HR Support and Administration Assistant (Dubai) - Dubai Operations - 97573 - Band 500

Description

Position Details

Dubai Professional Services, External Relations

University of Birmingham, Dubai campus

Salary: Competitive

Band 500

Full time

Permanent

Location: Dubai, UAE

Closing date: 19 June 2021

University of Birmingham Dubai

Having established ourselves in Dubai International Academic City in 2018 we are now moving to a new and exciting phase of our development with the opening of our new state-of-the-art campus in September 2021. This post represents an excellent opportunity to join an ambitious World Top 100 University as we continue to grow our long-term strategic mission in Dubai, the UAE and the wider region. Our campus reflects the very best of Birmingham through our presence in Dubai.

Professional Services Ethos

Our ethos as a Professional Services team has been developed in line with the principles of being a Birmingham Professional. In particular, here in Dubai, this means that all Professional Services colleagues seek to collaborate effectively to ensure the needs of the whole campus community and our stakeholders are met. It also means that we work constructively together to provide a flexible range of service and support that adapt to the changing needs of the Campus as we grow. There are specific focal points in the academic cycle when all Professional Services team members will be expected to contribute regardless of their primary role, for example Welcome or Graduation. In addition, the duties listed below are illustrative of the general nature and level of responsibility of this post which is likely to change over time in response to the needs of the Campus and as you develop your experience and skills. You will have the opportunity to develop and may also need to specialise your duties further, over time, in agreement with your manager.

In order to contribute to the success of the team and the University's vision for the Dubai Campus the Professional Services team will be seeking to continue to recruit and develop colleagues who display:

• a high level of intellectual aptitude;
• strong agility and a portfolio of skills that can adapt to meet changing circumstances;
• an innovative and creative mindset; and
• both an enterprising and entrepreneurial nature to support our growth and pursuit of excellence.

Department Overview

The Executive and Corporate Office will provide outstanding support to the leadership of the Dubai campus to assist in delivering the vision and mission set out by the University's Executive Board and Council. The members of the office will support the delivery of the strategic ambitions through the delivery of central corporate services functions that begin at a range of levels and develop in line with the development of the campus. The Office will work closely with colleagues from the UK campus in order to ensure that governance, policy and processes required are effective in meeting the needs of both Edgbaston and the Dubai campus.

Job summary

Provide proactive administrative support to dedicated area including visitors, administration, staff and students, organise and manage all aspects of incoming mail and deliveries, dealing with and resolving the vast majority of initial requests and queries.

You will be expected to work flexibly covering evenings when the campus is open for teaching.

Main duties

General

• Promotes equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
• Actively manages equality, diversity and inclusion through monitoring and evaluation and actively challenging unacceptable behaviour.
• Undertake continuous personal and professional development.

Job Specific

• Supports equality and values diversity, moderating own behaviour to avoid unfair discriminatory impact or bias on others.
• The post holder will be responsible for the smooth running of customer interaction points within the Campus, providing excellent customer service, initial guidance and support across a number functional support areas, ensuring interactions are managed from first interaction to conclusion, including handling and resolving complaints.
• You will be able to deal with a range of complex systems and procedures and will be expected to offer advice on these, including deciding on the response to more complex queries.
• You will be expected to exercise your judgment on the answer to queries or on the direction of work within parameters set by your manager. On a day-to-day basis you will be expected to resolve more complex queries without necessarily referring to your manager.
• Dealing with a wide variety of administrative tasks relating to staff, students and campus services, including obtaining and renewing all staff visas, work permits, residence, IDs, student registration, student records as well as student funding, scholarships, assessments and exams, library services and careers guidance resources.
• Assisting the Executive Assistant in a range of governance, executive, staff and campus-related matters.
• Being responsible for Room bookings (non-teaching) as necessary.
• Working as part of a the wider campus team to support a range of student experience functions and services, such as Library Customer Relationship Support, and support the delivery of an excellent customer experience.
• Working as part of a team that supports the range of student experience and enrichment events.
• You will not normally supervise others, although there may be an occasional need to do so. In any case, you will still be expected to act as a role model and coach new staff or members of the team.
• Maintain high-profile working relationships with key stakeholders on your own initiative, fielding enquiries and ensuring that appropriate information is disseminated to stakeholders as appropriate.
• Be involved in organising events including booking a venue, sending invitations, arranging refreshments, liaising with speakers, manage bookings, co-ordination of colleagues, advertising, collating feedback and reporting back.
• Managing some smaller projects on own initiative, and also carry out desk research and source data from internal and external sources in order to contribute to wider projects.
• You will be expected to use a variety of complex University systems and processes to research, analyse and interpret data, producing bespoke reports as required. This may include identifying and resolving issues with the data.
• Support the development, implementation and ongoing management of operational processes and systems.
• Promptly report any system failures which have been reported to reception and ensure these are resolved.
• Maintain office and other supplies in stock, and reorder as appropriate.
• Maintain a neat and tidy reception area, replenishing marketing material etc.
• Performs other tasks and duties, as requested or required.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• An understanding of the importance of equality and diversity in the workplace.
• The ability to identify and respond to equality and diversity issues in line with relevant policies and procedures and how to respond to issues in line with relevant policies and procedures.
• Educated to A-Level standard, or equivalent level 3 qualification such as a Level 3 NVQ, or level 3 national diploma or relevant work experience evidencing the skills and ability to undertake the role.
• Minimum of grade C in Mathematics and English at GCSE or equivalent.
• Professional experience in a similar role.

• Ability to take responsibility for specific tasks, carrying out duties without needing to refer to others, with scope for some choice and using your own judgment.

• Ability to prioritise own work, work unsupervised and use your own initiative as appropriate.
• Ability to proactively contribute to improving processes and for proposing new ways of working.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to communicate clearly and effectively with others.
• Well organised with the ability to prioritise work proactively, independently and as part of a team.
• A good understanding of how to deliver excellent customer service.
• Experience of using and maintaining complex work systems e.g. student databases/finance record systems/HR systems or equivalent, and an aptitude for learning new IT packages and systems.
• A high degree of professionalism, tact, and diplomacy, and the ability to exercise discretion regarding the handling and management of sensitive information/issues.
• A high degree of initiative, personal judgement, resourcefulness, flexibility, and a self-motivating approach.
• Ability to work effectively in a large, complex organisation, and to develop a good understanding of how the University and higher education institutions work.
• Ability to understand policy and procedures and how to apply these.
• Experience of supporting committees in a secretarial capacity.
• The ability to cope with change in a fast-moving, dynamic environment where change is often required immediately.

Dimensions

• You will not normally be required to line manage anyone in this role or manage a budget but will require the exercise of personal initiative across the campus.

Planning and organising

• You will be required to manage and prioritise a varied workload to deliver, working independently. There is also a need to maintain an awareness of activity across the department and wider University as appropriate.

Problem-solving and decision making

• You will be working under the direction of a senior manager, but with the autonomy to deliver the outputs required.
• You will be working within the framework of existing policies, processes and procedures for the University and the College but will be able to deal with complex queries and resolve problems in your area of responsibility.

Internal and external relationships

• This role will be liaising with internal colleagues and stakeholders, and external stakeholders as well with an expectation on maintaining good working relationships with all.

Valuing excellence, sustaining investment

We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community and are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working.