Assessment Service Desk Assistant Manager - (7135)

We are looking to recruit an Assessment Service Desk Assistant Manager with a natural passion and ability in customer service to assist in leading a Service Desk which meets all of the University's assessment requirements. This position is fixed-term for six months.

The Assessment Service Desk, has grown over recent years and is in an exciting position to support academic colleagues and Professional Services colleagues work together to ensure student and University success through a high level of customer satisfaction.  

The work we do has a direct impact on the experience of our students and colleagues, and we are committed to providing a consistently excellent and efficient service, supporting the changing needs of our modern University. 

Assessment is at the heart of what a university does and our department's purpose is to enable our students and colleagues to achieve their best by delivering sector-leading excellence and innovation in assessment management.  

Assessment Management consists of six teams;  

• Assessment Delivery,  
• Assessment Systems, 
• Assessment Standards,  
• Assessment Service Desk,  
• Progression and Classification,  
• Assessment Mitigations.   

The Assessment Service Desk acts as a Tier 1 support team and single point of contact (via a ticketing system) for all other areas of Assessment Management, as well as having its own distinct remit for proactive communications with the wider university.

Assessment Management is part of a wider Education Services department. The department is organised around three thematic areas: Assessment, Student and Curriculum. Colleagues work collaboratively and flexibly to support the needs of the whole department in relation to the demands of the academic calendar.   

The Role

The primary focus of the role is to assist leading a customer service-oriented team within the wider Assessment Management area.

The post holder will need to coordinate timely and accurate information and organise query and incident response in relation to all aspects of the university's assessment requirements. The driving mission of the team is rapidity of response, and increasing the percentage of enquiries which can be dealt with via self-service and at Tier 1 support.

The post holder will be expected to participate and keep up to date with a wide range of developments and discussions and translate these into meaningful information for service-users. They will need to have excellent analytical skills and a drive to resolve issues in such a way that the service-user is satisfied, but that recommendations are also made within the service to ensure future occurrences are minimised or avoided. There is also the expectation of creation and articulation of management information/briefings in relation to the service area.

The post holder will regularly represent the wider service area and need to establish and support the key messaging required from all other members of the Assessment Management Leadership Team. 

The post holder will work to link in seamlessly with other services, such as the IT Helpline and Student Hubs.    

The post holder will be the assist with the line manager of a team of customer service-orientated staff and there is an expectation that specialisation and expertise is actively developed and deployed. 

The post will work closely with colleagues in academic and Professional Service departments to ensure assessment requirements are supported and carried out in line with university standards and regulations.

Ideal Candidate

You will be capable of taking line management responsibility and able to develop and enthuse staff. You will need to work across departmental lines and have high levels of tact and diplomacy.     

You will ideally have experience and knowledge of stakeholder service methodologies.

This role will require an excellent problem-solver, who is also able to communicate with all levels of the university to ensure change is implemented, where possible, to avoid complex issues reoccurring in the future.   

How to Apply

• Please ensure that you include a covering letter which addresses the Person Specification with your application. NOTE: CVs alone will not be considered.  
• Shortlisting is carried out based on your covering letter and you should be clear about how you meet each of the Person Specification criteria, and give evidence of your experience. It is helpful if you number your points in line with the corresponding Person Specification requirement.  

If you have any queries about the role, please contact Crystal Hon, Assessment Service Desk Manager, c.hon@mmu.ac.uk.

Manchester Met University is committed to creating an intentionally inclusive culture of belonging that promotes equity and celebrates diversity. We understand the importance of having a diverse workforce and the benefits it can bring to ensuring diversity of thought and innovation in everything we do. We, therefore, encourage applications in particular from people from ethnic minority groups, disabled people and people who identify as LGBTQIA+.