Job description

King’s Foundations provides year-round and summer programmes to international students who aim to progress onto King’s College London Undergraduate and Postgraduate programmes.  The Programmes  Team operates within the Professional Services Team which includes the Student Experience, Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) and Business Support Teams, and also works closely with academic leadership teams and teaching staff across the portfolio of programmes.

This role is part of King’s  Foundations Programmes Team and reports to the Programme Manager. You will work as a member of the programme administration team in King’s Foundations to ensure consistent management and delivery of taught provision through providing high quality administrative support. Deliver a high-quality customer experience to relevant stakeholders throughout the student lifecycle from pre-enrolment activities through to graduation and beyond. Resolve complex day-to-day issues, responding in line with university Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Represent the Department externally and in wider university activities and committees, in support of the Faculty’s interests and engaging with university functions.

The role is primarily based at Bush House on the King’s Strand Campus though you may be required to travel to other campuses on occasion.  King’s is currently trialling a hybrid working scheme where staff may be able to work remotely for part of the week, as determined by required output and departmental need. 

This post will be offered on an a fixed-term contract for  6 months 

This is a full-time post.

Key responsibilities

• Work with relevant colleagues to plan programme cycles, considering the provision of processes throughout the academic year, identifying priorities, and demonstrating flexibility throughout the cycle, recognising when priorities change, amending plans and adjusting work patterns accordingly
• Coordinate programme administration processes relevant to teaching and assessment, in line with university deadlines and regulations, and School of Professional and Continuing Education (PACE) and external requirements
• Manage all assessment-related activity for the suite of King’s Foundations programmes, coordinating the provision of online and in-person formative and summative assessments, marking and feedback, liaison with teaching staff and external examiners and preparation for all Assessment board meetings.
• Supervise the provision of student support with the Programme Officers, ensuring enquiries are responded to as appropriate within agreed timeframes, taking responsibility for responding directly to more complex enquiries and escalating with line manager when required.
• Ensure that quality assurance requirements and, where required, accreditation requirements are met for all provision. To service committees as directed by your line manager. Coordinate module evaluation processes in line with current university best practice.
• Develop and improve the service through eliciting and responding to service user feedback, identifying, and suggesting service improvements and implementing new ways of working as directed
• Work flexibly as part of a team, supporting others in times of high-volume activity. Participating in and coordinating new starter inductions. Covering staff absence and deputising for the line manager as and when required
• 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 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
• Engage with and triage students’ pastoral care needs, resolving straightforward issues where appropriate and escalating with, and informing, key stakeholders as per university frameworks
• Receive, investigate and resolve low-level complaints and address service setbacks, exercising judgement and escalating to line manager where required
• Take personal accountability for the data quality of student records, 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

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

Essential criteria

1.       Excellent written and oral communication skills including the ability to draft documents and correspondence autonomously to a broad range of audiences 

2.       Strong numeracy skills and ability to analyse complex numerical data (e.g., assessment marksheets) 

3.       Excellent time management and organisational skills and the ability to work to tight deadlines  

4.       Excellent working knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook  

5.       Data driven decision making approach, utilising appropriate information as required  

6.       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  

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, with a commitment to personal accountability and continuous improvement 

9.       Experience of managing and delivering a portfolio of taught provision, with a proactive, development focused and transparent approach 

10.   Have a methodical but flexible approach to work, maintaining a high level of accuracy  

11.   Ability to work both independently and collaboratively as part of a team, under pressure to complete a range of competing priorities, and requesting and utilising support as and when required 

12.   Commitment to equality and diversity in the workplace 

Desirable criteria

1.       Degree level or equivalent qualification or experience  

2.       Experience of using virtual learning environments 

Further information

About King’s

King’s College London is one of the top 25 universities in the world according to the 2016-17 QS international world rankings, is the fourth oldest university in England and is a research-led university based in the heart of London.

King’s has over 29,600 students (including more than 11,700 postgraduates) from some 150 countries and over 8,000 employees. Our students are located in 9 faculties:   www.kcl.ac.uk/faculties-departments

Our work is guided by our Strategic Vision (Vision 2029). It shows how King’s will make the world a better place by focusing on five key strategic priorities: educate to inspire and improve; research to inform and innovate; serve to shape and transform; a civic university at the heart of London; an international community that serves the world.

King’s provides world-class teaching and cutting-edge research; in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) King’s was ranked 6th nationally in the ‘power’ ranking, which takes into account both the quality and quantity of research activity, and 7th for quality according to Times Higher Education rankings. Eighty-four per cent of research at King’s was deemed ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ (3* and 4*). The university is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of just over £738 million.

About King’s School of Professional & Continuing Education  

King’s School of Professional & Continuing Education is a new, cross-cutting function designed to widen the educational reach of King’s. It brings together five existing areas: King’s Foundations, Summer Programmes, Modern Language Centre, King’s Online and King’s Professional & Executive Development. Each of these areas are well established, respected and recognised within and beyond the King’s community. Utilising this success as a springboard, the School of Professional & Continuing Education has been established to provide a clear platform to enable greater and more seamless collaboration with colleagues in Faculties, enabling, developing, and delivering a wider view of education across the College, delivered on campus, online and in a blended format. The Function will support King’s in this area, particularly around educational innovation, and transformational learning experiences for different groups of students at different learning moments, whilst also addressing current structural barriers to growth each area faces.

Our vision is to work collaboratively with Faculties to develop and deliver King’s ambitions in expanding learning opportunities across the education spectrum. By expanding what education means at King’s, the new School will offer a joined-up approach to facilitating a broader King’s education experience to individual learners, public and private sector groups, and partners, both in the UK and internationally.

About King’s Foundations

King’s Foundations is a leading centre for EAP and pathway education across the HE sector, accredited by the British Council. As one of the largest providers of pathway education, we welcome over 2,500 students each year across our King’s International Foundation Programmes and our range of Pre-sessional Programmes, with programmes offered online, on campus and in a blended way. We also offer a range of short courses with partners and support all King’s students through contributing to a range of co-curricular academic skills and language development courses.

Our mission is to support a diverse group of learners to achieve their potential at King’s, supporting students to become independent and inquisitive learners. King’s Foundations is home to approximately 80 permanent staff, growing to around 150 during our busy summer months.  We champion a forward-thinking approach to education and take a digitally enabled approach across all aspects of education. Over the last 6 years, the department has seen significant planned growth in support of King’s Vision 2029, with annual income of over £20m.