Resident Life Assistant
18 days ago
Edinburgh
Description Directorate: Student Life Salary: Grade(pro rata) Contract Type: Part Time (0.8FTE/ 28 hours per week) Open Ended Rewards and Benefits: 28 days annual leave increasing to 33 days per year after 5 years service plus 9 buildings closed days for all full time staff (Part time workers should pro rata this by their FTE). Use our total rewards calculator: to see the value of benefits provided by Heriot-Watt University. About our Team The Residence Life Team is part of the Student Life Division responsible for the policies and procedures of services to staff and students throughout the student lifecycle. The Residence Life Team is integral to the provision of a professional and effective support to the 2000 Heriot-Watt University students living on Team works closely with Campus Services SafeGuarding Services Student Wellbeing Service and Accommodation Services to ensure effective systems and processes are in place to deliver a high-quality customer service experience. RoleDescription The role of Residence Life Assistant is integral to the provision of professional and effective support to Heriot-Watt University students living on campus. The role holder will deal with a wide variety of issues as they arise and will often be the first point of contact for advice and support responsible for processing maintenance requests assisting in maintaining discipline and referring students to a wide range of other services. The Residence Life Assistant will work closely with Residence Life Manager fellow Residence Life Assistants and Residence Life Wardens to ensure effective systems and processes for reporting maintenance issues and providing a supportive service for students. They will also work on a shift pattern including evening weekends and building closed days and work closely with other services on campus. The role is very active as it involves significant amount of walking as the team is required to assist students in their residences across campus. The role subject to Disclosure Scotland check. Hours of Work During term time Residence Life Service operates from 09:00 to 23:00 and the team is operating in shifts. Residence Life Assistant shifts are 09:00 17:00 and 12:00 20:00 Monday to Sunday. During busy periods such as Freshers week and end of term everyone is expected to work longer hours to assist and support the students on campus. During this time the Residence Life Service operates until 03:00. Residence Life Assistants are expected to patrol on regular basis so there is a fair bit of walking required at times. The period from late August to mid-October is the busiest period for the Residence Life team and annual leave is not normally taken during this period. Key Duties and Responsibilities To assist with student welfare on campus • Being available and approachable to all students as first point of contact., • Communicate and Liaise with Wellbeing colleagues Residence Life wardens Accommodation Services SafeGuarding Services and Estates staff to share appropriate information regarding maintenance and welfare issues., • Provide advice support and guidance to students and signpost to relevant services., • Contribute to aspects of residential lettings including the arrival and departure processes; dealing with complaints; resolving maintenance issues relating to accommodation and liaising with other services on campus as required., • Help students to be aware of expected standards of behaviour living on campus and the relevant rules and regulations., • Actively contribute to teamwork and teambuilding with colleagues across the campus, • Lead coordinate promote and deliver a range of small to medium scale initiatives and events to promote student engagement and campus community within our Halls of Residence, • Identify new initiatives and areas of improvement to Residential Life as a result of student feedback survey results and benchmarking., • Promoting student experience and community living using innovative methods including social media platforms such as Instagram Facebook Tik-tok etc, • Participating in a rota to provide a responsible student presence on site every day until the end the appointment as per the agreed rota., • Participate in appropriate training for the role and contributing to team development., • Provide administrative support in all aspects of the operation of the Residence Life office. To undertake the timely and accurate inputting of data into the computerised record systems assisting with the preparation and presentation of regular reports and other statistical data as required., • To complete regular documented health and safety inspections the residential estate to ensure compliance with all relevant policies and procedures including mid-term inspections., • Assist the Residence Life Manager in running the Residence Life Hub., • Provide extra cover as required. Essential • Experience of delivering high quality customer service., • A good understanding of the diverse range of needs/issues of a multicultural community, • Proven ability to deal with difficult situations., • Demonstrable ability to work quickly flexibly and accurately in a dynamic changing and pressured environment., • Proven ability to work flexibly and positively as part of a team., • Proven ability to use Microsoft Office and other relevant IT systems including data entry skills. Competencies Tasks and Responsibilities Team Work • Participate in and contribute to the general support across the team., • Create a positive image of the University by being responsive prompt and courteous when responding to requests or enquiries from customers., • Deal with students who ask for service or require information., • Produce simple standard reports as requested., • Enter and maintain records and data into the appropriate university system., • Maintain confidentiality at all times by following university policies and guidance in managing confidential information and personal data., • Abide by ResLifes communication policy to effectively communicate and interact through verbal and non-verbal means., • Comfortable in using telephone radio and emails to receive and pass on data/information/messages. Training will be provided., • Explain routine instructions procedures operating instructions or information., • Reply to simple requests for information routing enquiries where information is standard/routine., • Discuss routine work matters with supervisors., • Carry out routine tasks from standard procedures., • File archive and destroy data in line with the University Data Protection & Retention Policy, • Provide appropriate admin support for meetings and events., • Act as the first point of contact for queries from students by phone email system-generated and in-person., • Follow set standard procedures and guidelines to solve local day to day issues., • Provide routine advice and guidance respond to queries and refer more complex queries to more senior members of the team as appropriate., • Follow set procedures and protocols referring any non-standard requests to line manager., • Demonstrate the University Values at all times through performance and behaviour., • Participate in ad-hoc duties to support the team/University and for personal development., • Support newer or inexperienced colleagues within and outside the University by offering support help and advice. Heriot-Watt University has five campuses: three in the UK (Edinburgh Scottish Borders and Orkney) one in Dubai and one in Malaysia. The University offers a highly distinctive range of degree programmes in the specialist areas of science engineering design business and languages. With a history dating back to 1821 Heriot-Watt University has established a reputation for world-class teaching and practical leading-edge research which has made it one of the top UK universities for business and industry. We connect with industry at every level and develop programmes to match their needs so employers get work-ready industry-fit graduates. Heriot-Watt is also Scotlands most international university boasting the largest international student cohort. We have an established set of values that help us to nurture innovation and leadership and show our commitment to continuous improvement and development in all our activities. For full details on our University please view our Careers at Heriot-Watt ___ For full details on our University please view our Careers at Heriot-Watt