Residence Welfare Officer – Maternity Cover

This is a unique opportunity to join the King’s Residences department, as part of the Wellbeing team. In King’s Residences, we strive to provide a safe, supportive, and engaging environment for students to live, study and thrive within. The department currently runs 12 residential sites across London, 9 Residences of which are run by 3rd party organisations – Unite Students, Urbanest, CRM, Scape and Downing. Across these 12 Halls, we house approximately 5500 students every academic year. Of these 5500 students, we house approximately 300 students every year who are under the age of 18. 

The purpose of this role is to provide and lead on the provision of welfare and pastoral care and support services to all students living in King’s Halls of Residences. This is inclusive of providing on-site and remote support, advice and guidance to students and staff alike, and provide full administrative support with case management and administration. This role works directly with the Residence Welfare Lead team, supporting with team training and management and acting as a point of escalation and support for complex and high-risk student cases that are not suitable for volunteer support. The role is also responsible for developing and implementing a robust welfare awareness programme within King’s Residences, to improve accessibility for all students, so every resident has the opportunity to receive high-quality care and support during their stay. 

Alongside this, the Welfare Officer is one of the main Safeguarding advisors within the Residence team. This includes advising and supporting with all safeguarding issues, alongside the monitoring and support of the under-18 resident cohort. 

This role is perfect for someone who enjoys working directly with students and who has experience in working in a dynamic and varied environment. We are passionate about providing a safe and supportive experience for all our students, and so an interest and dedication to student wellbeing is essential! 

This post will be offered on a fixed-term contract for 12 months 

This is a full-time post – 100% full time equivalent

Welfare Case Management

•             Accurately record and track case information on the Case Management database and Student of Concern tracker in a GDPR compliant manner. 

•             Provide weekly reporting on welfare information, for submission to Senior Management Team. 

•             Review incident reports submitted by the team daily and follow up with the relevant individuals to ensure cases are not left open unnecessarily and those cases that require further action are dealt with in a timely manner.  

•             Organise outreach support to all AAR students (Additional Accommodation Requirements) and known vulnerable students on a termly basis to ensure regular contact and proactive risk management. 

•             Lead on regular support of known complex student cases, providing regular, timely and proactive pastoral support to those presenting as high risk. 

•             Intervene and absorb Residence Welfare Lead cases that have become too complex or high-needs for volunteer support, using tact and compassion to transition the student out from RWL support. 

•             Escalate issues to the Residences Wellbeing Manager/Associate Director of Student Residences whenever a risk to one or more students and/or to the University’s reputation is identified.  

•             Responsible for following Student of Concern procedure, referring students and updating SOC management as cases progress in the weekly SOC review meetings.   

•             Provide support and advice to the Residence Welfare Leads or other staff member to implement the appropriate support/interventions for students in residences.  

•             Recognise and report misconduct, illegal or inappropriate behaviour.  

•             Report and manage apparent conflicts of interest, inclusive of mediation between students. 

•             Make clear and rationalised decisions regarding ‘next steps’ for students, including referral to specialist support or external agencies in the absence of the Residences Wellbeing Manager. 

•             Deputise for Residence Wellbeing Manager in their absence. 

•             Provide welfare support to students undergoing the Residences Disciplinary process or students who have been escalated to the College for serious misconduct. 

Crisis Management  

•             Provide direct support and mentoring for students for their welfare needs and personal issues via one-on-one case management support. 

•             Organise debrief sessions with Residences Wellbeing Manager following the end of serious incidents to ensure full support is accessed appropriate to ensure wellbeing is prioritised at all times. 

•             Respond to critical incidents during office hours as needed and liaise with and provide support to associated staff involved. 

•             Engage in Monthly Reflection to manage own wellbeing and self-awareness and resilience. 

Raising Awareness

•             Organise and deliver welfare activities/presentations during key times in the academic calendar (e.g. freshers induction, exam periods).  

•             Coordinate sessions with the Community Engagement Officer to raise awareness on topics that may help students understand the wellbeing support available to them as well as lifting stigmas such as mental health, sexual consent etc.  

•             Play an active part in the provision of welfare information and advice to all students across campuses and sites.  

•             Work with the Marketing and Communications team to ensure regular, current and relevant welfare content is provided on the website, mass email communications and newsletters to students and social media channels. 

•             Create content to raise awareness of Residences Wellbeing team, inclusive of Residence Welfare Lead team and access to wellbeing support initiatives in Residences. 

•             Ensure there is a strong visibility of the Wellbeing team in Residences so that students have easy access to support. 

Policy & Procedures 

•             Adhere to and oversee the implementation of the Residences Welfare Policy and the Safeguarding of Under 18s Policy at all King’s Residences sites. 

•             Conduct an annual review of relevant policies and procedures to ensure they are compliant and relevant to the King’s Residences landscape. 

•             Understand and follow legislation, rules, policies, guidelines and codes of conduct. 

•             Ensure Standard Operating Procedures related to Wellbeing are kept up to date and relevant and that they are reviewed regularly. 

Recruitment & Training of Senior Welfare Leads and Residence Welfare Leads (Volunteers) 

•             Assist with all administration aspects of the yearly recruitment campaign for Welfare Lead volunteers. This is inclusive of (but not limited to); full organisation of marketing material, assistance with information sessions, preparation of shortlisting and interview timetable for volunteers, sending out interview invitations, sending appointment documentation, conducting reference checks and assisting with on-boarding admin. 

•             Assist the Residence Wellbeing Manager with the 3-week compulsory training for all volunteers every August. This includes training administration such as booking rooms, preparing training materials and assisting with training delivery (where appropriate). 

•             Where needed, step in to cover or take up supervision of RWL teams in the absence of an SWL. This is inclusive of holding monthly reflections, RWL 1-2-1s, performance evaluation meetings and dealing with RWL performance issues. 

•             Respond to Residence Welfare Leads who need clarification or guidance on the role.  

•             Step in to help volunteers when workloads are higher than usual or feel they may be struggling with particular cases.  

•             Act as an escalation point for high-risk cases that are not suitable for RWL support. Take the initiative to intervene with complex cases, where appropriate. 

Safeguarding of Under-18s

•             To be the main point of contact for Welfare for the under-18 Thrive community over the academic year.  

•             Share responsibility for the daily reporting of under-18s following the Safeguarding of Under 18s Standard Operating Procedure. 

•             Complete welfare checks as prompted by daily reporting tools based on student presence in Residence building.  Escalate findings to the Residence Management team and central welfare support. 

•             Refer students to the appropriate services internal and external to King’s and continue to monitor their wellbeing when appropriate or requested. 

•             Responsible for Communication and Support of our Under 18’s throughout the year.  

•             Mediate student disputes, where appropriate and safe to do so, to ensure a culture of mutual respect is always maintained.  

•             Educate under 18s residents about residence community standards to ensure the safety and security of all residents. 

•             Key role in the set up and induction process of all under-18’s throughout the residences. 

•             Provide a confidential space for students to speak about issues related to their wellbeing.   

•             Use and activate the Student at Risk procedure appropriately. 

Other duties

•             Remain up to date on services available for students in the local community, nurturing contacts with these services and drawing upon them as appropriate.  

•             Support a culture of integrity and professionalism.  

•             Attend regular training and/or self-development to ensure best practice is applied to the function. 

•             Be willing to seek out input from others and share own ideas to achieve best outcomes.  

•             Participate in the On-Call Management rota and duty weeks. 

•             Oversee and manage the Welfare inbox.  

•             Respond to students in a sensitive manner at all times.  

•             Seek feedback from colleagues and stakeholders on the overall management of welfare and conduct within King’s Residences.  

•             Work as a supportive and co-operative team member, share information and acknowledge others’ efforts. 

•             Identify and assess options to address student problems and suggest means to improve procedures and processes.  

•             To carry out such other duties and projects as agreed with the organisation and line management

Skills, knowledge, and experience

Essential criteria  

1.       Experience working with vulnerable groups, children or students in Higher Education – minimum 2 years  

2.       Certificate in Adult Mental Health First Aid and/or Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Trained (or similar relevant experience of qualification) 

3.       Strong understanding of crisis management and the ability to deal with life threatening situations including suicide attempts 

4.       Able to work using own initiative in a pressurised environment, to work autonomously and to plan and prioritise own work  

5.       Knowledge and understanding of the range of issues which may affect University students e.g.: debt, relationships, drug/alcohol abuse 

6.       Experience working with students under the age of 18 years 

7.       Highly motivated to make a positive impact on student life at King’s, advocating involvement in a range of pro social and personal development activities 

8.       Personal resilience to dealing with complex and difficult student welfare cases. 

9.       Flexible, adaptable and able to work effectively in a variety of settings and in a cross-cultural situation 

10.   Knowledge and understanding of all pertinent legislation and policies including the Mental Health Act, GDPR etc. 

Desirable criteria

1.       Relevant professional qualification e.g. Certificate in Counselling/Social Work qualification