Welfare and Immigration Officer- Chevening and Marshall Scholarships

at  British Council

Welfare and Immigration Officer- Chevening and Marshall Scholarships
Date: 12 Jun 2024
Location: Manchester, UKM, GB
Company: British Council
We support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide.
We work directly with individuals to help them gain the skills, confidence and connections to transform their lives and shape a better world in partnership with the UK. We support them to build networks and explore creative ideas, to learn English, to get a high-quality education and to gain internationally recognised qualifications.
Working with people in over 200 countries and territories, we are on the ground in more than 100 countries. In 2021–22 we reached 650 million people.

ACCOUNTABILITIES ARE, BUT NOT LIMITED TO:

• Acting as a point of contact and provide relevant, timely and appropriate immigration advice and welfare support, to Scholars, Fellows and colleagues.
• Dealing with day-to-day enquiries that are referred by team members Officers responding to Scholars and Fellows.
• Working with Programme Manager to draft advice and guidance for scholarship Awardees, to be issued via a variety of media and in person throughout the Awards process, as required. This will include FAQs, pre-departure guidance and visa guidance.
• Contributing to the collation, recording and analysis of relevant data as requested
• Monitoring and updating the internal scholar welfare log accurately and in a timely manner
• Working towards becoming an accredited OISC immigration adviser if not already, under supervision of an accredited Programme Manager
• Establishing and maintaining excellent communication with other support services, academic departments and outside agencies.
• Working closely with colleagues in other teams the Programme, International and Communications teams on a variety of immigration, welfare and other appropriate issues and providing absence cover as appropriate.

THE ROLE

Under the supervision of the Programme Manager (Welfare and Immigration), you will provide support for scholarship awardees, and guidance to British Embassies and High Commissions around the world.
Through the provision of this first class service the post holder will support the facilitation of a full and positive experience for Chevening Awardees throughout their time in the UK.
You will also have a role in the development of guidance for all stakeholders as well as participating in the life of the wider Chevening scholarships team
The post holder will primarily support the work of the Chevening scholarships team, but may also be required to support the Marshall scholarship team and to carry out other duties as can be reasonably expected.

REQUIREMENTS OF THE ROLE:

• Experience of working within the field of international student immigration advice and/or student support, possessing a strong knowledge of the area with specific experience of advising on Student visas. Ideally you will hold current OISC accreditation or would be prepared to work towards acquiring it within a timeframe agreed.
• Relevant experience of working in an Higher Education environment with an interest in/experience of the higher education sector and public diplomacy.
• Ability to apply Chevening and Marshall policy appropriately and consistently, and to refer any areas of existing policy that may need reviewing with senior colleagues.
• An understanding and commitment to the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion and to embedding these into working practices.