Senior Administration Assistant (Academic Quality)

Role: Senior Administration Assistant (Academic Quality) 

Directorate: School of Social Sciences

Salary: Grade 5 (£26,038-£30,505)

Contract Type: Full Time (1FTE), Open Ended

Rewards and Benefits: 28 days annual leave, increasing to 33 days per year after 5 years service, plus 9 buildings closed days for all full time staff (Part time workers should pro rata this by their FTE). Use our total rewards calculator: https://www.hw.ac.uk/about/work/total-rewards-calculator.htm to see the value of benefits provided by Heriot-Watt University

Detailed Description

The School of Social Sciences is looking to appoint a full-time Senior Administration Assistant and the role holder will be responsible for providing high quality day-to-day administrative and secretarial support to the School’s Associate Executive Dean (Academic Quality), the Deputy Associate Executive Dean (Academic Quality) and Deputy Associate Executive Dean (Academic Quality) based in Dubai. The role works within a wider support team within the School.

The successful applicant will have a proven track record in the delivery of administrative services to senior staff and will be relied upon to provide an excellent administrative service to a range of stakeholders.

The ability to initiate and complete tasks to the highest standard is essential. Excellent organisational, interpersonal and communication skills are also vital to this role, as are strong IT skills (particularly with Microsoft Office Packages). Applicants should also have experience of working in a customer-oriented role. The role will suit a self-motivated individual who is able to work flexibly as a member of a team within a challenging and dynamic environment.

The work will be varied and the post holder will be expected to be able to deliver a fair, friendly and timely service to all our students and staff. All the support services within the University are committed to delivering a customer focused service to students, staff and visitors. To achieve this commitment all support staff need to be adaptable, flexible and prepared to support other teams and individuals. 

Key Duties and Responsibilities

Reporting to the School’s Head of Operations, and working closely with the Academic Director roles, the post-holder will:

• Provide high quality administrative and secretarial support to the Academic Directors of Academic Quality. This will include day-to-day operational aspects of work such as diary management, email prioritisation and management, managing travel, organisation of meetings and minor internal procurement paperwork.
• Organise and provide support to Boards of Examiners and Boards of Studies and any other Academic Quality forums as and when required, (scheduling meetings, preparation of agendas, circulation of documentation, minuting meetings and following-up actions).
• Become expert in the use of the Global Curriculum Management system to support changes to the curriculum and to ensure that new courses / programmes are submitted for approval correctly.
• To interpret and advise academic colleagues on Heriot-Watt Ordinances and Regulations as well as their operationalisation through detailed and complex academic quality policies and procedures. This will include the providing support and guidance in how to use and understand the Global Curriculum Management system to ensure compliance with Heriot-Watt policy and external accrediting bodies.
• Take responsibility for actioning decisions taken in School level Academic Quality forums and meetings to ensure that progress is made in a range of areas.
• Support academic staff to understand and apply the academic quality policies and procedures to ensure that they are sufficiently knowledgeable in respect to their academic role in maintaining high academic quality standards.
• Liaise with academic colleagues and appropriate professional service colleagues to ensure timely completion of academic quality reports or analyses (e.g., annual monitoring reports, reviews for School Studies Committee).
• Plan and organise training events for academic staff liaising with professional services colleagues as appropriate (e.g., exam board training, training about implementation of new processes).
• Manage Academic Quality projects at School level to ensure that all deadlines are met and that the outputs are optimised and deliver against the objectives set for academic quality projects.
• Maintain academic quality resources held on the SoSS Workspace including keeping the information current based on changes to University AQ policy and practices. Use MS Planner to effectively manage completion and escalation of tasks against priorities.
• Work collaboratively and effectively with colleagues in the wider School support team (particularly in the area of Learning & Teaching) and with a variety of relevant University central services (particularly the University Quality Assurance Team).
• Preparing relevant documentation and Clerking of relevant School Committees and Working Groups.
• Other duties as required.

Please note that this job description is not exhaustive, and the role holder may be required to undertake other relevant duties commensurate with the grading of the post. Activities may be subject to amendment over time as the role develops and/or priorities and requirements evolve. 

Education, Qualifications and Experience 

Essential

• Educated to at least SCQF level 6-7 or similar or equivalent practical experience in the workplace.
• Experience of working within the HE sector or a similar environment as outlined above.
• Recent relevant administrative experience.
• Experience of clerking formal committees.
• Experience in managing record systems.
• Experience of working in a support role for a senior member of staff.
• Fully proficient in the use of relevant IT packages and databases, including MS Word, Excel, Outlook, SharePoint, PowerPoint, Planner, Forms, Teams.
• Demonstrable experience of delivering excellent customer service.
• Experience of project coordination and associated activities. Ability to work to strict deadlines and organise a daily workload by priorities.
• Excellent interpersonal skills. Excellent written and verbal communication skills with an emphasis on the ability to be precise in their use of language. This is essential to ensure effective communication of Ordinances, Regulations and their associated policies and procedures.
• Ability to communicate appropriately, and establish strong working relationships, with students, staff and external contacts.
• Ability to work effectively in a team.

Desirable

• Educated to degree level or equivalent practical experience in the workplace.
• A proactive approach to problem solving with strong analytical and decision-making skills.
• Experience using Excel as a tool to organise and analyse data. Experience writing surveys and interpreting their results using MS Forms.
• Demonstrable experience of taking a proactive approach to administrative support.
• Proactive approach to managing and reviewing processes and procedures. Ability to collaborate with internal stakeholders to ensure they meet academic quality deadlines.

About our Team

The School of Social Sciences at Heriot-Watt University comprises of Edinburgh Business School, the Department of Languages and Intercultural Studies and the Department of Psychology. 

We specialise in industry-focused degree programmes which embrace a truly international outlook. Our degrees are taught by experienced professionals and highly regarded academics and we are proud to produce high-calibre, career-ready graduates and offer a full range of degree choices at undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Social Sciences is the largest of five academic schools at Heriot-Watt University and we provide teaching and research across our core disciplines:

• The Edinburgh Business School:
• Accountancy, Economics, & Finance
• Management
• Marketing & Operations
• Languages and Intercultural Studies
• Psychology

The School is looking to appoint an Administrative Assistant to provide support to both the Associate Executive Dean (Academic Quality), the Deputy Associate Executive Dean (Academic Quality) and Deputy Associate Executive Dean (Academic Quality) in Dubai, and to also support the work of the wider School Support Team. For more information, please click here: https://www.hw.ac.uk/schools/social-sciences.htm

How to Apply

Please must submit via the Heriot-Watt on-line recruitment system (1) Cover letter describing their interest and suitability for the post; (2) Full CV 

Applications can be submitted until midnight on Sunday 5th January 2025.

For an informal discussion on this post please contact the Head of Operations – Dr Darren Cunningham (d.p.cunningham@hw.ac.uk).

This role is not eligible for sponsorship.

At Heriot Watt we are passionate about our values and look to them to connect our people globally and to help us collaborate and celebrate our success through working together. Our research programmes can deliver real world impact which is achieved through the diversity of our international community and the recognition of creative talent that connects our global team.

Our flourishing community will give you the freedom to challenge and to bring your enterprising mind and to help our partners with solutions that can be applied now and in the future. Join us and Heriot Watt will provide you with a platform to thrive and work in a way that also helps you live your life in balance with well-being and inclusiveness at the heart of our global community. 

Heriot-Watt University is committed to securing equality of opportunity in employment and to the creation of an environment in which individuals are selected, trained, promoted, appraised and otherwise treated on the sole basis of their relevant merits and abilities. Equality and diversity are all about maximising potential and creating a culture of inclusion for all.

Heriot-Watt University values diversity across our University community and welcomes applications from all sectors of society, particularly from underrepresented groups. For more information, please see our website https://www.hw.ac.uk/uk/services/equality-diversity.htm and also our award-winning work in Disability Inclusive Science Careers https://disc.hw.ac.uk/ . 

We welcome and will consider flexible working patterns e.g. part-time working and job share options. 

Use our total rewards calculator: https://www.hw.ac.uk/about/work/total-rewards-calculator.htm to see the value of benefits provided by Heriot-Watt University. 

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