Job Description

King’s faculty-based student support and wellbeing team is organised on a ‘hub and spoke’ basis with faculty- based staff who are supported and coordinated by specialist teams in Student Support & Wellbeing Services.

This hub/spoke arrangement enables a model of supportive engagement, enhanced by faculty nuance, and providing a parity of offer for students notwithstanding the faculty they are in.  It ensures seamless interaction with specialist SSWS services.

These two posts will work specifically within The School of Social Science and Public Policy (SSPP), giving direct and tailored support to students, and staff, within this faculty.

These posts will be line managed by the Faculty Wellbeing and Welfare Advisor, who will provide support, guidance and oversight of casework. The posts will also work closely with the SSPP Student Experience Manager and the School Education Managers, to ensure wellbeing support is provided clearly and consistently for all SSPP students.

The post holder will provide an accessible point of contact to all students based in a SSPP, offering professional and pastoral help and guidance if they are experiencing challenges or need support.  This will include regular office hours & drop-ins, and complements the work of Personal Tutors and Senior Tutors.

The post holder will be active in triaging student wellbeing casework; ensuring students are appropriately signposted to specialist services in a timely manner, and will be a key conduit between central and faculty-based services supporting students.

The Faculty Student Wellbeing & Welfare Officers will also be able to offer guidance to Personal Tutors and Senior Tutors, where students are experiencing difficulties, and to support signposting to specialist services.

As well as individual support, the post holder will coordinate proactive communication/outreach/programming on student wellbeing & welfare, including working with themes such as mindfulness, stress management, maintaining healthy physical and psychological balance.

The post holder will also be able to advise students who are concerned about their peers.

This post will be offered a fixed term basis, until September 2023

This is a full-time post, but we welcome applications from candidates seeking a flexible work pattern within our necessary service operating hours.

Key responsibilities

• Triaging on a variety of presenting issues, including wellbeing & welfare concerns, mental health support, fitness to study and fitness to practice as appropriate, student of concern, safeguarding, harassment and bullying, and sexual assault, referring to specialist services when required.
• Supporting the Mitigating Circumstances process; offering students wellbeing support and guidance as appropriate, in conjunction with this academic process.
• Supporting the Prolonged Lack of Contact process; determining what support the students need in order to return to their studies.
• Working closely with the Student Conduct and Appeals Team, these posts will support the Fitness/Support to Study process, ensuring SSPP students/staff have a clear understanding of the support needed/offered to our students.
• Collaborating with the Faculty Student Experience Manager and Officers to deliver proactive wellbeing interventions/sessions/resources.
• Work with the Faculty Wellbeing and Welfare Advisor to support SSPP Personal Tutors and Senior Tutors.

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. Relevant work experience and/or education: We think a wide range of different work and educational experiences could support you to be successful in this role. Relevant work experience might include work in Student Support, Disability, Counselling, Mental Health, or care work Relevant educational experiences might include higher education in a related discipline, professional qualifications or other training
2. Demonstrable competence in working with individuals facing a variety of adverse situations, being an ally in navigating these and appropriately referring cases on as circumstances dictate.
3. Demonstrable experience of working effectively and collaboratively as part of a team to enhance the overall quality of the service user.
4. Evidence of emotional resilience and ability to work calmly under pressure, containing anxiety in self and others and exhibiting strong interpersonal and communication skills.
5. Experience of managing work confidentially, effectively and sensitively and ability to maintain professional boundaries.
6. Ability to take responsibility and decisions independently and to consult with and refer matters to colleagues when appropriate, with a flexible and adaptable approach to prioritising work.
7. Ability to keep accurate records and contribute to management reports, employing appropriate IT skills.

Further Information

Your application should clearly set out how you meet the essential criteria as this is how we shortlist applications. Learn more about how we recruit, including tips on writing your application and supporting statement on our website:   https://jobs.kcl.ac.uk/gb/en/applying

Interviews will be held remotely using Microsoft Teams and will consist of competency-based questions linked closely to the essential and desirable criteria mentioned here.

Although we have made improvements over the last number of years, our team is still under-represented in terms of staff from global majority ethnicities, LGBTQ+ identities, and from people with disabilities. We encourage applications from all backgrounds, communities and industries, and are committed to employing a team that has diverse skills, experiences and abilities.

Interviews are scheduled to take place on 28th July 2022.