Location
Newcastle upon Tyne | United Kingdom
Job description
Salary: £33,966 to £36,024 with progression to £44,263 per annum
Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits . We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.
Closing Date: 17 March 2024
The Role
Newcastle University Finance is a large team of skilled and experienced colleagues who manage the financial business activities of the University. We provide a professional and proactive service to our students, colleagues and stakeholders. We are committed to supporting the personal and professional development of our team.
We have an exciting opportunity for an Office Operations Manager in our administration team. The team provides support to the Finance function with everything from financial governance to office management, and from administering the recruitment process for the service, to providing Executive Assistant support to the Finance senior management team.
This is a broad-based role which provides plenty of interest and variety. You will lead a team of three colleagues, taking responsibility for the service’s administrative systems, policies and processes. You will use your initiative and judgement to take the lead, make decisions and resolve problems.
What about you?
We are looking for a confident communicator, with proven staff management experience, who can build positive relationships with colleagues at all levels. You must be proactive, flexible, able to work under pressure and think strategically. To thrive in the role, you will be keen to provide an excellent service and you must be open to and comfortable with driving change.
If this sounds like you then we would love to hear from you. Informal enquiries are welcomed and should be addressed to Rebecca Trainer: [email protected] .
Please ensure you upload a covering letter with your CV when applying for this role. Only applications received via the Newcastle University website will be considered for shortlisting.
Interviews will take place on Wednesday 27th March.
Key Accountabilities
- Take overall responsibility to ensure Finance’s administrative systems, policies and processes are delivered in a responsive and professional manner, with a commitment to enhanced efficiency and quality, identifying and implementing innovative changes where appropriate. Providing operational leadership to support the senior management team with the delivery of the service’s strategic plan
- Lead, develop and manage the workload of a multi-functional Operations Team responsible for the management of administrative processes in Finance. Responsibilities of the team include, but are not limited to, management of people transactions, space management, purchasing, planning, executive support, committee support and financial governance support
- Lead on the end-to-end recruitment process on behalf of Finance, advising and supporting recruiting managers to ensure that process and policy is adhered to. Liaising as necessary with external recruitment professionals to promote the University and the Hub’s vacant posts. Support is from vacancy creation to new starter induction and will require constant review and refinement of induction procedures, ensuring that they are actioned for each new starter within the service
- Oversee Executive Assistant (EA) support to the service’s senior management team
- Lead on the strategic analysis and presentation of relevant management information for Finance with a view to identifying key trends, opportunities, and challenges, and recommending to the department manager the appropriate action to address these
- Work closely with the University’s IT and Estates departments (NUIT and ESF) to ensure that the needs of the service are met, including office space, IT equipment and software access
- Take an active role in the University and in particular Professional Service forums sharing best practice with peers and creating effective networks to support the efficient operations of the service
- Oversee purchasing activity for the service ensuring compliance with the University’s policies and financial regulations and ensuring that finances are appropriately and efficiently managed
- In collaboration with the department manager, lead on the service’s internal communications
- Under the guidance of the department manager, lead on the development and implementation of policies relating to Health and Safety within Finance, ensuring compliance with legislation. Ensure all voluntary Health and Safety roles are filled, all training is up to date, all monitoring systems are in place and continuously develop the colleague induction briefing and supporting documentation
- Lead on the planning and organising for Finance activities and events such as away days and team building exercises
- Undertake any other duties within the scope and general nature of the grade which may be required
The Person
Knowledge, Skills and Experience
- Significant recent administrative experience within a higher education establishment or other complex organisation
- Proven staff management experience with evidence of leading a team to achieve results
- Excellent working knowledge of Microsoft Office software packages together with a high level of competency and confidence in handling and manipulating data from a diverse range of sources
- Excellent Microsoft Teams skills
- Excellent interpersonal skills, including negotiating influencing and relationship building and skilled at developing and working as part of a team
- Highly organised with the ability to handle and prioritise conflicting priorities over a wide-ranging portfolio
- Ability to work accurately with meticulous attention to detail within tight deadlines
- Able to plan and manage own workload independently and plan the workload of others
Attributes and Behaviour
- Evidence of a proactive, creative and flexible approach to problem-solving with a consistent ‘can-do’ attitude
- Acts in a collaborative, inclusive, transparent and open manner, with integrity and is able to build high levels of trust
- Has the ability to see the “big picture”, to think strategically and to manage complex problems and issues, seeing the different perspectives of stakeholders
- Uses clear, concise and accurate communication, tailoring the approach accordingly and encouraging a two-way communication process, able to advise and persuade at all levels
- Sets own priorities in conjunction with team and area objectives and has the ability to quickly identify what is important and act accordingly
- High drive and initiative, able to demonstrate professional resilience
Qualifications
- Degree or equivalent level qualification plus experience in a similar role or significant vocational experience, demonstrating development through progressively more demanding, relevant roles
Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.
We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.
At Newcastle University we hold a silver Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.
In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.
Requisition ID: 26790
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