Job description

We are delighted to be offering an exciting opportunity to join our team in the Nightingale Student Hub. The Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care is one of the world's leading faculties for Nursing and Midwifery studies and we pride ourselves on providing excellent students and education services to our students.
 
The Senior Placements Officer is instrumental in delivering a crucial element to our students' programmes by providing support in areas such as Student Placements and Practice-Learning support. This is a relatively unique opportunity at King's for someone to develop transformative networks in professional services within the university and across our many NHS
Trust Partners in Greater London and thus, the successful candidate will have an important role in shaping and transforming student services support for practice learning.
 
The successful candidate will have the ability to build and maintain effective partnerships and work collaboratively at all levels, with our placement partners and other external stakeholders, academic colleagues, students, and other members of the Professional Services Team.
With a highly motivated approach, the successful candidate will also have a strong understanding of student-focused service excellence and an ethos of continual enhancement. The successful candidate will be committed to contributing to the Faculty's objectives and will exemplify Our Principles in Action as part of King's Strategic Vision 2029.
 
This post will be offered on an indefinite full time contract.

Key responsibilities

• Working with relevant colleagues to consider the provision of processes throughout the academic year, identifying priorities, demonstrating flexibility throughout the cycle, amending plans, and adjusting the team's work patterns accordingly. 
• Providing a highly responsive, dynamic, and positive presence within the Nightingale Student Hub as well as supporting a shared commitment to deliver a world-class student experience and affirming a service-ethos based on the university's Principles in Action. 
• Coordinating the practice-learning administration processes in line with university deadlines and regulations, Faculty KPIs and SLAs, alongside external requirements. This will include being the lead for mapping placements in conjunction with Placement Officers and providing information for auditing purposes in collaboration with placement providers, Education Leads and other Higher Education Institutions.
• Working in collaboration with other departments and colleagues, such as the Student Systems Manager in IT Services to support the development of InPlace, (this will be to ensure that the appropriate functionality is implemented to aid the Faculty¿s placement processes). 
• To produce accurate management information to deadlines for internal and external use, including quality assurance data for the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) and Health Education England (HEE). 
• To support the work of the Programmes Manager by managing the day to day running of the team, and negotiating changes as required, (including the change in Host Trust allocations, Student Transfers, and changes where required to student placements). 
• To ensure that all student placement mapping information is entered accurately on to InPlace, ensure the timely release of placements, as well as co-ordinating the allocation of students to Trusts and subsequent placements whilst taking into consideration Trust requirements, NMC regulations, King¿s Inclusion Plans (KIPs) and Occupational Health recommendations. 
• Coordinating the management of day-to-day student enquiries with the Placements Officers to provide helpful, timely and accurate responses, taking responsibility for responding directly to more complex enquiries and escalating to the Programmes Manager when required. 
• Ensuring that quality assurance requirements and, where required, accreditation requirements are met for all provision. This includes servicing relevant committees as required.
• To coordinate practice-learning evaluation processes in line with current university best practice, including the analysis of findings and generating action plans in consultation with the Faculty Student Experience Manager.
• Developing and improving the service through eliciting and responding to service-user feedback, identifying, and suggesting service improvements and implementing new ways of working with Placement Officers as directed.
• Supporting Faculty and university projects as necessary to further service improvement and Education & Students support functions.
• Working flexibly as part of a team, supporting others in times of high-volume activity (such as Welcome Week and start of a new term). Participating in and coordinating new starter inductions and training, covering staff absence, and deputising for the Programmes Manager as and when required as well as providing cover and support as required including the Help Desk Management function.  
• Work with the wider university community to ensure up-to-date and consistent practices are followed when utilising systems, (e.g. student records systems and virtual learning environments). To also undertake both day-to-day functions and higher-level processes such as reporting and extracting data, ensuring accuracy of data, and identifying and resolving issues as well as overseeing areas such as the E-PAD, Risk Assessments, Placement releases and Occupational Health processes.  
• Engage with and triage students' pastoral care needs, resolving straightforward issues where appropriate and escalating with, and informing stakeholders as per university frameworks. 
• Receive, investigate, and resolve low-level complaints and address service setbacks, exercising judgement and escalating to the Programmes Manager where required. 
• Ensure that a sense of collective accountability is maintained for InPlace data quality, ensuring records are accurately maintained in accordance with the agreed retention schedules. 
• Ensure all work is carried out in a professional and timely manner, with appropriate confidentiality and sensitivity. To maintain an up to date knowledge of the data protection requirements and to support Freedom of Information and subject access requests. 
• Carry out other reasonable responsibilities commensurate with the grading of the post as required.  

 
Skills, knowledge, and experience 

Essential criteria 
 
1.       Degree level or equivalent qualification or experience 
2.       Excellent written and oral communication skills including the ability to draft documents and correspondence autonomously to a broad range of audiences  
3.       Strong numeracy skills and ability to analyse complex numerical data 
4.       Excellent time management and organisational skills and the ability to work to tight deadlines  
5.       Excellent working knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook 
6.       Data driven decision making approach, utilising appropriate information as required 
7.       Experience of stakeholder management, ability to work with a broad range of stakeholders in a professional and assured manner 
8.       Experience of working in a customer facing environment with a knowledge of how to address complaints and service setbacks in a professional and efficient manner 
9.       Have a methodical but flexible approach to work, maintaining a high level of accuracy 
10.   Collaborative, responsive, and relationship-oriented approach to teamwork 
11.   Proactive approach, and the ability to work independently 
12.   Ability to work under pressure to complete a range of competing priorities, and requesting and utilising support as and when required 
13.   Customer service oriented approach with a commitment to personal accountability and continuous improvement 
14.   Commitment to equality and diversity in the workplace 
 
Desirable criteria 
 
1.       Experience of administrating placement allocations, preferably in a higher education provider or similar 
2.       Experience of managing and delivering a portfolio of taught provision, with a proactive, development focused and transparent approach 
3.       Experience in the use of databases and student records systems (such as SITS) to provide management information data to a high level of detail and accuracy 
4.       Experience in the use of InPlace or an equivalent student placements allocation system to a high level of detail and accuracy, including management information reporting 
5.       Experience of using virtual learning environments