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About the Role

As a Co-ordinator within the Faculty’s professional services team, you will coordinate, and directly provide project, operational, and administrative support, and manage a team of staff in Business Services. Working flexibly and collaboratively with colleagues across the Faculty and the wider University, you will be responsible for the local planning and organisation of support in the most efficient and effective way to meet the expected standards of service.   

Specifically, you will coordinate day-to-day operations and processes; and support the identification, dissemination, and implementation of a good practice as part a commitment to continuous improvement and the development of operational capabilities.  

Key Responsibilities

Providing proactive operational, administrative, and secretarial support, working in conjunction with other members of the team and colleagues across the Faculty and wider University.  Activities include but are not limited to:  

Operations and Finance

• Monitoring and filtering enquiries; preparing general communications, reports and other documents; preparing meeting papers; proactive diary management; organising meetings; arranging travel and accommodation and processing related expenses.    
• Supporting the Senior Business Manager and Operations & Compliance Manager in the coordination and delivery of a range of activities that relate to Accommodation, Health and Safety, IT infrastructure, HR, Finance, Business Continuity and Information Compliance.  
• Acting as a first point of contact and handling general enquiries from colleagues, external organisations and partners etc.   
• Managing generic mailboxes, ensuring communications are progressed and dealt with in a timely fashion.   
• Setting up and managing electronic filing systems, co-ordinating records management, and developing/maintaining systems and processes.  
• Coordinating and supporting the organisation and delivery of meetings, events, and conferences including preparing papers and PowerPoint presentations, organising rooms and AV equipment, arranging travel, accommodation and catering.  
• Updating website, SharePoint, Teams sites content and email distribution lists.  
• Supporting the management of local budgets including maintaining records of expenditure, logging future commitments, reconciling budgets and contributing to quarterly forecasts.    
• Ensuring that correct procedures are being followed and highlighting any concerns or training requirements.    

People Management

• Providing line management of Assistants within your team including working with the Senior Manager to coordinate workloads, staff appraisal and development, induction and training, monitoring progress and performance, and performance management.   
• Organising team training and holding regular team and one-to-one meetings.  

Strategy, Planning, Policy and Governance

• Acting as the Working Secretary to the Faculty promotion boards, committees and meetings including drafting agendas, circulating papers and taking minutes as required.   
• Contributing to the development and coordinating the implementation of policies, procedures, and guidance.  

Project Management

• Contributing to the development, maintenance, and updating of project plans and project documentation; monitoring and reporting on progress; and assisting with the administration of all aspects of projects.    

Wider Influence

Working collaboratively with others in the team and making an active contribution to the wider work of the Faculty including: 

• Contributing to peer networks and communities to support the identification, dissemination, and adoption of good practice and solving common issues and problems. 
• Advising on routine enquiries and providing guidance to academic and professional services colleagues on policy, guidance and processes relating to operations. 

Undertaking other duties as agreed with your line manager 

About You

Essential:

• A good standard of written English language, grammar, and mathematics commensurate with the role.
• Relevant and appropriate operational, administrative, or secretarial experience. 
• Effective organisational skills with the ability to plan, schedule, and deliver multiple priorities while remaining flexible and calm under pressure. 
• Ability to solve problems, using information from a variety of sources to aid analysis and make timely decisions. 
• Good communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to build trust, establish constructive relationships and influence others. 
• Ability and willingness to motivate and manage others and to contribute to effective team and collaborative working that supports the best collective outcomes. 
• Proficient in the use of IT and willing to develop existing skills and learning about relevant IT systems. 
• An understanding of the University’s mission and Values in Action and the ability to work in a manner which aligns to these.

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.

Work Location

It is anticipated that a hybrid working pattern can be adopted for this role, where you can work from home and the office. However, as this role is contractually aligned to our Milton Keynes office it is expected that some attendance in the office will be required. We’d expect this to be at least once per week on a Wednesday and when necessary and in response to business needs.

Next steps in the Recruitment process

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 as separate documents;

• CV
• Supporting statement of 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 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.