Student Advice Officer

JOB DESCRIPTION Employment status and working hours Permanent, full time or part time hours considered. Full time hours at the University are 35 per week with the standard working pattern Monday to Friday from 09:00 to 17:00. Part time hours for this role are 17.5 hours per week and must include 08.30 to 16.30 on Fridays and 10:30 to 15:45 on Wednesdays. Organisation structure Education and Students, Student Advice team. Your line manager will be Ella Wheeler, Head of Student Support. Place of work flexibility The majority of your working week will be spent at our office in Reading and the rest at your home*. The exact split of days/hours is negotiable but must include a minimum of three working days each week in Horizons on the core days (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday). The office closes on Fridays. You can attend the office on Mondays if you have worked the three core days. *Working from home is only possible if your environment is suitable. High level summary of job role The University’s Student Advice team are members of AdviceUK and are part of the wider team who hold the Matrix accreditation for the delivery of information, advice and guidance. The team are the first point of contact for students seeking help and support. You will support students by problem-solving with them, providing information and advice, and helping them to access University resources and services. You will work with students on the phone and online, liaise with colleagues across the University, and be an important part of ensuring our students reach their potential. Alongside your direct work with students, you will support work around student information and communication, ensuring student processes and online information sources are accurate and up to date. At key times in the year, you may also support the work of the wider Student Services and Registry teams, working with colleagues to manage events, services and administrative functions that underpin a positive experience for all our students. Specific job role accountabilities and responsibilities Working on the phone and via online platforms and mechanisms, provide a positive, friendly and supportive service to students who contact the University for support and/or advice. Receive, respond to and resolve student enquiries on a wide range of matters (including procedural, academic and personal issues) within service level agreements. Where resolution is not possible, provide timely referrals to other teams. Take ownership of student enquiries from first point of contact through to resolution, liaising with colleagues or other departments for information and assistance when required. Record all student contact accurately using Student Central and other platforms to share information as appropriate with colleagues across the organisation Initiate formal student referrals to relevant University support teams where appropriate (e.g. Disability and Welfare team, Academic teams). Ensure student facing information, advice and guidance is regularly updated and accessible to students, including templates used in enquiry management and procedural information that relates to students. Be aware and actively engaged with on-going changes, updates and communications from across the University as they apply to students. Ensure you remain on top of the workflows and key dates of other teams and are able to react quickly to student enquiries as a result of these. Work with your manager to analyse the data related to student enquiries and your own performance in the delivery of solutions, working with a continuous quality improvement mindset to ensure students get the best support. Support the delivery of events such as Welcome Week and graduation. Proactively participate in team meetings, training sessions and team development activities, positively contributing to the development of the service. Contribute to the creation and maintenance of team information resources and documentation. Ensure you remain up to date with University policies and procedures, especially those that are student facing. Undertake other such duties of a similar nature that fall within the scope of the role, and which may be required. Other important features of the job role Line management responsibilities: None. Budget responsibility: None. In this role you will liaise with the following: Students (including apprentices and international students), Employers, Academic Registry, Disability and Welfare team, Finance team, Student Community team, Admissions, Academic colleagues, Business Development, Programme Leaders, Careers team, Apprenticeship Outcomes Officers, VLE Services and Technology team. PERSON SPECIFICATION E = Essential person requirement; D = Desirable person requirement How the person requirement will be assessed: A = Application; I = Interview; T = Test or other assessment Please be aware that as part of onboarding processes, we will seek original documentary evidence of the relevant academic and/or professional qualifications which you include within your job application. This is all part of our comprehensive pre-employment screening which also includes checking your identity, right to work, criminal record history (basic disclosure), and three years employment history. Qualifications and training GCSE Maths and English language Grade C or 4 or above (E, A). Further/higher education level qualifications (D, A). Information, Advice & Guidance qualification/training (D, A). Coaching or Counselling qualification/training (D, A). Customer service and/or telephone skills training (D, A). Previous experience Experience in a student or client facing role (E, A, I). Robust experience of office and administration work (E, A, I, T). Experience within the education sector (D, A, I). Using a database and or enquiries/customer management system (D, A, I). Familiarity with online learning environments and working online with clients and colleagues (D, A, I). Skills, knowledge, and aptitudes Strong verbal and written communication skills (E, A, I, T). Well-developed abilities in giving advice, active listening, and providing excellent customer service (E, A, I). Robust skills in reassuring and supporting people through difficult circumstances (E, A, I). Resilience and an ability to work under pressure in peak periods (E, I). Strong IT skills, including in MS Office (particularly Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) (E, A, I, T). Ability to establish positive and effective working relationships with colleagues at all levels and across a broad range of areas (E, A, I). Understanding of inclusion and how to provide excellent service to people from a wide range of backgrounds and with a wide range of expectations (E, A, I). Ability to welcome and contribute to continuous improvement, including the adoption of new technologies (E, A, I). Well-developed skills around team-working and sharing responsibilities (E, A, I). Commitment to keeping your knowledge up to date, improving the quality of your own work, and to your own learning and development (E, A, I). Ability to work with complex procedural and regulatory documents, and to impart the key points to clients who may have a range of abilities (E, A, I, T). Ability to take responsibility for a complex client enquiry and problem-solve with multiple teams in order to reach a successful resolution (E, A, I). Knowledge of SITS or similar student or customer records database (D, A). Ability to extract relevant information in challenging situations (D, A). Other requirements or special requirements Alignment to the University’s core values of Passion, Integrity, Excellence and Support; all employees are expected to demonstrate our values at work (E, I). Commitment to delivering positive outcomes for our students; we want our students to be successful (E, I). You must be prepared to undertake mandatory online training should you be appointed including Data Protection, Health and Safety, Safeguarding, Prevent, and EDI (E, I). PAY AND BENEFITS Salary: Salary £27,000 per annum (Full Time Equivalent). Holiday: 26 days paid holiday (rising to 28 with service) plus paid bank/public holidays plus up to five paid closure days (typically between Christmas and New Year); all per holiday year Full Time Equivalent. Our holiday year runs from 1 August to 31 July. We also have a holiday buy and sell scheme in place. Sometimes the University does not need to close for five days per year and any balance (for example one day), can be used as a paid Wellbeing Day to take time out for your own physical or mental health. Pension and life assurance: Pensions auto-enrolment to the People’s Pension which is a default salary sacrifice scheme. You may opt out of salary sacrifice but remain in the scheme, or you may choose to opt out altogether. We provide life assurance (death in service) cover as standard to all employees. Family-friendly policies: Policies in place for all types of family-friendly statutory leave with enhanced pay available from day one of employment for some leave types. Access to Tax-Free Childcare (Government scheme). Wellbeing: Full access to the Employee Assistance Programme as well as the Thrive Mental Wellbeing app. Several employees are trained Mental Health First Aiders and can support staff. We have a wellbeing policy and we focus on five pillars of wellbeing. Sustainable travel: Cycle to Work and Electric Vehicle salary sacrifice schemes. Parking: We have locked sheds for bicycles. For cars, for Horizons based roles, we may in the future be able to offer parking on site however you must not assume this will be possible. Every now and then we may have a spare parking space become available and you can ask to join the waiting list. The University is keen wherever possible, to encourage staff to commute as sustainably as possible. Other health related benefits: Employer-funded Health Cash Plan (Simplyhealth) and voluntary dental insurance (Unum). Other valuable benefits: Charity giving options available including one voluntary paid day, per annum. You will have access to Microsoft Office 365 applications for personal use. You will have access to range of lifestyle discounts and everyday savings. We offer learning platforms including LinkedIn learning. On the Join the team page of our website, you will find the full list of employee benefits. APPLICATIONS - THINGS TO CONSIDER For an informal discussion about the role please contact Ella Wheeler on 0118 467 2030 or email e.wheeler@ube.ac.uk. For any other enquiries please contact HR on 0118 467 2454 / 2433 or email recruitment@ube.ac.uk Did one of our employees recommend you? If you apply on the recommendation of an existing employee, please make sure to mention their name within your application. We're passionate about sustainability and we have a five-year strategic plan: We expect job seekers to be curious about who we are and what we do. We point you towards a couple of resources about who we are and sustainability. Closing date and next steps We will receive applications until the advert closes on Monday 01 December 2025 at 17:00. We will not consider late applications. Our ATS does not screen applications, we humans do. Applications may be reviewed prior to the closing date and occasionally, you may be invited to interview ahead of the closing date. Interview details Dates for interview will be advised to you later in the process. We'll ask you to tell us about any dates you cannot make, up to 4 weeks from the closing date; this helps us to plan interviews should you be shortlisted, prior to contacting you. Interviews are normally carried out over Microsoft Teams or Zoom. Depending on the job role and place of work, your interview may be at our Reading or London office. Please be prepared for a two-stage interview process, held on different dates. As part of the interview process, you will likely meet a member of the Senior Leadership Team. Note for internal candidates If you are an existing employee, we request you inform your current line manager of your intention to apply for this role.