PGR Administrative Assistant

Contract: Part Time (0.5FTE), Open Ended

Detailed Description

We are seeking to appoint an Administrative Assistant in the School of EGIS to support the coordinated operation of postgraduate student research activities across the School. 

The School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society (EGIS) is one of the UK's leading institutions for multidisciplinary research and teaching in areas critical to economic development and societal equity. 

The post holder will support the Postgraduate Research Team (both administrative and academic), with a focus on recruitment and progression, to ensure the student experience is a positive one. 

The role holder must have effective organisational, interpersonal, and communication skills which are vital to this role, as are numeracy and IT (Microsoft Office) skills. This post will suit a self-motivated individual who is able to work flexibly as one of a team, as well as working independently.  

The work will be varied and will require the successful candidate to provide a fair, friendly and timely service to staff and students to meet our commitment to pursuing service excellence. 

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Responsible for providing administrative support for all postgraduate research activities within the PGR Office in the areas of application and recruitment, admission, enrolment, annual appraisal and general student support.
• Acting as the first point of contact for visitors, students and staff entering the office; this will also include applicants who contact us electronically, by telephone and in person.
• Assisting with the postgraduate recruitment process; this will include contacting students upon application, requesting evidence from them to support their application, working on the student database (Banner) and internal monitoring systems.
• Co-ordinating the Annual Appraisal Process, including issuing the appraisal timetable and forms to staff and students, providing staff with detailed information regarding the requirements for their students, recording receipt of documentation, and entering progression codes to the relevant databases.
• Managing the process for payments of external examiners, including ensuring paperwork has been issued, completed and liaising with finance regarding payments.

Education, Qualifications and Experience

Essential Criteria

• Literacy and numeracy skills equivalent to SCQF Level 5 (Standard Grade Intermediate/Credit, Nat4-5 or equivalent)
• Competent in the use of relevant IT packages
• Well-developed interpersonal skills
• Demonstrable professional and proactive approach
• Demonstrable ability to work quickly, flexibly and accurately in a dynamic, changing and pressured environment
• Demonstrable provision of excellent customer service

Desirable 

• Educated to SCQF Level 6 (Highers) or equivalent qualification 
• Experience of working within a similar environment as outlined above 
• Knowledge of the postgraduate research student lifecycle 
• Be cognate of the issues affecting the student population  

For all criteria, further details and how to apply please click on the 'Apply' button above.

Heriot-Watt University is committed to securing equality of opportunity in employment and to the creation of an environment in which individuals are selected, trained, promoted, appraised and otherwise treated on the sole basis of their relevant merits and abilities.  Equality and diversity are all about maximising potential and creating a culture of inclusion for all.

Heriot-Watt University values diversity across our university community and welcomes applications from all sectors of society, particularly from underrepresented groups. For more information, please see our website https://www.hw.ac.uk/uk/services/equality-diversity.htm and our award-winning work in Disability Inclusive Science Careers https://disc.hw.ac.uk/.

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