WHAT’S THE JOB?
We are looking for someone who is lively and energetic, with creative ideas to join our team and make sure students get the best experience while at university. The main parts of the role are:
- Making sure our societies are the best they can be through training, giving them support and helping them expand their reach and engagement with students
- Creating, maintaining and motivating a network of Union volunteers, with opportunities to get involved throughout the year
- Improving our peer-support network, expanding its reach and making sure students can find their friends
Ideally what we’re looking for is someone who has been involved with societies or volunteering before, is great with people, and thrives on seeing students having a great time.
This is a full-time job – working 35 hours per week, usually Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm, although flexibility is expected depending on what we have going on so some evening and weekend work may be required.
WHO ARE WE?
We are Heriot-Watt University Student Union and we have one simple purpose, putting students first, always. We are led by elected student officers, who are guided and supported by staff to make students are represented across all areas of university life, with opportunities to expand their skills and employability while making meaningful and lifelong connections.
Ultimately our main goal is to make sure that Heriot-Watt students have THE BEST TIME whilst studying here. We live by five values – we are fun, welcoming, brave, empowering and student focused.
You’ll join a friendly, hardworking and professional team and have a real opportunity to make a difference to our members – while having some fun along the way. We have a display of staff baby photos in our office, and a gallery of our photocopied faces which we will probably ask you to add to!
WHAT DO YOU GET?
- Starting salary of £22,432 per year
- Generous holiday allowance starting at 37 days a year (including fixed days off for Christmas, New Year and Easter)
- A generous pension scheme is available
- Staff discount in Liberty’s, Geordies and The Shop
- Access to our Employee Assistance Program
- A fun working environment that is filled with a lot of opportunities for development
- Most importantly...you’ll get that warm fuzzy feeling inside that you’re helping the students of HW make the most of their time at university!
WHAT might A TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE?
- You start your day by checking your emails, encouraging society leaders to find solutions to any challenges.
- Next up you have the Our Community committee, where staff from across the University come together to discuss plans that support community building on campus. You give them an update on where we are with Freshers’ Week planning, and how many volunteers we have, they ask you for an overview of our plans for the week, and what the large-scale events are.
- You have an email from the Vice President Community asking if they can grab you for an hour to talk about an idea they have, to introduce a recognition scheme for societies. We already have one in place, so you prepare some information to share with them on what we currently do and schedule a meeting for tomorrow.
- You spend most of the morning reviewing the Freshers’ Rep training from last year, considering what needs to change as we transition to more in-person events, and updating the key information reps will need. You reach out to the Freshers Reps to let them know the dates and times of training, and you book space in the Union for the day.
- For the training, you’ll need catering, so you email the Food and Beverage Manager with dates and the number of students attending to organise lunch, tea and coffee for the day.
- You have a check-in with a Society who’ve had a complaint submitted about a committee member during an event. You guide them through the complaints process and let them know they can reach out to you for support at any point.
- There was a Societies Council meeting yesterday, so you are finalising the minutes and action log to share on Teams. Three societies put in bids to the Societies Fund and were successful, so you contact the Student Engagement Manager for approval.
- Phew, it’s lunchtime so you head down to the café and grab a bite to eat with other staff members and officers.
- After lunch, you review the feedback from outgoing society leaders. Several of them mentioned losing confidence running in-person events because of covid. You add event planning and management to the list of training sessions you’ll run. You then reach out to Edinburgh Business School, to see if they might have a lecturer who could deliver this session to students, and you speak to the Student Voice Coordinator to ask if any Members of Parliament or School Officers might be interested in this training too.
- Next, you contact the Full-Time Officers and colleagues across the Union to identify any upcoming events or activities that need volunteers. You add these to the opportunities for the Union Volunteer Network and reach out to a couple of the volunteers who you think might be particularly interested in some of the opportunities.
- You receive an email from the university confirming a recent funding application for a MATES intern. So, you submit the job description for the website, and plan interviews with the VP Community and Student Engagement Manager.
- Phew, another great day over. You spend 5 minutes writing out your to-do list for tomorrow and then head home.
IS THIS JOB FOR YOU?
If you answer yes to these questions, then apply now!
- Are you excited about empowering students and making sure they get the best time from their university experience?
- Do you love working with people?
- Can you motivate and energise a diverse range of people?
- Do you understand the current issues students might be facing?
- Have you ever been involved in societies, volunteering or extra-curricular clubs?
- Does working with students and staff from a range of different countries, backgrounds and cultures sound appealing to you?
- Are you good at juggling lots of competing priorities?
- Can you work to deadlines?
- Are you excited by change, and working with new sets of students every year?
- Can you handle answering the same questions over and over, with patience and a smile?
- Can you work on your own initiative and be proactive with tasks?
- Are you a team player and will you pitch in when we’re at our busiest?
REGARDLESS OF THE ROLE, OUR TEAM CAN DEMONSTRATE OUR VALUES...
- Make sure everything we do is inclusive to students, regardless of background, culture, or experience by being welcoming
- Be brave and take a few risks to push yourself out of your comfort zone, and encourage students to do the same!
- Encourage students’ creativity and empower them to make their ideas a reality
- Enjoy every minute of the job by making sure you have fun
- Make sure you’re student focused in everything you do
If you want to have an informal chat about the job, please contact Genna Nesbitt, Student Engagement Manager: g.nesbitt@hw.ac.uk.
SOUNDS GREAT, WHAT NEXT?
If you think this sounds like the job for you then click Apply Now below and fill in our online application form. Please take the time to tell us why we should pick you to work for us. Relate your experience and skills to the job description, especially the person specification!
Applications close on Friday, 29th July at 10am. Interviews will be on Wednesday 3rd August, in person at our Riccarton Campus.
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