Administrative Officer (Operations)

ABOUT UCL

SELCS is a world-leading centre for teaching, research and public engagement, focussing on the literature, linguistic traditions, history, sociology, philosophy, art, film and other aspects of the cultures associated with the languages we teach.

Our taught programmes are innovative and interdisciplinary; academic colleagues and students engage with many urgent concerns facing the world today by understanding Europe’s languages, cultures and histories and their impact globally.

The SELCS Professional Services team provides a wide range of administrative support to facilitate the delivery of teaching and research activities. The team comprises 15.2 Full Time Equivalents (FTE) which is broadly split between two functions, Education Administration and Student Experience (EASE) and Operations.

We work collaboratively across the two functions, and all team members share responsibilities, learn from and cover for each other as necessary.

ABOUT THE ROLE

This is a fixed term maternity cover position, from 3rd August 2026 – 30 July 2027. This post is one of three identical roles and provides professional, comprehensive administrative support for staff and students in SELCS.

The post holder will work collaboratively, advising and sharing knowledge, supporting colleagues as necessary.

They will build and maintains good working relationships with academic colleagues across SELCS, ensuring administrative tasks are handled appropriately.

The post is cyclical in nature, experiencing peaks and troughs across the academic year. The post holder is expected to take annual leave appropriately and will on occasion, with notice, need to work outside of standard office hours in order to meet the requirements of the post (time off in lieu will be given in these instances).

KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• First point of contact for staff and students, dealing with enquiries both face to face and across a variety of media, providing a friendly and welcoming environment, offering advice and support as appropriate but also knowing when to refer or escalate issues.
• Developing efficient and effective office systems
• Liaising with central services e.g., internal post room, porters, IT support or security as necessary
• Ordering goods and services such as stationery, catering, furniture or making hotel bookings, following UCL’s standard procedures.
• Assisting with staffing administration procedures (e.g. recruitment, one-off payments), supporting the Operations Officers as required
• Giving practical support to new staff members and visitors
• Liaising with colleagues in relation to general administrative matters and assisting where appropriate
• Providing support and information to the Departmental Manager, Programme Directors and the Head of Department as required Space and Facilities:
• Checking departmental spaces on a regular basis, ensuring that any maintenance or health and safety issues are reported or escalated as appropriate
• Carrying out work station assessments as required, in line with healthy and safety guidelines
• Requesting and issuing keys for departmental spaces as required; ensuring meticulous records are kept in relation to this.
• Regular monitoring of print devices in departmental spaces, in line with UCL’s managed print service, providing paper and logging issues or requests as needed
• Acting as a computer and print rep: dealing with any IT queries or problems, understanding when to refer problems to UCL’s IT support teams
• Acting as a Fire Evacuation Marshall and / or First Aider as needed.

Communications support

• Assisting with student recruitment projects and procedures, supporting the Operations Officer(s) as required.
• Dealing with prospective student enquiries via a busy shared mailbox, responding in a friendly but professional and timely manner, knowing when to escalate queries.
• Maintaining promotional information aimed at prospective students, including but not limited to departmental pages (both print and online) of the UCL prospectuses.
• Organisation of interviews for prospective post graduate students, in close liaison with academic colleagues.
• Supporting the organisation of events such as open days, guest lectures, seminars, conferences, public engagement programmes, social events (e.g. booking rooms, audio visual equipment, catering or hotels), liaising with UCL’s central services as needed.
• Amending and updating departmental social media channels.
• Amending and updating departmental web pages or other sources of information.
• Scheduling and minuting meetings and committees.

Other Responsibilities

• Attending and contributing to team and staff meetings as required and attending appropriate training / developmental activities.
• Maintaining an awareness and observation of Fire and Health & Safety Regulations.
• Actively complying with and promoting UCL’s equal opportunities, diversity and inclusion policies and strategies.

CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS

The successful applicants will be educated to A level or equivalent or have previous experience of working in a Higher Education institution in an academic unit or in a comparable role.

They will need to have clear verbal and written communication skills. (including accurate grammar, spelling and punctuation).

They will be a good team player, with an ability and willingness to work both collaboratively within a team but also independently when required.

With excellent attention to detail, they will have strong IT skills, with experience of using Microsoft Office packages in a professional setting to a high standard.

The successful candidate will have a positive and helpful approach to work and an understanding of other people’s perspectives.

Qualifications, experience and knowledge

• Educated to A level or equivalent.
• Previous experience of working in a Higher Education institution in an academic unit or in a comparable role.
• Good understanding of the UK higher education system and the issues currently facing the sector.

Skills and abilities

• Clear verbal and written communication skills (including accurate grammar, spelling and punctuation) (essential).
• A good team player, with an ability and willingness to work both collaboratively within a team but also independently when required (essential).
• Strong time management skills and the ability to prioritise effectively (essential).
• Ability to multitask and work productively in a busy environment where interruptions can occur frequently (essential).
• Excellent attention to detail (essential).
• Ability to work well and remain calm when under pressure (essential).
• Strong IT skills, with experience of using Microsoft Office packages in a professional setting to a high standard (essential).
• Ability and willingness to learn new systems and processes as necessary, sometimes at short notice, with an ability to learn quickly (essential).
• Ability to adapt positively to change, with flexibility and resilience in a changing environment (essential).
• Good understanding of issues currently facing Modern Languages within the Higher Education sector (desirable).
• Experience of organising events in a professional setting (desirable).

UCL Ways of Working

• Having a positive and helpful approach to work.
• Understanding other people’s perspectives.
• Understanding your responses to stress, and developing personal resilience strategies.
• Taking responsibility for your work.

Location: London

To view the full job description, please click here – > UCL – Administrative Officer (Operations) – JD

UCL reserves the right to close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications.