Business Support Officer (Maternity Cover)

King’s Language Centre (LC), part of King’s College London’s School of Professional and Continuing Education, is looking to recruit a Business Support Officer to join it’s vibrant and diverse Business Support Team to cover maternity leave for the current roleholder.

The successful candidate will have excellent interpersonal skills and bring a commitment to quality and consistently deliver excellent customer service. You will be highly organised, demonstrate professionalism and high standards and will have a good eye for efficiency and process improvement, with energy and enthusiasm. The role encompasses the following areas:

• Language Resource Centre support (front-line support interacting with students, staff and members of public, language learning resource support, organising student workshops, user analysis, student worker/volunteer support and managing our speaking practice scheme). Term-time Evening and Saturday work is required.
• Tailor-made course (private language tuition) administration.
• Marketing & communications (supporting marketing activity/strategy, social media platforms and general internal and external communication)
• Departmental business support (maintaining/auditing departmental inventories, financial support including purchasing and invoicing, IT/Estates support and Health & Safety)
• Event management (internal and external events and conferences)
• Human resources support (pay/expense claims, staff recruitment support, staff induction support).

[This is currently a hybrid role and the role holder will spend three days on campus and 2 days working remotely (this will be regularly reviewed and may change according to business need). The Language Resources Centre opens between 10am to 7pm; as such, the role holder is expected to work outside of the University’s standard office hours]

This post will be offered on a fixed term contract from 17th October 2022 –  28th October 2023,  This is a full-time  post – 100% full time equivalent.

Language Resources Centre (LRC)

• Provide front line support with written, telephone and face-to-face enquiries from users including students, corporate clients, members of the public and staff, providing information, solving or referring issues and liaising with senior colleagues as necessary during the LRC opening hours (Term time: Mon-Thur 10:00–19:30, Fri 10:00-18:00, Sat 10:00-16:00, Out of term: Mon-Fri 10:00-18:00 TBC)

• Provide assistance to LRC users with regard to all language learning resources

• Provide support to facilitate language learning and teaching, such as booking inductions, organising workshops and other events and managing speaking practice sessions

• Assist the Senior Business Support Officer with the preparation of events for both recruitment and promotional activity (e.g. liaising with organisers, outside speakers, compiling risk assessments, organising and managing student helpers and solving problems as they arise)

• Provide comprehensive administrative support to manage the LRC’s resources and services including maintaining the LRC catalogue and producing statistical information in relation to all LRC activities such as user records, speaking practice sessions, student workshops and LRC inductions

• Ensure all users are aware of, and abide by, appropriate College and Faculty policies including use of IT, copyright compliance, equal opportunity regulation, health and safety and fire evacuation regulations and local or department guidelines and procedures relating to acceptable use of the Centre’s facilities

• Support the Senior Business Support Officer with the training and supervision of Language Learning Advisors including workload allocation within the LRC as directed by the Business Support Manager

Departmental business support

• Maintain records and audits of IT/AV equipment, all learning resources, financial and budgetary data and departmental inventory

• Support the administration of day-to-day departmental financial transactions, including purchasing, invoicing, records reconciliation, expense claims, maintaining comprehensive electronic and hard copy records and escalating any problems to senior staff

• Resolve issues with departmental resources by working closely with colleagues throughout the College such as IT or AV services, Facilities and Estates, HR, Finance and other academic departments

• Undertake purchasing and procurement for the department, within defined limits, in compliance with the College policies

• Responsible for issuing sales invoices for language courses and external clients

• Assist with any other duties as may be required from time to time, including providing cover for colleagues, both within the LC and across the School and College

Marketing and communications

• Support the LC’s marketing and profile-building activities and objectives

• Assist with new income generating activities, events and communications

• Provide support for the LC’s marketing strategy, including:

• maintaining LC’s social media presence
• updating the LC website
• undertaking competitor analysis
• representing the LC at various open days and fairs
• creating relevant material in different formats
• assisting with marketing and promotional events

• Coordinate LC all-staff communications and information areas

• Be responsible for maintaining and communicating information about the Department on the notice boards, within staff handbooks, on departmental web pages & social media and through weekly staff newsletters

Tailor-made course administration

• Provide front line support with written, telephone and face-to-face enquiries for tailor-made courses (private language tuition), identifying client needs, liaise with the teaching team and prepare a course proposal.

• Manage own client accounts for tailor-made courses and demonstrate best practice in managing the client relationship
• Provide analysis as required for the production of bids, tenders or grants for new funding or income generating opportunities
• Create and manage records and electronic databases of all external or corporate groups or individual clients

Human resources management

• With the Business Support Manager, process pay and expense claim forms and manage records on the LC HR database

• Assist with the recruitment of staff, including student and casual workers, ensuring their eligibility to work in the UK

• Support new starter induction for teaching and professional services staff, including student workers, acting as a point of reference for queries and advising them on the College procedures and referring them to appropriate College services and contacts (e.g. Security, HR, IT)

Communication and networking

• Develop excellent relationships with key internal and external stakeholders

• Participate in departmental, faculty, campus and college-wide fora and networks as appropriate, covering for colleagues as required

• Liaise with external clients

• Daily communication with LRC Advisors, Business Support Officer, Senior Business Support Officer, Business Support Manager, Head of Operations, Director, Deputy Directors and Programme Director, Team Leaders, Deputy Team Leaders, teaching staff, Faculty Office, departmental professional services staff, central directorates, students and the general public

Team work, teaching and learning support

• Contribute to the overall professional services team, to planning and delivering professional support to students and staff

• Provide training to support teaching and professional services staff in the use of College systems, providing written guidance notes or manuals where necessary

• Support the induction of new staff members within the department

• Participate in regular reviews of individual and team progress, working closely with all other team members to provide cover during peak periods/ projects.

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.

Essential criteria  

Excellent interpersonal and customer service skills, able to interact with a wide variety of people in a professional and assured manner

Confident and competent IT skills, including the use of electronic resources, MS Office applications and databases

Excellent communication skills and attention to detail, including appropriate use of English in formal documents, professional emails and writing for the web

Competent in managing complex data and being able to generate user friendly reports.

An excellent track record of offering business support and/or administrative services with the ability to comprehend complex situations clearly, and use initiative and judgement to solve problems

Highly organised and able to balance competing priorities under pressure with the capacity to work independently and proactively, within managerial direction and to react positively to constructive feedback 

Ability to constantly review processes and propose improvements

Ability to work evenings and Saturdays as part of the normal working week

Desirable criteria

An understanding of business and/or income generating activities

Experience of purchasing procedures

Interest in / experience of language learning or teaching and/or supporting language practice

About the King’s Language Centre   

King’s Language Centre (LC) is a semi-entrepreneurial department within the School of Professional & Continuing Education. 

It has two broad and entwined remits: to provide language teaching and support in a range of formats to members of the King’s community; and to proactively pursue income-generating teaching opportunities with businesses, organisations and the wider London community. 

There are currently four main programmes of activity within the LC: 

(1) Higher Education modules ranging from ‘beginner’ to ‘near fluent’ are available in eleven languages, and are studied by approximately 1,500 King’s students each year both as part of their degrees and as supplementary learning. 

(2) A substantial evening, intensive and Saturday programme is open to students, staff and members of the public and attracts in the region of 6,000 enrolments per year across up to 26 languages.  

(3) The LC offers private and on-site teaching and assessment to a range of prestigious external organisations.  

(4) Flexible tailor-made one-to-one provision caters to individuals and companies. 

The LC also includes the Language Resources Centre which supports independent language learning with specialist language resources and work areas for students and teachers. In addition to a variety of learning resources (including grammar and course books, magazines, newspapers, CDs, DVDs and online subscriptions), face-to-face learning support, cultural workshops and speaking practice sessions are also available.