Operations Administrator

Salary: £25,742 to £26,444 with progression to £27,979 per annum
Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits . We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.
Closing Date: 26 April 2024
The Role
The School of Natural and Environmental Sciences is seeking a highly motivated and enthusiastic individual to join the Outstations Team as an Operations Administrator.
It is essential that you possess excellent organisational and communication skills, have a keen eye for detail and look to identify and implement improvements wherever possible. Working with a variety of stakeholders, the successful applicant will complete a range of administration tasks with a ‘can do’ attitude and a willingness to be flexible to support the wider team.
The Outstations Administrator position offers a unique role which requires the successful candidate to frequently work independently at our NU Farms sites whilst also being confident to engage with visitors at large events such as Open Days, coffee mornings and other on-farm promotional activity. The position offers lots of variety, managing day to day enquiries, finance and purchasing, co-ordinating events at NU Farms, supporting the delivery of our academic strategy group and promoting our outstations facilities via our webpages and social media accounts.
The School of Natural and Environmental Sciences Outstation Facilities are made up of:
NU Farms
Newcastle University Farms encompasses 800ha of Red Tractor assured mixed arable and grazing operations, with a commercial dairy herd. Spread across three sites in Northumberland, NU Farms manage commercial, research and teaching objectives, underpinning a vision to provide an open innovation platform enabling researchers to work with farmers, industry, and environmental and government stakeholders.
Marine Outstations
Dove Marine Laboratory
The Dove Marine Laboratory holds a significant role in the UK's maritime heritage. Located on Cullercoats Bay, the Lab is home to research-active academics, students and post-doctoral researchers. Research interests range from deep-sea food webs and marine mammal biology to ballast water treatments and marine biotechnology.
Blyth Marine Station & Research Vessel, The Princess Royal
Our Marine Station in Blyth Marina is home to The Princess Royal a student and staff designed catamaran which has established itself as the ideal platform for all types of research and commercial ventures requiring a small vessel due to its stability, large deck area and manoeuvrability.
Please visit our webpages for more information about NU Farms and our Marine Outstations.
We are committed to building and maintaining a fair and inclusive working environment. The position is available immediately and is offered on a full-time basis. This is a campus (Outstations) focussed role and the successful candidate will be required to work predominantly at NU Farms sites, with flexibility across Marine Outstations and main campus, there may be the opportunity for occasional remote working. You must possess a full clean UK driving licence and have access to your own vehicle as travel between sites will be required.
To apply, please complete an online application and upload a CV and a cover letter. Your cover letter is a supporting statement, and you should outline how you meet the essential criteria of the role and evidence this with examples.
For informal enquiries, please contact Sarah Banks, Outstations Manager: sarah.banks@ncl.ac.uk who is available from 8th April 2024 onwards, any queries prior to 8th April 2024 should be submitted to Victoria Coulson, Operations Manager: victoria.coulson@ncl.ac.uk
Key Accountabilities

• To provide a professional and proactive service to colleagues, students and visitors with a clear focus on customer service
• To supervise a team managing the allocation of duties and workload, where appropriate
• To lead the administration of designated processes within your area, including adhering to agreed operating procedures, escalating as appropriate and monitoring progress
• To develop, implement and maintain effective office procedures and systems to ensure that support is efficient, timely and accurate
• To act as secretary to meetings including logistical arrangements such as room bookings, agenda preparation and circulation, minute taking and monitoring progress of actions
• To undertake an active role in the health and safety management of a designated office, contributing to the maintenance of a safe working environment for colleagues and visitors
• To take the lead on general administrative support to colleagues and students as required, including (but not limited to) purchasing, travel, the running of events
• To work as part of a wider Faculty and unit team and to undertake other duties within the scope and general nature of the grade which may be required

The Person
Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Full clean UK driving licence
• A flexible attitude to work demands and customers and a commitment to excellent customer service
• Good IT skills with experience of Microsoft suite of programmes
• An excellent communicator both verbally and in writing with the ability to tailor messages to the appropriate audiences
• Ability to follow and implement policies and procedures
• Ability to use initiative and judgement to resolve problems independently
• Ability to work calmly under pressure and to manage competing deadlines
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Experience of administrative duties, including but not limited to general meeting support, diary management, dealing with enquiries
• Ability to train/develop and manage other staff

Attributes and Behaviour

• A positive, proactive and professional customer focussed attitude
• Excellent communication skills
• Works in a planned and structured way
• Uses own and others time effectively
• Ensures that all activities are completed on time
• Keeps fellow team members up to date with progress
• Willing to help others and share workloads
• Maintains flexibility in work plans to allow for changing circumstances
• Plans team workload and tasks in a systematic way
• Takes responsibility for achieving own targets
• An aptitude for utilising software tools and technologies to enhance, improve and simplify day to day functioning/organisational skills

Qualifications

• Maths and English at GCSE Level 4 or equivalent plus relevant experience in an administrative or customer service setting

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.
We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.
At Newcastle University we hold a silver Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.
In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.
Requisition ID: 26902