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Senior Fitness Assistant

Employer
DURHAM UNIVERSITY
Location
Durham, United Kingdom
Salary
17,682 - 19,133
Closing date
3 Mar 2020

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Experience Durham
Grade 3:
 - 17,682 - 19,133
Open-Ended/Permanent - Full Time
Contracted Hours per Week: 35
Closing Date: 03-Mar-2020, 7:59:00 AM 

Job Family: Community, Participation and Engagement Services

OUR CHARACTERISTICS: We are welcoming, collegiate and inclusive.     

OUR VALUES: We are motivated, inquisitive, challenging, rigorous and innovative.

Durham University

Durham University is one of the world's top universities with strengths across the Arts and Humanities, Business, Sciences and Social Sciences. We are home to some of the most talented scholars and researchers from around the world who are tackling global issues and making a difference to people's lives. 

The University sits in a beautiful historic city where it shares ownership of a UNESCO World Heritage Site with Durham Cathedral, the greatest Romanesque building in Western Europe. A collegiate University, Durham recruits outstanding students from across the world and offers an unmatched wider student experience.

Durham University seeks to promote and maintain an inclusive and supportive environment for work and study that assists all members of our University community to reach their full potential. Diversity brings strength and we welcome applications from across the international, national and regional communities that we work with and serve.

It is expected that all staff within the University:

  • Contribute to our learning culture by engaging in mentoring, training and coaching.
  • Positively contribute to fostering a collegial environment; as well as demonstrating commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.
  • Have due regard to Health and Safety requirements appropriate to grade and role.

Family key attributes

Roles in this family provide an excellent stakeholder experience for our diverse and supportive community.   

Overall family purpose

  • Provide excellent student support services, development and extra-curricular activities.
  • Align and deliver programmes and activities to meet operational and strategic objectives to enhance the stakeholder experience.
  • Respond to stakeholders at the point of service delivery, either in situ or remotely.
  • Facilitate the development of excellent colleague and academic engagement.
  • Provide a stakeholder focussed service designed to increase widening participation and diversity.
  • Promote the Durham reputation by establishing and broadening national and international community links to enhance the cultural and economic viability of the City and region.
  • Enhance the Durham wider student experience by developing extra-curricular activities.
  • Contribute to and enhance active, inclusive and supportive communities of stakeholders.
  • Work collaboratively and network across the University with staff in other families to ensure a smooth, timely and high-quality delivery of service.
  • Engage with suppliers, consultants and specialist professionals to deliver programmes and activities to enhance the stakeholder experience.
  • Engage and encourage outreach and participation with external professionals, schools, alumni and donors.
  • Engage and network with both internal and external stakeholders to facilitate knowledge exchange and impact through local, national and international communities.  

Link to key strategic plan

  • An economically and environmentally sustainable approach to delivering stakeholder focussed services across the University;
  • A world-class student, alumni and donor experience;
  • Focussed on the needs of all users working together to deliver front-line services as part of the Wider Student Experience;
  • Learn from and match best practice in the Wider Student Experience around the world;
  • Opening up our world-class sporting facilities to local clubs and athletes;
  • Support and facilitate activities as part of the Widening Student Experience at Durham;
  • A stakeholder-focused orientation, offering satisfying careers to all staff;
  • Ensure that an increasingly diverse workforce is treated equally, fairly and with respect, and that all staff are demonstrably valued and actively engaged.

The Department and role purpose    

As a Department Experience Durham is striving to play a pivotal role in developing, delivering and transforming a Wider Student Experience that is as impactful as anything in the world. We remain steadfast in our core commitment to accelerating the growth of far-reaching and market-leading programmes across performanceparticipation and community outreach, whilst fostering a culture that safeguards academic excellence. We are guided by the belief that an investment in the Wider Student Experience is ultimately an investment in the quality of graduates that the University produces and are motivated by the opportunity to engage and inspire the next generation of talent. In doing so, we feel confident that we are making a positive contribution to the development of rounded, global citizens.

The post holder will work as part of a leisure team at Queen’s Campus Sports Centre, Stockton on Tees, to deliver the highest possible standards of service and customer care to sports facility users, both indoors and outdoors, and deliver personal training and fitness classes as and when required. The role of Senior Fitness Assistant is a key frontline post in ensuring this objective is maintained.  

Core responsibilities:

  • Provide a highly responsive and/or frontline service to stakeholders.
  • Assist team members within a wider service team with a rotation of tasks and duties or with own small area of day to day responsibility.
  • Respond to service users logging and recording queries and information systematically in accordance with procedures.
  • Operate a system to record, dispense and distribute resources and information as required.
  • Assist team members to concentrate effort on a more regular basis to achieve common goals.
  • Apply skills and techniques to operate and use a range of everyday task or job specific equipment, tools and resources.
  • Follow a set of pre-determined tasks and objectives, with some discretion for variation, referring to team members where necessary.
  • Gather and collate data and information for others to use for evaluation and decision making.
  • Contribute to the tidying, set-up and maintenance of facilities, equipment and resources.
  • Liaise with representatives from other teams/service areas where necessary. 
  • Collaborate with team members to identify work flows, timescales and where support is required.

Role responsibilities:

  • Deliver a frontline service to stakeholders with team members within a defined service area for concentrated periods of time.
  • Operate a range of domestic, office, maintenance tools and equipment efficiently and effectively.
  • Monitor and record changes to the working environment and service processes to ensure the safety, security and hygiene of service products and services.
  • Follow University identification and security procedures when dealing with stakeholders new to a fitness and sporting environment.
  • Provide direction to service users about the range of classes and activities and how to access them.
  • Complete necessary skills training to deliver a service in a leisure and fitness environment.
  • Apply manual dexterity, physical effort and/or sensory skills to carry out work in a defined space or service area.
  • Assist team members where necessary to review and update risk assessments.
  • Respond to first-line queries from suppliers, stakeholders and contacts where necessary.
  • Any other reasonable duties.

Specific role requirements

The post holder will be required to work shift and unsociable hours.

Recruiting to this post 

In order to be considered for interview, candidates must evidence each of the essential criteria required for the role in the person specification above (including those listed in the section ‘Realising Your Potential Approach’).  

In some cases, the recruiting panel may also consider the desirable criteria, so we recommend you evidence all criteria in your application.  

Please note that some criteria will only be considered at interview stage.

How to apply 

We prefer to receive applications online.

Please note that in submitting your application Durham University will be processing your data. We would ask you to consider the relevant University Privacy Statement https://www.dur.ac.uk/ig/dp/privacy/pnjobapplicants/ which provides information on the collation, storing and use of data.

What you are required to submit

  1. A CV; 
  2. A covering letter which details your experience, strengths and potential in the requirements set out above;

Please ensure that you submit all documentation listed above or your application cannot proceed to the next stage.

Contact details 

For further information please contact; Peri Anderson - peri.anderson@durham.ac.uk Tel: 0101 3340236

At Durham University, our aim is to create an open and inclusive environment where everyone can reach their full potential and believe our staff should reflect the diversity of the global community in which we work.  We welcome and encourage applications from members of groups who are under-represented in our work force including people with disabilities, women and black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.

We will notify you on the status of your application at various points throughout the selection process, via automated emails from our e-recruitment system.  Please check your spam/junk folder periodically to ensure you receive all emails

Person specification - skills, knowledge, qualifications and experience required

Essential Criteria:

  1. Good oral and written communication skills.
  2. Good IT skills, including use of Microsoft Office.
  3. Five GCSE’s at least Grade C or level four (or equivalent) including English Language and Mathematics (or equivalent experience).
  4. Evidence of personal development to maintain skills.
  5. Experience of working as part of a team in a customer focussed service to ensure the delivery of high quality services.
  6. Experience of managing time in order to meet deadlines.
  7. Experience of providing advice and guidance to a range of customers and colleagues.
  8. Ability to solve problems as part of a team and resolve straightforward issues.
  9. Hold a recognised Level 3 qualification in health, fitness and exercise.
  10. Ability to motivate and engage with stakeholders taking part in exercise programmes.

Desirable Criteria

  • Experience of dealing with first aid situations.
  • Hold a first aid certificate.
  • Experience of cash handling.

Realising Your Potential Approach

DEVELOPING MYSELF AND OTHERS - Showing commitment to own development and supporting and encouraging others to develop their knowledge, skills and behaviours to enable them to reach their full potential for the wider benefit of the University.

  1. Using all situations as potential learning opportunities
  2. Being a role model by devoting time to own development, managing workload and making effective use of time
  3. Proactively engaging in formal and informal learning and development activities

FINDING SOLUTIONS - Taking a holistic view and working enthusiastically and with creativity to analyse problems and develop innovative and workable solutions. Identifying opportunities for innovation.

  1. Taking time to understand and diagnose problems by considering the whole picture
  2. Identifying ways of resolving issues using own initiative
  3. Identifying risks and considering consequences of failure in advance
  4. Making decisions and taking responsibility for them

PROVIDING EXCELLENT STUDENT SERVICES AND PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT - Providing the best quality service to all our students and customers. Building genuine and open long-term relationships in order to drive up service standards and to enhance their experience.

  1. Resolving problems efficiently  in a cheerful, friendly manner
  2. Ensuring systems and processes are kept up to date to enable you to provide accurate information
  3. Setting appropriate boundaries and managing expectations

ACHIEVING RESULTS - Planning and organising workloads to ensure that deadlines are met within resource constraints. Consistently meeting objectives and success criteria.

  1. Taking personal responsibility for getting things done
  2. Maintaining a high standard of work even when under pressure
  3. Incorporating flexibility into plans and adjusting them in light of developments
  4. Be organised by keeping track of a number of projects running simultaneously 5. Distinguishing between important and urgent tasks and prioritising effectively, even from apparently equal demands 
  5. Work effectively in order to meet deadlines

DBS Requirement: Please note that the succesful applicant will require DBS disclosure.

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