Senior Programme Officer

Job description

King’s College London is seeking candidates with the drive and passion to deliver high quality customer service to support our strategic aims. This is an ideal opportunity to commence or further your career in Higher Education administration.   

We are looking for experienced, enthusiastic and organised Senior Programme Officers to administer the delivery of our undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes and modules. The Senior Programme Officer role provides essential support to students and academics in King’s Business School.     

Working in a fast-paced environment, the role includes taking responsibility to resolve complex queries and issues, supporting activities such as timetabling and assessment, using databases and Microsoft Excel to maintain accurate student data on progress and achievement, and delivering a high-quality service across the student lifecycle.  Working with colleagues to plan and coordinate a varied set of activities, you will have opportunities to further develop your knowledge of regulations and process, and be part of professional networks promoting best practice. As part of the King's community, you'll work alongside inspiring academic staff, administrators and students.    

Permament, full time

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 the area of work, including assessment processes, in line with university deadlines and regulations, and Faculty and external requirements    
• Coordinate the management of day-to-day student enquiries, to provide responses 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       

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. Substantial administrative experience preferably within a Higher Education environment   
2. Excellent written and oral communication skills including the ability to receive, understand and convey information that needs careful explanation or interpretation e.g. procedures or regulations autonomously to a broad range of audiences    
3. Excellent time management and organisational planning skills with attention to detail and accuracy   
4. Excellent working knowledge of IT systems, such as Microsoft 365 and student records systems (SITS).   
5. Strong analytical skills and a data driven decision making approach, utilising appropriate information as required.   
6. Experience of stakeholder management, ability to work flexibly with a broad range of stakeholders in a professional and assured manner.   
7. 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.    
8. Collaborative and relationship-oriented approach to teamwork; using initiative and creativity to explore ways to improve and adjust levels and quality of service.   
9. Proactive approach, and the ability to work independently.    
10. 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    
3. Experience of supporting the delivery of programmes in Higher Education.   
4. Ability to work under pressure to complete a range of competing priorities, and requesting and utilising support as and when required.     

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 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.  

The selection process will include a panel interview and an assessment.