Business Support Officer

Job description

The Arts Cluster is looking to recruit a Business Support Officer who will be responsible for the delivery of services underpinning the business functions across four departments - Film Studies, Digital Humanities, Music and Culture, Media and Creative Industries which includes HR, finance, space, and health and safety, alongside other general projects.

The Business Support Officer will oversee the smooth running of the Department(s) in their remit, including the administration of space, facilities and equipment (including rooms, teaching materials, and specialist equipment – such as musical instruments, studio equipment and film equipment). Working as part of the cluster Business Support team, the role holder will provide a professional and responsive front-line support & enquiry service for staff, students (including student societies) and other clients, for queries in their remit in a timely manner. The role holder will undertake routine financial and logistical operations within the Departments in accordance with the College’s financial regulations and procedures and is responsible for purchasing using the College’s e-procurement system and support with departmental HR-related matters, including local recruitment processes.

The Business Support Officer will actively ensure consistent support and delivery of department operations by providing high quality and effective administration support, in accordance with university and Faculty priorities, timelines and policies.

This post will be offered on an indefinite contract.

This is a full-time post - 100% full time equivalent.

Key responsibilities

Space and Facilities

• Assist the Research & Business Support Manager with managing the upkeep and allocation of departmental space, such as teaching rooms, practice rooms, staff offices and student areas, including arrangement for refurbishments, repairs and satisfactory provision of equipment and facilities
• Provide planning and logistical support for local office moves, in liaison with Estates/Space Planning, as well as end-user query resolution and support
• Manage bookings for local space, including department-owned seminar rooms and specialist teaching facilities (e.g. music practice rooms/recording studio, film screening rooms)
• Manage and administer specialist facilities and equipment (e.g. maintenance of film and musical instruments, upkeep of the Film storeroom and Music recording studio)
• Take responsibility for ensuring support of local research, teaching and public events in the areas under their remit is in place, particularly where these make use of specialist resources
• Liaise with other support teams (Campus Operations, King’s Venues, IT/AV) to ensure the effective operation of the spaces and facilities under their remit

Business and Finance

• Assist the Business Support Administrator with management of the financial activity of the cluster/centre
• Engage in basic purchasing of equipment and supplies for the local areas, including photocopiers, computers, stationary and consumables, course packs/readers (where used), and liaise with distributors to source and hire 35mm prints for weekly film screenings
• Maintain asset registers for departments/centres in their remit
• Advise staff and students on basic financial regulations and policy
• Assist Heads of Department and professional services colleagues with the recruitment process for academic and non-academic posts in the departments/cluster team (e.g. making interview arrangements)
• Assist with the recruitment of short-term and hourly paid staff, including graduate teaching assistants, ensuring their eligibility to work in the UK and processing their payments
• Assist with the induction of new members of academic, professional services and hourly-paid staff, acting as a point of contact for queries and advising them on College procedures, referring to the appropriate College services and contacts where required (e.g. HR, Estates, Security, IT Services)

Communication

• Assist with production and distribution of department newsletters/bulletins
• Maintain information about the departments on staff-facing and general noticeboards within the department

Health & Safety

• Be trained and act as a local DSE assessor and actively promote compliance with good practice and College policies in their areas
• Carry out health and safety inductions for new staff members in their area(s)
• Act as evacuation marshal for the Faculty in the space that they occupy
• Manage the post on a daily basis, including courier services
• Ensure that reliable local records are held as required, in line with College and Faculty policies around retention, and that information is processed in compliance with GDPR
• Provide administrative support to working groups or committee meetings as required, including organising meetings, preparing agendas and other documents, advising the Chair, writing minutes, and taking follow-up action where appropriate
• Assist with other duties as may be required from time to time, including providing cover at the student counters within the department/cluster office(s)

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. Confident and competent IT skills, including the use of electronic resources, MS Office applications, databases, internet, etc
2. Excellent communication skills including ability to write formal documents and professional emails
3. Excellent numeracy skill
4. Excellent attention to detail
5. Highly organised and able to balance competing priorities under pressure
6. Able to contribute effectively to a team and form good working relationships with teaching and professional services staff at all levels

Desirable criteria

1. An excellent track record of offering business support and/or administrative services
2. Flexible and able to respond positively to changing priorities
3. Ability to constantly review processes and propose improvements