Faculty/Administrative/Service Department / NPL South of England Hub
Job Title / Hub Administrator
Job Family / Professional Services / Job Level / 3
Responsible to / Director – NPL South of England Hub
Responsible for (Staff) / N/A
Job Purpose Statement
To assist the Director of NPL South of England in all matters relating to the administration of the Hub and to represent the Hub to the Faculty and NPL on such matters. The post holder supports first the Director of the NPL South of England thereafter, other academic staff on all matters relating to the academic teaching and research activities and initiatives of the Department. In addition they also provide support and guidance to Postgraduate Students, ensuring effective management of postgraduate administration. They are responsible for ensuring that the administrative requirements of the Department are implemented effectively and maintained in accordance with the Faculty’s and University policies and procedures
To provide a high level of executive and administrative support for the NPL South of England management team and in particular, to the Hub Director. The post holder will need to be flexible and be able to maintain good working relationships across the University and the National Physical Laboratory, including academic/scientific and professional services staff.
Key Responsibilities This document is not designed to be a list of all tasks undertaken but an outline record of the main responsibilities (5 to 8 maximum)
Provide effective smooth running of the administrative support ensuring good office management and setting up excellent standards of service to the NPL South of England Management team, End User Panel, and Steering Board
1. Assist the Director and Hub Manager in monitoring expenditure against the committed budget and equipment budgets, grant tracking, joint studentships, and highlighting any issues.
2. To support the Director managing travel arrangements, meeting requests, dealing with enquires, managing email & calendar, submitting expense claims, supporting guests and visitors and taking forward actions.
3. Provide a first point-of-contact for (internal and external) enquiries relating to the network, advising and assisting ‘customers’ and colleagues on specific aspects to maximise service quality, efficiency and continuity including meeting and event planning, liaising with internal and external stakeholders, arranging dates, venues, catering, travel etc.
4. Gathering, preparing and publishing contents for the Hub communications, including management and maintenance of the website, and appropriate marketing through newsletters and advertisements.
5. Providing a high level secretariat function for the Hub Steering Group including arranging papers, preparing and disseminating meeting minutes.
6. Support the Hub Facilities and organise and administer office / desk space, parking spaces, equipment, as well as processing orders and invoices for the Hub.
7. Assisting the Director to gather and collate inputs across the hub for monthly reports and presentations.
8. Responsible for organising Hub events for internal and external (including industry) attendees such as workshops, information events. Etc.
N.B. The above list is not exhaustive.
All staff are expected to:
· Positively support equality of opportunity and equity of treatment to colleagues and students in accordance with the University of Surrey Equal Opportunities Policy.· Work to achieve the aims of our Environmental Policy and promote awareness to colleagues and students.
· Follow University/departmental policies and working practices in ensuring that no breaches of information security result from their actions.
· Ensure they are aware of and abide by all relevant University Regulations and Policies relevant to the role.
· Undertake such other duties within the scope of the post as may be requested by your Manager.
· Work supportively with colleagues, operating in a collegiate manner at all times.
Help maintain a safe working environment by:
· Attending training in Health and Safety requirements as necessary, both on appointment and as changes in duties and techniques demand.
· Following local codes of safe working practices and the University of Surrey Health and Safety Policy.
Elements of the Role
This section outlines some of the key elements of the role, which allow this role to be evaluated within the University’s structure. It provides an overview of what is expected from the post holder in the day-to-day operation of the role.
Communications
· The post holder will have the freedom to manage their individual work tasks as appropriate and will be expected to demonstrate initiative in organising their work towards key deadlines set by the Hub Director.
· Requests for work and information will arise from a variety of stakeholders, including (but not limited to) the Hub Director, Hub Manager, NPL Head of Regions, NPL Theme Leaders, Visiting Academics, and other Faculty and University staff. The post holder will be expected to review, prioritise and respond to these requests using their experience judgement about deadlines and importance.
· The post holder will need to have excellent communication skills in order to deal with enquiries from key internal and external stakeholders, including customers and potential customers. Some of these are likely to be complex procedural issues involving liaison with Surrey and NPL colleagues in several different departments
Planning and Organising
· When deciding upon a course of action to resolve a problem, the post holder will normally draw upon their previous experience as well as referring to University and NPL policies and procedures.
· When managing more complex problems, the post holder will be expected to review and analyse the problem, putting forward a solution to the Hub Director / Manager as required.
· The post holder must prioritise their own workload in line with the priorities of the Hub team by adjusting to meet deadlines and respond to changing circumstances. This includes successfully managing conflicting demands, having a basic awareness of the options available in dealing with issues and the ability to make effective decisions, referring to the line manager when appropriate.
Problem Solving and Decision Making
· The post requires a confident, self-motivated person with initiative and drive who will be comfortable identifying and addressing problems. The post holder will have some supervision but will be expected to deal with routine enquiries and issues using some initiative and judgement to determine how these issues are resolved.
· The post holder is expected to carry out initial investigation into more complex problems, and issues which fall outside the remit of their role, before referring them to their line manager for guidance, putting forward recommendations where necessary.
· The post holder may occasionally experience queries or issues, where there is no formal guidance. In these cases the post holder is required to apply their judgement to determine an appropriate course of action or where resolution is not straightforward to refer the matter to a senior member of the team for guidance/resolution.
Continuous Improvement
· The NPL South of England is a new and collaborative initiative and many arising issues will not be covered by standard procedures. The post holder may also be required to suggest improvements or developments to current working practices in order to ensure the smooth running of the service they provide and may on occasion be required to implement these, after consultation with their line manager.
Accountability
· This post will be the first point of contact for the NPL South of England Hub and as such the effectiveness of the service it provides to University and NPL staff and external visitors/customers will have an impact on the Hub’s success.
· The post holder may also be required to suggest improvements or developments to current working practise in consultation with their manager, in order to ensure the smooth running of the service. The post holder will have the latitude within their daily/weekly work routine to organise and prioritise their work priorities, without supervisory approval, as long as key deadlines and objectives are met.
Dimensions of the role.
· The post holder is expected to exercise judgement in the management and planning of their day-to-day activities, ensuring work is prioritised so that key deadlines are met.
· The post holder will be expected to have a sound knowledge of appropriate policies and procedures relating to their role, making reference to them to resolve problems and issues as they arise.
Supplementary Information
As part of the Partnership arrangements between the Universities of Surrey and Strathclyde, NPL and the Department for Business, Enterprise, Innovation and Science, a network of regional hubs is being established, with the first four to be based at the universities of Cambridge, Huddersfield, Strathclyde and Surrey. The vision of NPL South of England, based at Surrey, is to deliver world-leading, responsive and sustainable measurement capability that underpins the prosperity and quality of life in the South of England.
Person Specification This section describes the sum total of knowledge, experience & competence required by the post holder that is necessary for standard acceptable performance in carrying out this role.
Qualifications and Professional Memberships
HNC, A-level, NVQ or equivalent, plus solid relevant work experience or
Broad vocational experience, acquired through a combination of job-related vocational training and considerable on-the-job experience, demonstrating development through involvement in a series of progressively more demanding relevant work/role / E
Technical Competencies (Experience and Knowledge) This section contains the level of competency required to carry out the role (please refer to the Competency Framework for clarification where needed and the Job Matching Guidance). / Essential/
Desirable / Level
1-3
Good working knowledge of MS Office packages and ability/willingness to use other applications / E / 3
Experience of minuting meetings / E / 2
Experience/understanding of working with budgets / D / 2
Experience of the Higher Education Sector / D / N/A
Basic awareness of the activities of the University/National Physical Laboratory / D / N/A
Special Requirements: / Essential/
Desirable
Core Competencies This section contains the level of competency required to carry out this role. (Please refer to the competency framework for clarification where needed). n/a (not applicable) should be placed, where the competency is not a requirement of the grade. / Level
1-3
Communication
Adaptability / Flexibility
Customer/Client service and support
Planning and Organising
Continuous Improvement
Problem Solving and Decision Making Skills
Managing & Developing Performance
Creative and Analytical Thinking
Influencing, Persuasion and Negotiation Skills
Strategic Thinking & Leadership / 3
3
2
2
2
1
n/a
1
2
n/a
This Job Purpose reflects the core activities of the post. As the Department/Faculty and the post holder develop, there will inevitably be some changes to the duties for which the post is responsible, and possibly to the emphasis of the post itself. The University expects that the post holder will recognise this and will adopt a flexible approach to work. This could include undertaking relevant training where necessary.
Should significant changes to the Job Purpose become necessary, the post holder will be consulted and the changes reflected in a revised Job Purpose.
Organisational/Departmental Information & Key Relationships
Background Information
In March 2015 the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), the Universities of Surrey and Strathclyde and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) entered into a formal partnership. As part of this partnership, a network of NPL regional hubs is being established. NPL South of England will be hosted by the University of Surrey. Its aim will be to deliver world-leading, responsive and sustainable measurement capability that underpins the prosperity and quality of life in South East England and beyond. It will bring together existing collaborations covering the University’s existing specialisms, NPL’s metrology expertise and local industrial needs into a single integrated activity within the region.
NPL is the UK’s National Measurement Institute and is a world-leading centre of excellence in developing and applying the most accurate measurement standards, science and technology available to man. For more than a century NPL has developed and maintained the nation’s primary measurement standards. These standards underpin an infrastructure of traceability throughout the UK and the world that ensures accuracy and consistency of measurement.
Department Structure Chart
Relationships
Internal· NPL South of England Team (Director, Manager, Business Development)
· NPL Regional team
· Executive Office
· FEPS Dean
· Theme Leads at the University of Surrey and Strategy Directors at NPL
· Academic researchers and Facilities.
· Other academic and professional services staff involved in NPL collaboration activities
External
· Industrial Clients
· Visiting staff and students
· Partner organizations & Insitutions
· Visiting Researchers
· Staff from other organisations involved in the NPL Partnership (especially University of Strathclyde and BEIS)