Student Support Administrative Assistant

Cardiff University / Prifysgol Caerdydd; Cardiff; Hybrid; GBP 24,000 - 26,000; Full time

Job summary

An established university in a vibrant capital city is looking for a dedicated Administrative Support Assistant to join its dynamic School of Music. This full-time role involves engaging with students and staff, ensuring smooth operations within the Student Support team. You will handle inquiries, assist with events, and support various administrative functions, all while enjoying a flexible working environment. With a commitment to equality and diversity, this position offers a chance to contribute to an inclusive atmosphere while developing your skills in a supportive team. Join this innovative institution and make a difference!

Benefits

Flexible Working Hours

Professional Development Opportunities

Mentoring Scheme

Qualifications

• Experience in an administrative or office setting is essential.
• Ability to communicate effectively with diverse individuals.

Responsibilities

• Act as the first point of contact for the School Office.
• Assist with student administration including recruitment and admissions.

Skills

Administrative Skills

Customer Service

Communication Skills

Organizational Skills

Problem-Solving

Education

NVQ Level 2/GCSE A-C

A-Levels or equivalent

Tools

MS Office

Email Systems

Job description

20034BR

School of Music

Administrative Support

Advert

Student Support Administrative Assistant

The School of Music is seeking to appoint a full-time Administrative Assistant to provide support and guidance in the area of Student Support and Education. This role is crucial for ensuring that both the Student Support team and academic staff are well-supported and that key duties are undertaken efficiently.

As part of the School’s Professional Services Team, you will engage in a variety of tasks to meet operational and customer service requirements. You will act as the first point of contact for the School of Music Office, handling enquiries from internal and external customers via phone, email, and face-to-face interactions. Additionally, you will support student administration, including recruitment, admissions, enrolment, assessment, and feedback.

Job Purpose

Provide an administrative service to the School, engaging and completing a range of routine tasks to meet operational and customer service requirements. Providing support and guidance in the area of Student Support and Education ensuring that the Student Support team and academic staff are supported and key duties are 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.

The post is full-time, (35 hours per week) fixed-term for 12 months and available immediately.

Salary: £24,900 - £25,733 per annum (Grade 3)

Informal enquiries can be made to Andrea Jones, Education Manager ([e-mail])

Date Advertised: 28 April 2025

Closing date: 12 May 2025

Cardiff University is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse range of staff from many different backgrounds. We therefore welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of sex, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, trans identity, relationship status, religion or belief, caring responsibilities, or age. In supporting our employees to achieve a balance between their work and their personal lives, we will also consider proposals for flexible working or job share arrangements.

Applications may be submitted in Welsh, and an application submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application submitted in English.

Job Description

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Key Duties

• Act as first point of contact for the School Office, dealing with a range of internal and external customers over the phone, via the School’s generic email accounts, and face to face, establishing their requirements and responding or escalating their queries as appropriate
• Assist with the arrangements for all events for students including inductions, Open Days, and Applicant Days.
• Undertake a range of administrative activities to support student administration within the School, including recruitment, admissions, enrolment, assessment, and feedback.
• 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

• Support the administration of the School Committees and Exam Boards, as directed by the School Manager and the Education Manager.
• Support admissions activities to include processing offers on SIMS, liaising with applicants and supporting the organisation of applicant and open days.
• Support the arrangements for enrolment week events, which includes the preparation of UG and PG enrolment packs as well as liaison with key members of staff and students.
• Support international student induction working with the Undergraduate and Postgraduate Administrators.
• Provide administrative support for Taith and Turing placements and the School’s study abroad programmes including maintaining accurate records of, and communications with, students studying abroad.
• Provide administrative support for the School’s 2+2 programmes, working closely with the Undergraduate Administrator.
• Provide administrative support for all assessments in the School including the scheduling and running of practical examinations, managing assignment submissions in Learning Central and recording assessment marks in SIMS.
• Support the administration of Extenuating Circumstances including maintaining records, liaising with students and members of the Extenuating Circumstances Committee.
• Assist with the production and maintenance of Student Handbooks and module catalogues.
• Be responsible for the School Office generic email accounts; responding to, directing and escalating queries and requests as appropriate.
• With colleagues, provide a reception service for the School Office dealing with queries from students, academic staff and visitors.
  
  

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.
• Ensure that an understanding of the importance of confidentiality is applied when undertaking all duties
  
  

Person Specification

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.

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).

Essential Criteria

• NVQ 2/GCSE level A-C or equivalent
• Significant experience of working in an administrative or office setting.
• Experience of using common office IT packages (e.g. MS Office, e-mail etc.).
• Ability to set up and maintain standard administrative systems and procedures, including using University systems to collate and record data online and in hard copy. (Training will be provided where required).
• Ability to communicate with a wide range of people effectively and courteously whilst maintaining professional standards, adapting your language and style of communication depending on who you are communicating with.
• Ability to work well with your team, knowing how to give advice, guidance and feedback (to colleagues and members of the public) as appropriate.
• Ability to deal with requests for information or service, resolving customer issues where appropriate, or being able to escalate where necessary.
• Ability to plan and organise your own workload within agreed timelines as set by your Line Manager.
• Ability to use your initiative to solve problems and respond to queries, finding and proposing the best solution.
• A willingness to undertake further training and development.
  
  

Desirable Criteria

• A-Levels or equivalent
• Experience of working in a Higher Education environment.
• Ability to speak/understand Welsh or a willingness to learn.
• Experience of working in a music environment.
  
  

Additional Information

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.

• Regular one-to-one meetings with your team leader.
• An experienced and supportive team around you.
• Support to undertake job-relevant training and development, as identified by your Line Manager
• A staff mentoring scheme.
• Support to learn Welsh or to update language skills.
  
  

Salary Range Min.

24,900

Salary Range Max.

25,733

Job Category

Admin / Clerical

Grade

Grade 3