Procurement Administrative Assistant

Heriot-Watt University; Kilmarnock; On-site; GBP 24,000 - 27,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading educational institution in Scotland is looking for an Administrative Assistant to manage travel and accommodation bookings for staff and students. The role requires excellent organizational, communication, and teamwork skills, with a salary range of £24,215-£26,707. Join our dynamic team at a remarkable university committed to diversity and inclusion.

Benefits

28 days annual leave

Flexible working patterns

Diversity and inclusion initiatives

Qualifications

• Experience of working to strict deadlines under pressure.
• A proactive approach to administrative/financial support.
• Ability to problem solve day to day issues.

Responsibilities

• Administer travel, conference, and accommodation bookings.
• Process staff expenses claims and advances.
• Ensure adherence to HWU risk policies.

Skills

Good communication skills

Organisational skills

Proficient in Excel

Team player

Education

Educated to Higher level/A-levels or equivalent

Tools

Excel

Word

Outlook

Job description

Description

Grade and Salary: £24,215- £26,707

FTE and working pattern: 1FTE, 35hrs per week, Monday - Friday

Holiday Entitlement: 28 days annual leave plus 9 buildings closed days (and Christmas Eve when it falls on a weekday)

Purpose of Role

The role of the Administrative Assistant is to work as part of a team to administer travel, conference and accommodation bookings for School staff and students, check and provide support to staff completing expenses forms, and undertake general finance administration tasks. The post is based full-time on the Edinburgh campus and the work will be varied, requiring the role-holder to provide a fair, friendly and timely service to staff, students, partners and visitors.

About Our Team

Procurement Services provide professional, qualified procurement expertise, advice and services for the University\'s non-pay expenditure. We support all companies within the Heriot-Watt Group, across all five campuses, ensuring that the ethos and principles of fairness, transparency, openness, economy and competition are evident and consistent across the University\'s procurement activities.

Procurement Services meet the University\'s requirements of acquiring goods, services and capital works in a way that delivers best value-for-money and benefits for not only to the University, but in a way that makes a significant, sustainable and socially responsible contribution in our local regions and across the world, while ensuring compliance with legislative requirements including Scottish, UK, World Trade Organisation and European Union Procurement Law.

Key Duties & Responsibilities

• Travel, conferences, and events administration, to include;
• Book travel, accommodation and conferences for staff and students, optimising value for money
• Process visa applications if required and ensure that risk assessment forms are completed and that personal details are updated
• Book accommodation and travel for external examiners, accreditation panel members etc.
• Book catering for meetings, events, external exam boards, accreditation visits etc.
• Contribute to travel log of all travel
• Ensure that HWU risk policies are adhered to when booking travel or procurement
• Administer the purchasing process for both HWU and Heriot-Watt Trading by;
• acting on all purchase requisitions
• issuing orders or arranging purchase card transactions
• match invoices to receipted purchase orders
• receipt goods and reconcile to Oracle
• processing workflow completions within agreed timescales
• reconcile purchasing cards within agreed timescales
• Handle staff expenses claims and advances administration, to include;
• administer all staff expenses claims and advances, including the correct allocation of expenses, reconciling purchasing cards and refundable for research travel (to reclaim expenses)
• review expense claims within HWU Travel and Expenses Policy guidelines and liaise with staff when claims are disallowable.
• General administration, to include;
• Requisition stationery stocks across all School buildings and order business cards for staff
• Arrange DHL pickups and finalise bills
• Arrange confidential waste pickups
• Assist in the implementation of improved working practices and administrative systems
• Work as an integral member of the team and be able to cover for absences within the team.

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.

Essential Criteria

Essential & Desirable Criteria

• Educated to Higher level/A-levels or equivalent
• Experience of working to strict deadlines under pressure
• Experience of taking a proactive approach to administrative/financial support
• A team player, with good oral and written communication skills
• Good interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate oral, written and electronic information
• Good organisational skills, with the ability to work with speed and accuracy.
• Proficient in Excel, Word, Outlook
• The ability to problem solve day to day problems by following guidelines or referring to what has been done before
• The ability to work both independently, flexibly and within the needs of the team as a whole

Desirable Criteria

• Experience of working within an FE/HE institution
• Experience of working with a large accounting/ledger software system
• Experience of working with different types of budgets
• Experience of working in a busy finance office

Understanding of accounting/financial regulations, and ability to communicate financial regulations and to others

How To Apply

Applications can be submitted up to midnight (UK time) on Thursday 11 September 2025.

Please submit your CV & covering letter via the Heriot-Watt on-line recruitment.

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

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/.

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.

About Heriot-Watt University

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.