Faculty Support Administrator

Cranfield University; United Kingdom; Hybrid; GBP 23,000 - 31,000; Full time

Job summary

Cranfield University is seeking an organised and self-motivated administrator to join a pooled resource supporting academic staff, researchers and PhD students. You will handle purchase orders, travel bookings, emails, and enquiries while maintaining records and upholding professional standards.

The role emphasizes discretion, excellent communication, and the ability to improve processes in a dynamic academic environment, with flexible working options where possible.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in fast-paced administrative support.
• Strong knowledge of office systems and databases.
• Proactive with initiative and discretion.

Responsibilities

• Provide first-class administrative support to academic staff, research staff and PhD researchers.
• Process purchase orders and raise orders for equipment.
• Book travel requests and manage emails and general enquiries.
• Coordinate internal and external meetings, conferences and seminars.

Skills

Organisational skills

Communication

Microsoft Office

Tools

Microsoft Word

Excel

PowerPoint

Access

Job description

We welcome highly organised, self-motivated people to join our team to provide administration support with things including, but not limited to, raising orders for equipment and booking travel requests.

We welcome highly organised, self-motivated people to join our team to provide administration support with things including, but not limited to, raising orders for equipment and booking travel requests.

About the Role

You will need to provide first-class administrative support as part of a pooled resource to academic staff, research staff and PhD researchers within the Centres/Theme, which will include processing purchase orders, booking travel, managing emails and general enquiries, coordinating internal and external meetings, conferences and seminars, and maintaining up-to-date records on internal databases. This role ensures operational efficiency, professionalism and high standards of customer service, while proactively recommending improvements where appropriate.

About You

Maintaining effective relationships is key to the job. You will therefore need to be able to demonstrate excellent interpersonal skills, including written and verbal communication skills, as you will be communicating with a wide network of staff and students within the Theme. You will be privy to confidential information in relation to staff, students and business decisions, and it is imperative that absolute discretion and confidentiality is shown, whilst contributing to the sense of professionalism with external contacts/clients and promoting the values of the organisation.

Using your experience in administrative work, you will have a thorough understanding of office systems, processes and databases, and a strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office packages such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access.

You must have the ability to manage workload independently but also support the wider team and have knowledge and initiative to resolve both standard and non-standard issues and queries, being proactive and taking the initiative to manage issues and find solutions promptly to ensure smooth and effective administrative support. You will be able to refer to the team for guidance as appropriate. The ability to prioritise and organise effectively a disparate range of tasks with minimal supervision, and the ability to work under pressure whilst maintaining attention to detail and accuracy, are important aspects of the role.

About Us

As a specialist postgraduate university, Cranfield’s world-class expertise, large-scale facilities and unrivalled industry partnerships are creating leaders in technology and management globally. Learn more about Cranfield and our unique impact here.

Our Values and Commitments

Our shared, stated values help to define who we are and underpin everything we do: Ambition; Impact; Respect; and Community. Find out more here.

We aim to create and maintain a culture in which everyone can work and study together and realise their full potential. We are a Disability Confident Employer. We are committed to actively exploring flexible working options for each role and have been ranked in the Top 30 family friendly employers in the UK by the charity Working Families. Find out more about our key commitments to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Flexible Working here.

Working Arrangements

Collaborating and connecting are integral to so much of what we do. Our Working Arrangements Framework provides many staff with the opportunity to flexibly combine on-site and remote working, where job roles allow, balancing the needs of our community of staff, students, clients and partners.

Closing date for receipt of applications: 4 October 2026