THIS VACANCY IS OPEN TO INTERNAL APPLICANTS ONLY

Job description

An important new role has been created in King’s Health & Safety Services (H&SS) to support the function of a small Directorate with a wide and busy remit. This role will provide business support to the Directorate and executive assistance to the Director and Deputy.

The Directorate is a small team that is responsible for developing the university’s health and safety management system and providing advice and assurance to all areas and levels of the university. We are looking for a professional, personable and highly engaged experienced individual who can bring energy, ideas and a systematic approach to their work. You will be confident in your use of MS Office apps and willing to learn and develop yourself to meet the needs of the team. You will be comfortable with handling and reviewing data and have experience of finance and procurement processes, and budget planning.

You will be highly self-motivated, take ownership of the role and be able and willing to collaborate to identify areas for improvement without significant oversight. You will be willing to embrace change and participate in the process of shaping that change.

This post will be hybrid working and the expectation is that the role holder will attend site at least 5 days per month. However, due to the nature of this role there will be times when attendance on site will be necessarily more often.

This post will be offered on an indefinite contract.

This is a full-time post - 100% full time equivalent.

Key Responsibilities

Executive Assistant support for Director & Deputy Director

• Coordinating diaries for Director and Deputy Director
• Arranging and taking formal notes of team meetings and other meetings as requested by the Director or Deputy Director
• Creating and managing a team calendar for H&SS key activities during the academic year
• Representing H&SS at local Building User Group and other meetings relating to their key responsibilities as requested by Director or Deputy Director
• Assisting with preparation of papers and liaison with the Principal’s Office regarding Health & Safety Management Group meetings

Business Support to the Directorate

The post-holder will provide business support to the team by reviewing, in consultation and collaboration with the Director and their Deputy as appropriate, improving and managing team processes including but not limited to:

• Document and reference material management
• Internal protocols to preserve service continuity
• Common transactional queries and internal processes that may benefit from the use of IT systems (in consultation with the H&SS Systems Manager)
• Business Continuity Planning
• Data protection Impact Assessments (acting as Data Custodian)
• Financial processes and budget planning
• Service Excellence quarterly resource review preparation
• Monitoring subscriptions and contracts for services procured on behalf of King’s
• Team HR processes and records of professional competencies

Directorate Communications

Coordinating regular review and development of H&SS published content on internal and external pages, and SharePoint. To act as the lead and oversight for any H&SS King’s Essentials articles and internal communications with King’s staff and students, reviewing and polishing content before submission for publication.

Directorate Training Programme

To administer the H&SS annual training programme and to work with H&S Systems Manager to extract and periodically publish attendance data.

Directorate health and safety management

• To act as the Local Safety Officer: working with the Director and Deputy Director to ensure the team has suitable and sufficient arrangements in place for health and safety management (induction, risk assessments, team handbook etc)
• To act as the DSE Assessor: ensure team DSE Assessments are completed, and any necessary remedial measures are actioned

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.

Skills, knowledge, and experience

The post holder will be able to form strong positive relationships with immediate colleagues, customers and 3rd parties using King’s Principles in Action - Connecting, Supporting, Challenging and Including at all times.

Essential criteria

1. Relevant experience of finance and procurement processes and systems with the ability to actively monitor and report on budget status
2. Proven ability to thrive in a busy, varied and dynamic work environment, with the ability to foresee and proactively act on issues and challenges. Looking for connections and for opportunities to simplify
3. Ability to make effective decisions: looking at the evidence in a systematic manner and identifying opportunities for improvement
4. Response, proactive and collaborative service approach with the ability to work independently and flexibly, and in partnership as a key member of a small busy Directorate. Ability to build positive relationships with key contacts in other areas of King’s to maximise the effectiveness of the role
5. Willingness and proven ability to commit to acquiring new skills and knowledge to benefit yourself and the team
6. Ability to communicate clearly and effectively in the written word, in person and on the telephone. Strong interpersonal skills: interacting appropriately with colleagues at all levels, employing empathy and understanding the needs of the recipient
7. Highly numerate and IT literate with the ability to use, with creativity and confidence, the standard suite of office software, together with knowledge of one or more corporate Finance systems

Desirable criteria

1. Previous experience in an administrative and/or executive support role in a higher education or similar type of environment
2. Experience of drafting process maps and workflows
3. Experience of project management

Further information

Health & Safety Services is a small team consisting of specialist and generalist health and safety advisers, and business support and a systems manager. Its role is to advise and assist King’s with its health and safety governance and arrangements and to undertake assurance activities to report upon performance to King’s Health & Safety Management Group and Audit, Risk & Compliance Committee.