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About the Role

The role holder will work within the Student Recruitment and Support Ireland (SRSI) team and will manage the delivery of student facing operations to help students and prospective students make study choices leading to successful module completion, study progression, qualification completion, and customer satisfaction. 

They key duties are:

1. To manage a team of student facing staff that includes the Student Recruitment and Fees Supervisor and Advisers effectively, ensuring that quality and service standards and Key Performance Indicators are met.
2. To deliver and develop the Information & Fees service within Student Recruitment and Support Ireland as part of the University’s Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) model, by collaboration with other managers/senior managers within SRSI and with a range of staff across the wider University. 
3. To work with the SRSI management team and the wider University to ensure an integrated approach to operational delivery of curriculum appropriate recruitment and support for students.

Key Responsibilities

A summary of the main responsibilities is provided below.  To view the full list of responsibilities, please refer to the job description available here [click].

1. Leadership and performance management of student facing staff including the Student Recruitment and Fees Supervisor and a team of Advisers.
   
   
2. To oversee the Student Recruitment and Fees Supervisor and team of Advisers as part of a flexible management team with a focus on providing study and fees information to students and potential students within agreed timescales, ensuring that all activity is dealt with promptly and effectively and within agreed service levels.
   
   
3. Develop SRSI, team and personal expertise and knowledge across all areas of the curriculum to provide an expert point of referral. 
   
   
4. Liaise closely and collaboratively with relevant staff and managers/senior managers within The Open University in Ireland and within the Information, Advice and Guidance Service in other locations, and with staff and managers/senior managers in central teams to provide excellent service to students and prospective students to enable them to make good study choices and to adopt successful behaviours.
   
   
5. To proactively support the Senior Manager (Operations) in the development and continuous improvement of good internal and inter team working and service provision.
   
   
6. To continually develop skills and knowledge to maintain and improve personal performance, in the spirit of continuous improvement and to adopt correct and evolving business practices and procedures.
   
   
7. Leadership and management of a specific area of work/areas of work, such as work with Student Finance Northern Ireland, students in secure environments, proactive funding campaigns, complaints etc.

About You

Essential Criteria 

• Relevant qualification in management and/or advice and guidance, or equivalent professional management experience
  
  
• Proven experience managing multi-channel customer-focused services, including workload planning, workforce management, and operational performance delivery.
  
  
• Strong leadership experience including recruitment, staff development, performance management, operational performance planning, and maintaining quality standards.
  
  
• Skilled in managing the provision of information with a commitment to excellent customer service and continuous improvement.
  
  
• Highly developed interpersonal, communication, and presentation skills, with the ability to influence, build credibility, and adapt approach to different audiences and situations.
  
  
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with colleagues and teams to achieve organisational objectives and service targets.
  
  
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making abilities, resolving issues quickly, effectively, and with sensitivity.
  
  
• Excellent organisational, time-management, and self-motivation skills, with the ability to work independently within established systems and procedures.
  
  
• Numerically competent with the ability to interpret complex management information.
  
  
• Highly proficient in IT systems, including Microsoft Office applications and databases, with the ability to pick up new systems quickly and a commitment to continuous professional development.
  
  
• Ability to carry out the role in a way that is consistent with equality legislation and the University's values and relevant policies.

Desirable Criteria 

• Experience of working in an educational environment.
  
  
• Understanding of business continuity planning and management.
  
  
• Understanding of the higher education sector and the place of part-time, distance learning within it.

Support with your application

If you have any questions, or need support or adjustments relating to your application, the recruitment process, or the role, please contact us on 01908 541111 or email careers@open.ac.uk quoting the advert reference number.

What's in it for you?

At The Open University, we offer a range of benefits to recognise and reward great work, alongside policies and flexible working that contribute towards a great work life balance. Get all the details of what benefits we offer by visiting our Staff Benefits page (clicking this link will open a new window).

Flexible working

We are open to discussions about flexible working. Whether it’s a job share, part time, compressed hours or another working arrangement. Please reach out to us to discuss what works best for you.

Working Location: 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 Belfast Office, it is expected that some attendance in the office will be required when necessary and in response to business needs, occasionally at short notice. We’d expect this to be two days per week. Expenses associated with travel to our Belfast site are not reimbursable.

Next steps in the Recruitment process

We anticipate interviews to take place w/c 12 October 2026.

Early closing date notification

While most roles will remain open until the advertised closing date, applications may be reviewed on an ongoing basis. In some cases, vacancies may close earlier if a sufficient number of suitable applications have been received and equality impacts have been appropriately considered. All roles will remain advertised for a minimum of one week before any early closure is implemented.

If you have started an application or were in the process of applying when the advert closed, we encourage you to get in touch. We are committed to understanding individual circumstances and can offer further support where needed, including reasonable adjustments for applicants with protected characteristics.

How to apply

To apply for this role, please submit the following documents:

• CV
• Supporting statement.  

  The supporting statement should be no more than 1,500 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 job and person specification

You can view your progress and application communications when you are logged into our recruitment system.  Please check your spam/junk folders if you do not receive associated email updates.