Hamilton Trust – JOB DESCRIPTION for OFFICE MANAGER

Location: 1A Howard St, Oxford OX4 3AY

Time: 22.5 hours/week (details to be agreed, but to include a minimum of 4 hours on Fridays; the hours can all be worked during school hours if desired)

Salary: likely to be in the range£27,000-£30,000 (depending on experience) pro rata at 0.6 will be in the range £16,200-£18,000.

Context

William Rowan Hamilton Trust (known as Hamilton Trust) is a registered charity (number 115024) based in Oxford. It provides services in support of raising the educational attainment of children up to age eleven within the UK and to support the effectiveness and professional job satisfaction (and hence retention) of primary teachers. The Trust runs a website to deliver its teaching resources to around 70,000 teachers ( ). In addition, the Trust works with schools in areas of relative disadvantage in Oxford in particular through its partnerships with the three primary schools in the Blackbird Academy Trust (BAT) located in Blackbird Leys. The Trust also runs several maths projects including the Hamilton Primary Numeracy Programme(HPNP) and the Hamilton Secondary Numeracy Programme (HSNP).

Hamilton Trust’s operations are managed by Athene Reiss (Head of Hamilton Projects) and seven office staff under the guidance of Professor Ruth Merttens (Education Director) and with executive support from Michael O’Regan (Chair of Trustees). The Trust relies on a team of freelance writers, editors and resourcers spread across the country and the world.

Job purpose

This is a new role for the Trust. Its purpose is to take a leading role in the practical management of the office and its resources, including both personnel and equipment.

This new post will have responsibility for managing Hamilton’s small office, with particular regard to general HR issues, with regard to the physical space and equipment of the office, and with regard to office administration. The post holder will also work closely with the Managerof Hamilton Education (a sister company).

Responsible to

Suzie Hunt, Deputy Head of Hamilton Projects

Job scope

The job will be based in the Hamilton Trust office at 1A Howard St, Oxford, OX4 3AY.

The job is a 22.5 hours/week post. The precise distribution of those hours is a matter for negotiation, but we do require at least 4 of those hours to be spent in the office on Fridays.

Hamilton’s office is open for work between the hours of 8am and 5pm, during which time it is expected that staff take an (unpaid) lunch break of 0.5 – 1 hour, at their own convenience.

Salary

Likely to be in the range of £27,000 - £30,000(equivalent full-time salary, pro rata for 0.6 time in the range £16,200-£18,000). The precise offer will depend on experience. Hamilton offer membership in a workplace pension scheme and a generous holiday entitlement.

Main duties

HR responsibilities will include:

  • Supporting consultants and contractors in their Hamilton work
  • Coordinating generic pension arrangements for staff
  • Coordinating generic contractual arrangements for staff
  • Administering searches for new employees and contractors

Equipment responsibilities will include:

  • First port of contact with Hamilton’s IT supplier
  • Buying and managing office IT equipment
  • Organising, improving and sustaining the physical and digital space of the office

Finance responsibilities will include:

  • Administering invoices for contractors and suppliers
  • To act as backup and additional knowledge repository for the financial processes of Hamilton Education, which is Hamilton Trust’s sister trading organisation
  • Assisting with school invoice payments

Administrative responsibilities will include:

  • Preparing agendas and minutes for staff meetings
  • Delivering and following up Hamilton’s communications with the BAT schools
  • Managing copyright agreement for poetry, and other materials, in plans
  • Administering the optimisation of website documents (checking urls, reducing file sizes, administering Hamilton plans on external sites, ensuring smart links in plans, etc.)
  • Assisting HT, HSNP, HPNP and HE materials production and distribution
  • Contributing to supporting Hamilton Trust’s Administrator to answer emails from users as appropriate and required (alongside other staff)
  • General research (on education, personnel and other subjects)as required by Professor Merttens or Mike O’Regan
  • Additional duties as required

No direct reportees, but will work closely with colleagues, including ensuring delivery of required tasks

OFFICE MANAGER - PERSON SPECIFICATIONS

Essential qualifications and qualities

High level of literacy and numeracy

Excellent organisational ability

Fluent user of office software, including Microsoft Office and some other programme/s

A proactive attitude – able to initiate processes and follow them through

Excellent people skills

Able to produce high quality, accurate work independently

Flexible and able to work collaboratively

Pleasant phone manner

Positive approach to solving problems

Good undergraduate degree

Possessing a strong desire to promote excellent educational opportunities for all children

At least three of the desirable items below (but not necessarily all of them)

OFFICE MANAGER - PERSON SPECIFICATIONS, continued

Desirable experience

Experience working within or significant knowledge of the UKprimary or secondary education sector

Experience using accounting software or other financial experience

Experience of HR work, including contracts and pensions

Experience managing IT system

Experience managing an office

Experience doing research in some capacity