Job description

The Doctoral Studies Liaison Officer will provide high quality administrative and engagement support to two key areas: (1) Postgraduate Research (PGR) in the  Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy (SSPP) Research Leadership Team and (2) the London Interdisciplinary Social Sciences (LISS) Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) – an ESRC-funded initiative. The post holder is responsible for engagement and communication activities across the SSPP Research Leadership Team and LISS DTP, building relationships with PGR students, supervisors, and professional services teams.

The postholder will facilitate links between SSPP and LISS DTP across the component Schools and Departments of the Faculty and will feed into the various PGR networks at King’s to ensure that all doctoral students achieve research excellence and enjoy an enriching experience during their time with us.

There are two discrete, but interrelated areas of responsibility for the role holder:

(1) To provide dedicated professional services support to the Associate Dean for Doctoral Studies and the Senior Faculty Research Officer in SSPP, facilitating engagement and coordination of all matters relating to doctoral research students across the Faculty and KCL.

(2) To provide essential high-quality operational, engagement and communication support to the LISS DTP Team and to facilitate effective liaison between the LISS DTP and SSPP.

The Doctoral Studies Liaison Officer therefore will be line managed by (1) the Senior Faculty Research Officer; and (2) the LISS DTP Manager. The role holder will be expected to develop close working relationships with academic and professional services staff in both SSPP and the LISS DTP. This is an exciting opportunity to be part of two collegiate teams and to undertake a dynamic and collaborative role. The post holder should have strong communication skills, experience of supporting academic and student engagement, and be an experienced administrator (ideally in a higher education setting) with an acute eye for detail.

This post will be offered on an indefinite contract

This is a full-time post

Key responsibilities

• To support the LISS DTP with student recruitment activities, including responsibility for marketing and promotional materials for PhD and Postdoctoral Fellowship opportunities (internally and externally), and to provide effective, high quality operational support on Faculty supported studentships.  
• To work closely with both SSPP professional services and the LISS DTP Administration Team in both Research and Education areas, undertaking appropriate administrative, engagement and communications tasks. 
• To provide support to the SSPP Associate Dean for Doctoral Studies in Quality Assurance activities, handling complaints and appeals, disseminating information, assisting with creation of annual reports and the any PRES-related communications and data analysis 
• To assist the LISS DTP and Faculty Teams with a range of PGR communication and information dissemination tasks and support with media channels, such as the LISS DTP and Faculty websites, social media, newsletter curation, and other media platforms. 
• To assist the LISS DTP with creating and maintaining student funding records, to distribute information about LISS DTP training courses (pre & post course delivery) and organise student and academic engagement activities for LISS and SSPP (for example stakeholder forums, induction, events, student and pathway led activities). 
• To run application processes for Faculty led studentships, bursaries, prizes, and other funding opportunities aimed at PGR students, including creating online forms, advertising, receiving and recording information, distributing applications, organising review panels, and keeping track of candidates’ progress, such as finalising arrangements for payments 
• To support both line managers with finance data related tasks, including raising purchase orders, monitoring budget and expenditure for events and activities, and retrieving reports from King’s financial system. 
• To monitor and administer shared email inboxes, distributing and answering stakeholder enquiries as appropriate within both the Faculty Research and the LISS DTP teams, providing absence cover when necessary 
• To be the Faculty point of contact for student representatives and PGR supporting professional services staff within SSPP Schools and Departments and pass queries onto appropriate colleagues where required. 
• To support scheduling and servicing governance meetings and forums, and to participate and service other working groups and committees, including minute taking, production and circulation, such as the Faculty Postgraduate Research Committee (PaRC) and hybrid meetings, using Microsoft Office 365, including MS Teams. 
• To assist both teams with information management processes, such maintaining and updating the SSPP PGR handbook and associated policies, ensuring webpages are up to date and maintained regularly and file maintenance across platforms such as SharePoint and other document libraries.

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.       Skills in web platforms, standard office IT systems, including Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Word, Excel, and Databases 

2.       Communication skills across multiple media platforms, including excellent written and spoken English 

3.       Excellent numerical and data management skills; accuracy and attention to detail 

4.       Excellent interpersonal and team playing skills at all levels 

5.       Excellent organizational, time management and prioritisation skills 

6.       Ability to multitask, work to different and competing priorities and demands  

7.       General administrative/clerical experience 

8.       Experience of editing and maintaining webpages and in using social media 

9.       Experience or understanding of committee servicing/minute-taking 

10.   Ability to work independently as required 

Desirable criteria

1.       Experience of working in higher education sector and familiarity with HE administration 

2.       Experience using data management and content management systems 

3.       Experience of working with students and academic staff on engagement projects 

Further information

The interview process will involve a skills test and interview questions with a panel.  

More information about the Faculty can be found here:   https://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp  

More information about the LISS DTP can be found here:   https://liss-dtp.ac.uk/