Student Support Manager

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About us

This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in supporting students within the Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy (SSPP) at King's College London.

Home to four inter-disciplinary Schools, Global and Policy institutes, and the International School for Government, SSPP is one of the largest, most diverse and international communities for social research and education in Europe.

For more information about the faculty, please see our website: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp

About the role

The Student Support Manager will work to develop, oversee and review the provision of support for students in the Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy (SSPP). There will be a focus on individual student wellbeing cases and managing the faculty elements of formal student support processes such as Student of Concern, Support for Study and Disability Inclusion. The role holder will also work with others to develop and maintain a positive culture of wellbeing within the faculty, in line with the university's commitment to the 'whole university' approach to mental health and wellbeing.

The role holder will act as a liaison for central support services in particular the Wellbeing Team and provide expert advice to staff where students are experiencing difficulties, including signposting to specialist services and promoting awareness of these services. An important part of the role will be to ensure that wellbeing support is provided clearly and consistently for all the faculty's students, so the role holder should feel comfortable developing and delivering training and guidance for staff to ensure they have a clear understanding of the relevant processes.

The role holder will be proactive and will have an excellent understanding of the needs of (SSPP) students and the challenges that they face. They will be adept at planning and problem solving and able to work independently, while also forging excellent relationships with a wide number of colleagues across different teams.

The post will be line managed by the Student Experience Manager and will manage the Faculty Wellbeing Officer(s) and together will work closely with the Faculty Wellbeing Adviser to support staff in the faculty's departments such as senior and personal tutors and programme staff, as well as the central student support services, to coordinate proactive communication.

We are looking for someone with experience of supporting students through complex situations, preferably with experience of case work, who can work across organisational boundaries.

This is a full time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered an indefinite contract.

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1. Experience of supporting students through complex and serious issues including sound knowledge of safeguarding, assessing risk and duty of care, including compliance with Data Protection Legislation. An understanding of when to escalate cases and respond with diplomacy and sensitivity.
2. Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to work across multiple teams and departments to influence and deliver outcomes successfully.
3. Excellent written and verbal communications skills.
4. Ability to use initiative and respond positively and proactively to situations developing at short notice.
5. Excellent organisational and time management skills, with the ability to coordinate a busy workload while prioritising effectively.
6. Knowledge of the issues facing students in Higher Education and developments in the sector around student wellbeing support.
7. Experience of line management and ability to effectively manage performance across a team to deliver team objectives.
8. The ability to work calmly under pressure.
9. Sound knowledge of equality and diversity principles and its application to supporting student experience and in the workplace.

Desirable criteria

1. Experience of case work and referral, and the corresponding confidentiality issues.
2. Degree or relevant professional qualifications.
3. Experience of working in a HE institution.

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the next page after you click "Apply Now". This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Further information

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ' How we Recruit ' pages.

We are not able to offer sponsorship for candidates who do not currently possess the right to work in the UK.

This post is subject to Disclosure and Barring Service.