King's College London

THIS VACANCY IS OPEN TO INTERNAL APPLICANTS ONLY

About us

This is an exciting opportunity to support the delivery of high-quality education administration within the School of Security Studies (SSS), home to two inter-disciplinary departments, the Department of War Studies and the Defence Studies Department, and the King’s Institute for Applied Security Studies (KIASS). 

For more information about the school, please see our website: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/security-studies  

About the role 

The School of Security Studies is seeking a committed and customer‑focused Senior Programme Officer to provide high‑quality administrative support to postgraduate programmes within the Department of War Studies. This role plays a key part in ensuring the effective delivery of programmes and a positive experience for students and academic colleagues across the full student lifecycle.

Working as part of a busy professional services team, the postholder will be responsible for coordinating day‑to‑day programme administration activities, responding to student and staff enquiries, and maintaining accurate and timely student records. You will support core processes including enrolment, timetabling, assessment administration, and the upkeep of virtual learning environments, ensuring that all activity is carried out in line with University regulations, policies and deadlines. The role requires close attention to detail, strong organisational skills, and the ability to manage competing priorities in a fast‑paced environment.

The Senior Programme Officer will act as a key point of contact for a range of stakeholders, including students, academic staff, and central professional services teams such as Admissions and Taught Student Records. You will handle routine and non‑routine enquiries with professionalism and sensitivity, escalating more complex issues as required and contributing to the resolution of service issues or low‑level complaints. The role also involves supporting quality assurance activities, including assessment processes and committees, and ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of student data.

The postholder will report to the School Programme Manager and will line manage two Programme Officers, providing guidance and support to ensure consistent and high‑quality service delivery. Professional services staff currently work on a hybrid basis, with time split between on‑site working at the Strand campus and remote working. This is an excellent opportunity for someone looking to build or further develop their career in higher education administration within a supportive and collaborative environment.

This is a full-time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract until 9th July 2027. The position may be taken up as a secondment with the agreement of the candidate’s existing line management

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience: 

Essential criteria 

1. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to draft clear and accurate correspondence and documentation for a range of audiences.
2. Good numeracy skills, with the ability to work accurately with data and understand numerical information to support administrative processes and reporting.
3. Strong organisational and time‑management skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities and meet deadlines in a busy working environment.
4. Proficient IT skills, including strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications and experience using databases or student record systems (e.g. SITS, Insight, Power BI) with a high level of accuracy and attention to detail.
5. Experience of working effectively with a wide range of stakeholders, demonstrating a professional and courteous approach at all times.
6. Experience of working in a customer‑facing environment, with an understanding of how to respond to complaints and service issues in a professional, efficient and solutions‑focused manner.
7. Ability to work effectively under pressure, quickly understanding procedures and applying guidance to resolve routine and non‑routine situations appropriately.

Desirable criteria

1. Experience working in Higher Education or a large, complex organisation, particularly within student or programme administration.
2. Experience using virtual learning environments to support programme delivery.
3. Confidence in using Excel or similar tools for routine data analysis, tracking, and reporting.

Downloading a copy of our Job Description 

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the page. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Further information 

At King’s, we believe that the diversity of our community and a culture that is welcoming, open, inclusive and collaborative, are great strengths of the university. 

The Equality Act of 2010 protects the rights of our students and staff and provides a framework to fulfil our duties to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and in addition, to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. At times, this will include balancing rights and beliefs that can feel in tension.

We are committed to free speech and to academic freedom, believing that our foundational purpose as a university, is to create spaces where a wide range of ideas, including ideas that are controversial, can be discussed and debated, and where members of our community can express lawful views without fear of intimidation, harassment or discrimination.

When engaging in the robust exchange of ideas, we ask that our community is mindful of our Dignity at King’s guidance.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the person specification section of the job description. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

We reserve the right to close adverts early due to the volume of applications we receive. While the closing date may change, all adverts will close at 23:59 to allow sufficient time for applications to be submitted on that day.

We encourage you to apply at the earliest opportunity to avoid disappointment as once we have closed a vacancy you will be unable to submit your application.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages.