JOB DESCRIPTION

Employment status and working hours

Permanent, full time.

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.

Your line manager will be Leanne Atack, Safeguarding and Welfare Manager.

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

As the University’s sole Welfare Officer, you will be responsible for supporting students based across the globe studying on a range of courses, including apprenticeships, postgraduate research degrees, and face-to-face teaching at the London School of Architecture. You will be the primary contact for welfare queries and take a collaborative, empathetic, and compassionate approach to support students with a diverse range of needs.

You will primarily work with the Safeguarding and Welfare Manager to make timely interventions and provide specialist support that has a positive impact on student outcomes. This may require you to provide information, advice and guidance to students, make referrals to external agencies, develop and deliver initiatives and training for staff and students, and monitor the effectiveness of interventions made by the wider Safeguarding and Welfare team. You may be required on occasion to stand in for the Safeguarding and Welfare Manager. You will be expected to stay up to date on all University procedures and wider legislation to ensure safeguarding and welfare provision is effective, and the University is ready for Ofsted inspection, contributing to a student-centred specialist advice and guidance service.

Specific job role accountabilities and responsibilities

• Take an outcome-focused approach to manage a case load of students with complex welfare needs.
• Provide high-quality information, advice, and guidance to students on a variety of issues, delivering excellent customer service in all aspects of the role.
• Make decisions in Safeguarding Cases when required and follow cases through to conclusion, with the support of the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) or Deputy DSL.
• Monitor student queries and cases, ensuring responses are communicated in a timely manner.
• Support the promotion of pastoral care across the University’s programmes (ensuring appropriate signposting of students to utilise additional student specialist services where appropriate).
• Support with ensuring the University is compliant with the expectations of the regulatory bodies, namely Ofsted and the Office for Students.
• Educate and update relevant parties, including students/staff/employers, as appropriate, on issues relating to Safeguarding, Prevent and welfare.
• Contribute to the development of online self-serve support resources to be hosted on the Virtual Learning Environment.
• Support with the delivery of the University’s mental health initiatives.
• Manage and build relationships with partner organisations such as Lionheart.
• Be the lead for the University’s SilverCloud provision, facilitating access, monitoring progress, and providing guidance to students on the supported pathway.
• Keep thorough, accurate and up-to-date records in relation to the support required and provided, ensuring compliance with external and institutional reporting requirements.
• Ensure relevant knowledge is maintained regarding Safeguarding, Prevent, and welfare legislation, funding eligibility and best practice in the sector to ensure effective compliance with the Equality Act 2010 and other professional guidelines.
• Fully engage with all required training for the role and embed this training within your daily practice, as applicable.
• Complete regular, role-appropriate, continuous professional development.
• Provide ad-hoc support to other teams within Education and Students as and when needed.
• Contribute to the University maintaining its Matrix accreditation.

Other important features of the job role

Line management responsibilities: None.

Budget responsibility: None.

In this role you will liaise with the following: Students, Disability and Welfare team, Academic Registry, Apprenticeship Outcomes Officers, Student Advice team, Academic Support and Enhancement team.

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).

Degree level qualification (D, A).

Safeguarding Level 3 qualification or above (D, A).

Mental Health First Aid Qualification (D, A).

Previous experience

Experience in a similar role (E, A, I).

Maintenance of sensitive records to the required standards, including knowledge of legislation relating to data protection (E, A, I).

Experience within the higher/further education sector (D, A, I).

Delivering pastoral support online (D, A, I).

Working in a support role with under 18s (D, A, I).

Working with external support agencies and/or local authorities (D, A, I).

Supporting vulnerable people or those with complex needs (D, A, I).

Creating informative and engaging resources using Canva or similar software (D, A, I).

Planning student-facing awareness events (D, A, I).

Delivery of apprenticeships and Ofsted Inspections (D, A, I).

Skills, knowledge, and aptitudes

Digital skills confidence: We use MS Office which includes Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and several other systems/technology (E, I, T).

Ability to manage difficult situations sensitively, with empathy, and in a timely manner (E, A, I).

Effective communication skills; able to communicate with people from diverse backgrounds and with a range of needs (E, A, I).

Knowledge of current legislation relating to safeguarding, Prevent, and Data Protection (E, A, I).

Ability to adapt quickly to changing pressures whilst maintaining high standards (E, A, I).

Ability to build relationships with remotely based students and staff (E, A, I).

Problem solving skills; able to think independently and overcome obstacles (E, A, 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).

A commitment to CPD and a desire for a career in Safeguarding and Welfare support (E, A, I).

PAY AND BENEFITS

Salary: Salary £29,000 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.

On the Join the team page of our website, you will find the full list of employee benefits.

APPLICATIONS - THINGS TO CONSIDER

For an informal discussion about the role please contact Leanne Atack on 0118 467 2486 or email l.atack@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 Monday 27 October 2025 at 17:00. 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.