Internal Applicants Only - PA to the Head of School/Receptionist

at  Cardiff University

PERSON SPECIFICATION

We want to employ people with a wide variety of experiences. We welcome applications from all sections of the community regardless of sex, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, trans identity, relationship status, religion or belief, caring responsibilities, or age. We are particularly seeking applications from candidates who come from backgrounds that are underrepresented at the University, including people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities.
We are looking for a team player who will work with colleagues to provide a great service to staff and students. You don’t need to have worked for a University before; this is an opportunity to show your potential and start or continue your career at Cardiff University.
This role may be an opportunity for you to build on your experience from working in a previous administrative role or environment, showing your transferable skills and potential to be successful in the role. You should be enthusiastic about developing your knowledge and skills to become a valued member of the team.
Your application will be assessed against the following essential and desirable criteria for the role. Please copy and paste this section into a new document and give clear examples of how you can evidence meeting each criteria by writing under each one. You can draw on elements from any aspect of your life (e.g. work, home, education/qualifications or community life) as long as you focus on their relevance to the role.
Please save your supporting statement in a separate document with the title [YOURNAME-BR NUMBER-JOB TITLE] and attach it to your application in the recruitment system, available here.
Please note that these are also the criteria shortlisted applicants will be assessed against at interview and/or by other means (e.g. a skills test).

KEY DUTIES

• Deal with a range of enquires from internal (staff & students) and external (members of the public) customers in a professional manner, establishing their needs and adapting the standard responses accordingly.
• Work with others to make recommendations for the development and improvement of current University processes and procedures.
• Create good working relationships with key contacts to help improve service levels.
• Undertake a variety of administrative duties to support the team and department.
• Gather and review data to update administrative systems such as databases and spreadsheets, making sure the information is accurate, and highlighting to your line manager basic trends and patterns.
• Actively contribute to the success of the team and support the supervision and management of it.

SPECIFIC DUTIES

• Act as Personal Assistant to the Head of School
• Provide a reception service for the school, dealing with internal and external enquiries
• Provide financial administration support, for example processing invoices and orders
• Organisation of School events and meetings and taking minutes and/or notes
• Produce school data for internal and external returns
• Undertake general administrative tasks such as post, deliveries, equipment support, photocopying, binding, arranging catering, travel, couriers
• Provide ad-hoc support to the School Manager and Deputy School Manager
• Provide cover for the Administrative Assistant role providing general administrative support

GENERAL DUTIES

• Abide by all University policies and undergo appropriate personal and professional development.
• Perform other duties which are not included above, but which will be consistent with the role.
• Uphold the Professional Services Values & Behaviours or local equivalent.

JOB PURPOSE

Provide an administrative service to the School/Directorate, engaging in and completing a range of routine tasks to meet operational and customer service requirements. Provide support and guidance on PA duties and a range of administrative tasks, ensure the Schools professional services team, staff and students are supported, and key duties undertaken.
This role is eligible to be offered on a blended working basis, meaning that as well as spending time working on campus you can also choose to spend some time working from another location, e.g. your home. The University is committed to offering this flexibility, wherever the role and business need allows, supporting work-life balance.
As the biggest university in Wales – and a major employer, with more than 7,000 staff – we are an ambitious and innovative university located in a beautiful and thriving capital city. We can offer you the chance to work in a vibrant organisation, with great benefits and opportunities for progression.

HOW WE WILL SUPPORT YOU IN PERFORMING THIS ROLE

We want to support and develop you in the role, using a combination of the following to help you reach your full potential.
1. Regular one-to-one meetings with your team leader.
2. An experienced and supportive team around you.
3. Support to undertake job-relevant training and development, as identified by your Line Manager. This could be informal or could be an apprenticeship leading to a formal qualification, such as Business administration NVQ.
4. A staff mentoring scheme.
5. Support to learn Welsh or to update language skills