchers for the College of Social Sciences centrally and is distinct from others within the College and School due to the nature of its three term delivery with provision of summer courses. This post is central to managing the cross College Research Training programme and maintaining efficient systems to deliver the programme efficiently and effectively. The post holder will provide administrative support to the Programme Director, Management/ Departments/Schools/Programme Co-coordinators/Students and others who have input into this cross college degree programme.

In addition, the post-holder will provide and manage administrative support to postgraduate programmes in the School of Government and Society, as directed by the Deputy Learning and Teaching Manager (Postgraduate).

The post holder will be responsible for management of all procedures associated with this post including admissions, learning support, student liaison, record-keeping, timetabling, examination processes, and maintaining accurate student and assessment records. S/he will need to have a sound understanding of degree regulations of taught masters programmes. S/he must be able to work on their own initiative as well as part of a team.

Located within the Muirhead Tower, the post-holder will take full administrative responsibility for specific postgraduate programmes as required, and as such will be a key point of contact for both students and the academic staff associated with these programmes.

The post-holder will work within the context of a closely integrated and mutually supportive administrative team in the School, collaborating closely with other programme administration staff and undertaking the full range of associated tasks and processes to ensure the effective and efficient delivery of the programmes and with high levels of customer care being demonstrated.

Person Specification

Essential

Knowledge/Experience

• Significant administrative work experience in a similar role preferably in Higher Education
• General standard of education, at least to Advanced Level, or equivalent work experience

Skills/Abilities

• Excellent organisational skills and ability to deal with a wide range of issues simultaneously, with ability to assess and prioritise effectively.
• Ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of contacts, face to face, in writing and on the telephone are required for managing communications confidently and diplomatically with audiences both within and outside the organisation, including senior School and College officers.
• Ability to develop positive working relationships with a wide range of contacts within the immediate team, the wider organisation and external organisations.
• Ability to work independently and on own initiative with problem solving skills and as part of a team.
• Ability to manage own time, plan effectively and prioritise conflicting demands to meet deadlines.
• Methodical approach to work and high level of accuracy.
• Excellent IT skills including spreadsheets and database packages and ability to learn new software as appropriate to the role.
• Ability to identify the need for enhanced systems.
• Ability to provide services to staff, students and visitors alike; to ensure a pleasant and smooth-running workplace.
• Ability to work flexibly and pro-actively, and adaptable to different situations as and when they present themselves.

Desirable

• Experience of supervising or managing staff.
• Ability to interpret data and produce reports.
• Experience of using e-learning systems.
• Excellent Microsoft Office skills including Word and Excel.
• Good negotiation skills.
• Change management experience/conflict resolution skills.
• Knowledge of University environment including experience of student registration procedures, examinations and assessment.