Work with us

Faculty Coordinator

£37,999-£39,105

Permanent, 37 hours per week reducing to 18.5 hours per week 1 April 2025

Closing Date: Friday, 24 January, 2025 - 11:59pm

Location: Based within our OU in Wales, Cardiff office, but operating a pattern of hybrid working

About the role

The Faculty Co-ordinator is an academic-related member of the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS) and part of the Nations team of Student Services, Academic, academic-related staff, administrative and support colleagues involved in delivering Health, Wellbeing and Social Care modules, qualifications and professional programmes. Whilst most work will be undertaken during office hours, some evening/weekend work and occasional travel to other OU offices and locations may be required. 

You will be responsible for the administrative support activities related to the delivery of services to students and Associate Lecturers (ALs) in liaison with colleagues in Student Services. You will be a point of contact for prospective students and their employers/sponsors, as well as for currently enrolled students and their employers and sponsors.

You will have an operational perspective on the planning and delivery of services, using existing processes and where appropriate creating new processes for scheduling, monitoring, reviewing/reporting and liaising with colleagues both nationally and centrally. Your responsibilities will include a particular emphasis on supporting the Faculty’s professional programmes in Nursing and Social Work.

You will be expected to develop and maintain close working relationships with nation managers, Staff Tutors, Associate Lecturers, and Academic Services staff, and to be a committed member of a number of teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Contributing to the planning, co-ordination and implementation of Associate Lecturer/Practice Tutor/Practice Educator appointments, induction and staff development. This will include arranging interviews, acting as a member of the selection panel if required, and carrying out follow-up work;
• Working with local Staff Tutors, Cluster Managers and the AL Support and Professional Development team to plan and co-ordinate Associate Lecturer development activities and practice educator briefings, participating in them as required;
• Leading on Tutor Student Allocation with Associate Lecturer Services;
• Create, manage and develop efficient administrative processes for specific areas of work, within the individual’s agreed remit
• Creating the administrative link between appropriate internal and external stakeholders supporting student recruitment to ensure that enrolment processes are managed effectively;
• Providing data via management information systems on student registrations, AL contracts in the locality and other aspects of overview as required;
• Shared responsibility with colleagues of monitoring student queries within the VOICE system (student recording system).
• Dealing with requests and queries from Associate Lecturers in the successful delivery of the module
• Dealing with non-academic queries from students and enquirers, advising accordingly across a range of subjects, and with awareness of the particular requirements of the professional programmes;
• Contribution to marketing and promotional activities linked to Professional Programmes i.e review programme specific websites, review and update employer and practice Handbooks, organising and participating in employer and student briefings for both new and  continuing students.
• Supporting appropriate colleagues to ensure the proper resolution of formal complaints/appeals;
• Build close links and effective communication with central and Nations staff, including Module Teams, Academic Services, Student Services, Professional Programmes Team, Associate Lecturers Contract Team, Partnerships, Business Development Unit; 
• Support with appropriate communication with students to promote retention and success;
• Facilitate the sharing of information and good practice across the School;

Skills and Experience

Essential:

• A degree or equivalent qualification;
• Demonstrable experience of administrative work in an educational context;
• Familiar and confident with the MS Office applications, OU IT systems and Adobe Connect;
• Excellent organisational ability and experience in using management information systems;
• Proven ability to work proactively with minimum supervision, using your own initiative and challenging existing processes appropriately;
• Experience of managing projects including co-ordinating and planning tasks, influencing others, and ensuring delivery to quality standards, budget and schedule;
• The ability to work as an effective member of multiple teams, with the communication and interpersonal skills needed to encourage co-operation and co-ordination of the work of both academic and administrative colleagues and effective liaison with Associate Lecturers;
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to express ideas clearly both orally and in writing, and to analyse and interpret numerical data;
• Experience of working with confidential information and awareness of data protection issues;
• The ability to work as a member of different teams in a collaborative manner;
• An understanding of the challenges and opportunities provided by virtual team working;
• The ability to support nation teams with some travel to those areas and to Milton Keynes/Nottingham;
• Knowledge of and commitment to OU equal opportunities policies and practices;
• A strong commitment to excellence in working with a diverse student population.

Desirable:

• Familiarity with the teaching methodology of the Open University;
• An awareness of the diversity of student support needs;
• Experience of line managing staff with a possibility of line management responsibilities in this role;
• Experience of chairing meetings.

How to apply

As part of the application process, you will be expected to submit your CV and a Supporting Statement (max 1000 words) that demonstrates how you meet the essential/desirable criteria listed above. 

Please send your CV and Supporting Statement to careers@open.ac.uk using the title: Faculty Coordinator Application

Please let us know if you would like to use Welsh at an interview or any other form of assessment. We will provide a translation service from Welsh to English if one is needed.

Job share and flexible working patterns will be considered.

It is anticipated that a hybrid working pattern can be adopted for this role, where the successful candidate can work from home and the office. However, as this role is contractually aligned to our Cardiff office it is expected that some attendance in the office will be required when necessary and in response to business needs. We’d expect this to be approximately once a quarter.

Full time starting salary is £37,999 to £39,105 per annum, with potential progression when in post to £45,163 per annum. Internal candidates already within the salary banding will remain on their current spinal point as per policy.

Early closing date notification

We may close this job advert earlier than the published closing date where a satisfactory number of applications are received. We would therefore encourage early applications.

To apply for this role please submit the following;

CV and Supporting Statement, up to 1,000 words. You should set out in your statement why you’re interested in this role and provide examples of where your skills and experience meet the required competencies for this role as detailed in the above essential and desirable criteria. 

The Open University is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion which is reflected in our mission to be open to people, places, methods and ideas. We aim to foster a diverse and inclusive environment so that all in our OU community can reach their potential.  We recognise that different people bring different perspectives, ideas, knowledge, and culture, and that this difference brings great strength.  We strive to recruit, retain and develop the careers of a diverse pool of students and staff, and particularly encourage applications from all underrepresented groups. We also aspire to make The Open University a supportive workplace for all through our policies, services and staff networks.

Applications are allowed to be submitted in Welsh, and an application submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application submitted in English.