Recruitment

THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAMRecruitment Role Profile Form

Job Title: Placements and Employability Administrator

School/Department: School of Politics & IR

Salary: £22,029-£26,274 per annum, pro rata depending on skills and experience. Salary progression beyond this scale is subject to performance

Job Family and Level: APM level 3

Contract Status: This is a fixed term, part-time post available until 31 December 2016

Hours of Work: 21.75 hours over three days per week. Please note that the role-holder will be required to work on a Saturday during the June and September Open Days. Time off in-lieu will be given by the School for weekend hours worked.

Location: School of Politics & IR

Reporting to: April Stevens, School Manager

Purpose of the Role: The Placement and Employability Administrator would manage and co-ordinate placements and internships across the School. The appointee would also manage the internship programme that will be associated with the Faculty-wide Nuffield Q-step initiative, bringing benefits to the University beyond SPIR alone.

Main Responsibilities % time per year

1. Placement and Employability Administration

The administrator would assume responsibility for identifying and securing placement opportunities with private and public sector organisations. Duties include:

Liaising with prospective placement providers about opportunities for students to undertake volunteering/placements, advising on potential roles, student skills sets etc. to include checking dates/locations/hours of work required and matching this against student preferences taking into account mature/international/PG student requirements;

Working with academic staff to identify new placement/volunteering partners and undertaking site visits and attending meetings on behalf of the School to present the placement/volunteering scheme and answer queries as required;

Design, then use the School’s role profile placement template,

70%

helping the placement provider complete the required documentation with information about duties, experience, skills, training etc. and ensuring that each role profile is approved by the nominated academic member of staff before advertisement;

Designing application documentation for students to complete and as required by the School and placement provider;

Advertising the placement/volunteering opportunities via noticeboards, digital display, website, social media or in person at student meetings and as required to ensure a running programme of opportunities is up to date and available throughout the year;

Advising students about the interview/selection process and circulating application information to the placement/volunteer provider as required;

Writing to all students selected for placements, ensuring that DBS checks are organised if required and any other documentation required prior to commencing the placement;

Writing to all students who are unsuccessful/on waiting lists for placements/volunteering with guidance about alternative opportunities if places are not available in the School;

Processing any expenses or other financial claims associated with the placement/volunteering projects and keeping basic financial records as required;

Organising and facilitating regular focus group meetings and on-line web-based surveys with current students and alumni to review and update placement opportunities as required

Keeping up to date records of all placement/volunteering opportunities in the School and as required by the University in accordance with data management regulations

Where necessary, making site visits to the student placement workplace to review working conditions and student progress

2. Marketing and Communications

Student employability and work-related skills are important aspects of the School’s marketing and communications strategy. As such, the Administrator will be required to work as part of a marketing team in the School to ensure that all aspects of the School’s work to promote employability through placements/internships is incorporated into the key marketing activities each year.

Working with other members of the Undergraduate admin and academic team and liaising with the central Marketing, Communications and Recruitment (MCR) department to plan the School’s calendar of conversion, marketing and recruitment activities;

Writing, editing and liaising with the Faculty Marketing Manager to produce marketing materials (hard copy, web-based, electronic e.g. Power Point, short videos, photos) to promote the placement/internship schemes to individual placement providers, student groups, applicants and parents during UCAS Visit Days and University Open Days;

Designing and updating the School web-pages related to placements/internships etc. to ensure that the web-pages include up to date opportunities, student profiles, video content and links to all relevant information for both students and possible placement providers;

Updating the School’s Career Statement and other School marketing materials relating to placements/internships and employability

15%

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opportunities in the School; Organising the School’s contribution to June and September Open Days

(please note that there are four Open Days each year, and these will take place on Fridays and Saturdays);

3. Careers Liaison

The Administrator will work with the academic member of staff with responsibility for careers liaison together with staff in the University Careers and Employability Service to ensure that both the Careers team and the School and student body are kept up to date with placement, work-related and careers planning activities organised for the School. Duties will include:

Attending regular meetings with other administrative and academic staff to discuss placement and work-related opportunities;

Ensuring that the Careers and Employability Service have the latest documentation used by the School with placement providers and advising the School about any statutory or University requirements as notified by the University;

Attending the annual Futures festival during week one on behalf of the School and selecting student ambassadors to represent the School at this event

Working with the Careers and Employability Service and the School Careers Liaison Officer to disseminate relevant information to current students about careers and employability related activities and events

5%

4. Nottingham Advantage Awards

Some students may wish to register for a Nottingham Advantage Award module to have their placement/volunteering/careers work accredited by the University. The School currently has one Advantage Award module. Duties for the role holder will include:

updating School marketing and web-based materials with information about the advantage award;

explaining the aims/objectives/content of the award to current and prospective students;

providing the Advantage Award module convenor with administrative support as required and liaising with the Careers and Employability Service to confirm student registrations and module marks;

4%

5. Health and Safety

The role-holder will be required to:

Circulate risk assessment, health and safety letters and student health questionnaires as appropriate;

Undertaking a risk assessment for each placement as required, which may include a site visit, and completing the relevant documentation as required by the University

Maintain health and safety records related to School placements on behalf of the School;

Conduct Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) checks if students on placement who are working with children and/or vulnerable adults.

5%

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6. Other work

Other work commensurate with the level as required by the School.

1%

Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications & Experience

Essential DesirableQualifications/Education

HNC/HND in a relevant subject (or equivalent).

Good general standard of education including Maths and English GCSE at grade C or above or equivalent.

An undergraduate degree (with experience of undertaking a period of placement/work experience)

Knowledge/Skills/Training

Excellent IT skills including word processing, spreadsheet, email and proven web-editing skills

IT skills related to using social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter

Excellent oral and written communication skills

Good eye for detail and accuracy in all aspects of work

Good written skills to create documents, emails and information summarising different aspects of projects depending on the audience

Excellent organisation and time management skills and experience of working to tight deadlines

Ability to manage a large amount of data accurately

Basic financial skills Ability to build relationships with

individuals and organisations High degree of initiative,

responsibility and self-motivation, and a professional attitude

a proactive approach to, and experience of, problem solving

Presentation skills

Marketing skills Design and presentation skills Knowledge of marketing processes

and their application to a University environment

Knowledge of programmes of study (at any level) and their potential application to work-based placements and similar environments

Experience Experience of managing  large or team-based projects, and co-ordinating long-term projects

Experience of working in a University department dedicated to teaching, learning and employability

Experience of working with work-based placement learning

Experience of working with University students

Other Committed to working as part of a team in a shared office environment

Able to remain calm under pressure and be able to work with the minimum of supervision

Friendly and approachable Able to learn new skills particularly

in the area of IT

Experience of communicating with students and parents.

Decision Making

i) taken independently by the role holder

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The role holder will be required to work on their own initiative and develop their own working pattern to support these projects in the School.

For example, in meeting with potential placement partners, the role holder will be required to sell the aims of the project and benefits both to the placement partners and students to ensure the projects’ success. The role holder will be required to put together materials for presentation, considering the audience.

The role holder will be required to time manage their own working day and prioritise their own workloads on a daily and weekly basis. They will be required to contact potential and current placement partners with regard to the organisational arrangements for students on placement and also to find potential names and contacts for future placements.

ii) taken in collaboration with others

The role holder will work in collaboration with the placement provider and then the nominated member of academic staff to clarify the content of each work placement.

An academic member of staff will be responsible for the final placements for the school and the role/scope of the placement, however the Administrator will be required to research information and contribute to the decision-making process with regard to new placements for the School, developing checklists and other administrative processes to ensure that the placements comply with the necessary School and University requirements.

Work with colleagues in marketing and in the School on publicity materials for placement/internship opportunities.

iii) referred to the appropriate line manager (please name) by the role holder

The role holder will refer more complex queries about the projects to the nominated member of academic staff, School Manager or senior member of the administrative team.

This will include risk assessments where any concerns are identified in the paperwork and financial decisions about any over/underspend on any budgets associated with this work.

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