Disability Adviser
JOB DESCRIPTION
Employment status and working hours
Permanent, full time for 35 hours per week.
Full time hours at the University are 35 per week with the standard working pattern Monday to Friday from 09:00 to 17:00.
Organisation structure
Education and Students, Disability and Welfare team.
Your line manager will be Richard Higgins, Head of Disability and Welfare.
Place of work flexibility
Your time will be split between the Horizons, Reading office and your home*. The exact split of days/hours is negotiable but must include a minimum of two working days each week in Horizons only on the core days (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday). *Working from home is only possible if your environment is suitable.
High level summary of job role
The Disability and Welfare team provide information, advice, and guidance to all students to ensure they are safe and well supported throughout their studies. You will work with a case load of students that have shared a disability with the University, taking a collaborative approach to support them to be successful in their studies. Primarily this will be students with specific learning difficulties and mental health conditions. At key times throughout the year, you may need to provide support to students with a range of disclosed disabilities e.g. physical and sensory impairments, ADHD, autism, and long-term physical health conditions.
You will work with students to carry out needs assessments, advise on reasonable adjustments, formulate support plans, offer guidance and signposting to external services if needed, and monitor the success of students on your caseload. You will work and build rapport with a wide range of stake holders across the University to ensure students and staff are well informed and support being provided is effective and appropriate to student needs.
As an online provider, support will primarily be through phone and video calls and email correspondence, creating personal Additional Support Plans (ASPs) and assisting when applying for external funding such as DSA or apprentice learning support funding.
Specific job role accountabilities and responsibilities
- Support and be responsible for a case load of students, often with complex support requirements, providing help and/or advice to disabled students by assessing students’ needs, determining and implementing support arrangements and monitoring progress.
- Advise students on applications for the Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA) and other financial support, following up on applications to ensure a successful outcome.
- Carry out needs assessments and draw up personal ASPs for current students and ensure adjustments are implemented.
- Advise prospective students on the support available for those with physical and sensory impairments, specific learning difficulties, autism spectrum conditions and mental or physical health difficulties.
- Liaise with staff across the University, medical professionals and external agencies to ensure the effective implementation and best practice of support for disabled students.
- Develop and maintain relationships with external support agencies which may benefit University of the Built Environment students.
- Liaise and collaborate with academic and professional services colleagues to ensure individual students’ needs are met and that an inclusive and holistic approach to provision is implemented.
- Collaborate with academic colleagues to advise on inclusive teaching and learning strategies for disabled students.
- Work closely with teams across the University to ensure students are accessing the full range of support.
- Maintain accurate and up to date records in relation to the support required and provided, ensuring compliance with data protection legislation and auditing requirements.
- Keep up to date with Safeguarding, Prevent, disability and welfare legislation, funding eligibility and best practice in the sector to ensure effective compliance with the Equality Act 2010 and other professional guidelines.
- Keep up to date sector knowledge regarding how Safeguarding, Prevent, disability and welfare support is implemented across other higher education providers.
- Monitor student queries/cases and respond in a timely manner.
- Deliver excellent customer service in all aspects of the role and contribute to a student-centred specialist advice and guidance service.
- Promote a culture of self-advocacy and provide students with the tools to develop skills to manage the challenges they experience throughout their studies.
- Develop resources and provide effective information, advice and guidance to students.
- Fully engage with all required training for the role and embed this training within your daily practice as applicable.
Other important features of the job role
Line management responsibilities: None.
Budget responsibility: None.
In this role you will liaise with the following: Education and Students department, Safeguarding, Apprenticeship Teams, Academics, Academic Support and Enhancement Team, Finance, External partners
PERSON SPECIFICATION
E = Essential person requirement; D = Desirable person requirement
How the person requirement will be assessed:
A = Application; I = Interview; T = Test or other assessment
Please be aware that as part of onboarding processes, we will seek original documentary evidence of the relevant academic and/or professional qualifications which you include within your job application. This is all part of our comprehensive pre-employment screening which also includes checking your identity, right to work, criminal record history (basic disclosure), and three years employment history.
Qualifications and training
GCSE Maths and English Language Grade C or 4 or above (E, A).
Further education level qualifications (E, A).
Evidence of CPD in the fields of SpLD, Neurodiversity, non-medical help or disability (E, A).
Degree level qualification or equivalent (D, A).
Previous experience
Relevant demonstrable experience of paid/voluntary work of delivering pastoral support (E, A, I).
Supporting disabled people, some with complex needs, and providing relevant advice/guidance (E, A, I).
Management of complex safeguarding and/or welfare cases (D, A, I).
Knowledge and understanding of assistive technology (D, A, I).
Individual and/or small group coaching and/or mentoring (D, A, I).
Development and delivery of training (D, A, I).
Working with external support agencies (D, A, I).
Experience of the Ofsted inspection process (D, A, I).
Demonstrable experience of anticipating needs and designing and implementing an inclusive environment in adherence to the social model of disability (D, A, I).
Supporting student in Higher Education and in providing and justifying reasonable adjustments in line with the Equality Act 2010 (D, A, I).
Skills, knowledge, and aptitudes
Excellent communication and presentation skills, especially the ability to communicate sensitive ideas effectively to different audiences (E, A, I).
Ability to adapt quickly to changing pressures and demands whilst maintaining accuracy (E, A, I).
Ability to make and build relationships with remotely based students and internal staff (E, A, I).
Ability to manage difficult situations sensitively and in a timely manner (E, A, I).
Knowledge of statutory Safeguarding, Prevent and Disability legislation (including the Equality Act 2010) and how these can be applied in a Higher Education setting (E, A, I).
Strong sense of resilience and ability to listen and respond to students sharing distressing personal circumstances (E, A, I).
Highly organised, driven, and excellent time management and people skills (E, I).
Knowledge of current legislation relating to data protection (D, A, I).
Understanding of specific issues relating to online learning and being part of an online community (D, I).
Knowledge of the operation and management of academic or apprenticeship programmes (D, I).
Other requirements or special requirements
Alignment to the University’s core values of Passion, Integrity, Excellence and Support; all employees are expected to demonstrate our values at work (E, I).
Commitment to delivering positive outcomes for our students; we want our students to be successful (E, I).
You must be prepared to undertake mandatory online training should you be appointed including Data Protection, Health and Safety, Safeguarding, Prevent, and EDI (E, I).
PAY AND BENEFITS
Salary: Salary up to £29,400 per annum.
Holiday: 26 days paid holiday (rising to 28 with service) plus paid bank/public holidays plus up to five paid closure days (typically between Christmas and New Year); all per holiday year Full Time Equivalent. Our holiday year runs from 1 August to 31 July. We also have a holiday buy and sell scheme in place. Sometimes the University does not need to close for five days per year and any balance (for example one day), can be used as a paid Wellbeing Day to take time out for your own physical or mental health.
Pension and life assurance: Pensions auto-enrolment to the People’s Pension which is a default salary sacrifice scheme. You may opt out of salary sacrifice but remain in the scheme, or you may choose to opt out altogether. We provide life assurance (death in service) cover as standard to all employees.
Family-friendly policies: Policies in place for all types of family-friendly statutory leave with enhanced pay available from day one of employment for some leave types. Access to Tax-Free Childcare (Government scheme).
Wellbeing: Full access to the Employee Assistance Programme as well as the Thrive Mental Wellbeing app. Several employees are trained Mental Health First Aiders and can support staff. We have a wellbeing policy and we focus on five pillars of wellbeing.
Sustainable travel: Cycle to Work and Electric Vehicle salary sacrifice schemes.
Parking: We have locked sheds for bicycles. For cars, for Horizons based roles, we may in the future be able to offer parking on site however you must not assume this will be possible. Every now and then we may have a spare parking space become available and you can ask to join the waiting list. The University is keen wherever possible, to encourage staff to commute as sustainably as possible.
Other health related benefits: Employer-funded Health Cash Plan (Simplyhealth) and voluntary dental insurance (Unum).
Other valuable benefits:
- Charity giving options available including one voluntary paid day, per annum.
- You will have access to Microsoft Office 365 applications for personal use.
- You will have access to range of lifestyle discounts and everyday savings.
- We offer learning platforms including LinkedIn learning.
APPLICATIONS - THINGS TO CONSIDER
For an informal discussion about the role please contact Richard Higgins on 0118 467 2036 or email r.higgins@ube.ac.uk. For any other enquiries please contact HR on 0118 467 2454 / 2433 or email recruitment@ube.ac.uk.
Did one of our employees recommend you? If you apply on the recommendation of an existing employee, please make sure to mention their name within your application.
We're passionate about sustainability and we have a five-year strategic plan: We expect job seekers to be curious about who we are and what we do. We point you towards a couple of resources about who we are and sustainability.
Closing date and next steps
We will receive applications until the advert closes on Wednesday 30 July 2025 at 12:00. We will not consider late applications. Our ATS does not screen applications, we humans do. Applications may be reviewed prior to the closing date and occasionally, you may be invited to interview ahead of the closing date.
Interview details
Dates for interview will be advised to you later in the process. We'll ask you to tell us about any dates you cannot make, up to 4 weeks from the closing date; this helps us to plan interviews should you be shortlisted, prior to contacting you.
Interviews are normally carried out over Microsoft Teams or Zoom. Depending on the job role and place of work, your interview may be at our Reading or London office. Please be prepared for a two-stage interview process, held on different dates. As part of the interview process, you will likely meet a member of the Senior Leadership Team.
Note for internal candidates
If you are an existing employee, we request you inform your current line manager of your intention to apply for this role.
Assigned grade: L 22
Assigned function code: 844
- Department
- E&S - Disability and Welfare
- Locations
- Horizons, Reading, UK
- Remote status
- Hybrid
- Yearly salary
- £29,400
- Employment type
- Full-time
About University of the Built Environment
University of the Built Environment has over 106 years’ experience of providing the sector the highest quality learning opportunities. At any one time, we have more than 4,000 students from more than 100 countries benefiting from our qualifications taught by lecturers who are specialists in their field.
We provide accessible and relevant learning that fits your life and career goals and will enable you to contribute to a sustainable built environment that’s shaped with people in mind.
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