Applying
Application deadline: Wed 05 Oct 2022 09:00
If this is the role for you, click Apply Now to fill in our online application form!
Details
What’s the job?
We’re on the hunt for an Office Assistant to join our team and help us to look after our offices in Edinburgh, and everything that goes along with them.
You will work with an enthusiastic team of 7 people to help the Corporate Services team be a truly forward thinking, pro-active department to support the charitable and commercial operation of the Student Union.
This is a full-time job, 35 hours per week, which may include some evening and weekend work (but we’ll give you plenty of notice). Flexibility is expected depending on what we have going on – no two days are ever the same!
As a general rule, you can expect to assist us with the following types of tasks…
- Overall responsibility for the smooth day to day running of our offices
- Supporting the Welcome Team and Cleaning Team and covering their roles where required
- Working with managers to support all administrative aspects of HR including recruitment, on-boarding & induction, leave management and employee records
- Working with the Chief Financial Officer to collate and submit monthly payroll, liaising with our payroll provider
- Ensure all elements of office equipment (including IT and telephones) are working as planned and liaise with suppliers to make sure equipment is being utilised cost effectively and efficiently, organising repairs as necessary
- Maintain organisation filing systems to ensure all current and archived information is properly stored in line with GDPR requirements
- Handle enquiries from visitors (telephone calls, emails) in a timely manner and ensure visitors to our building are greeted in accordance with our values
- Oversee all general office administration such as room bookings, general correspondence and ensuring office supplies are maintained to an appropriate level at all times
- Monitoring aspects of Health & Safety, notifying Senior Management of any short comings, including fire and intruder alarms systems, CCTV and security
- Coordinating and booking all travel arrangements for staff and volunteers attending events or training
- Administrative support to the Trustee Board including producing, compiling and circulating papers for meetings, taking minutes and publishing papers online as required
- Provide administrative support to managers as required
- Support the democratic aspects of the Union, facilitating the smooth running of elections and campaigns.
What would a typical day look like?
- You arrive just before 9am so you’ve time to get yourself sorted for the day ahead. Coffee in hand you sit down at your desk to quickly review your emails and check our general mailbox for any enquiries from students – there are a couple of students experiencing problems so you forward them onto the Advice Hub.
- The student Welcome Team work in the afternoons, so you tend to keep your mornings free of meetings etc so you can be present in the office to take any phone calls or help any students that come in.
- One of the cleaners is off today, so you help out by grabbing the hoover and giving the entrance a quick once over.
- The morning passes quickly as you answer the phones and help people with some enquiries, but you still find space to update the health and safety folder with the latest risk assessments you completed yesterday.
- A society has a meeting room booked for 11am – when they arrive you greet them and check their booking. It’s the first time they’ve booked a room with us so you walk with them to show them where to go and chat about how they found the booking process (you’re always on the lookout for ways we can improve things!)
- You book a meeting with the Deputy CEO to discuss your ideas for making the room booking process better and slicker, writing down your notes to make sure you don’t forget anything. You think it will have costs attached, so do a quick check online so you have costings ready for the meeting.
- At 12pm one of the Welcome Team arrives for their shift. You give them a quick handover of what’s happened this morning before heading back to your desk to get stuck in.
- The Shop have taken on three new student staff members, so you need to get their new start packs together (forms, contracts etc) and sent out to them. You make a note in your diary to chase them for their paperwork in three days time if they haven’t returned it yet
- The Estates Team arrive as yesterday you logged that there were a couple of lights out. You show them where to go and make a note that the job is being dealt with.
- It’s lunchtime, so you join the rest of the staff team for a bite to eat. We all try and get together over lunchtime to catch up depending on what we’ve each got going on.
- You were at the Trustee Board meeting yesterday taking minutes. It’s important we get the minutes typed up and sent round for approval as quickly after the meeting as possible so everyone can work on any actions that were raised (and it’s easier to type them up when it’s still fresh in your mind!)
- There’s a short gap in the rota for the Welcome Team so you cover their role for an hour, greeting students and making sure the building is looking at its best.
- You’ve an hour before the end of the day so you jump onto the Amazon account to download the invoices / receipts ahead of reconciling the credit cards the following day – you love getting ahead of jobs to make them easier!
- The day comes to an end – it’s been productive as you’ve got loads done, and had plenty of time to interact with customers and students making them feel welcomed. A great day all round!
Who are we?
We are Heriot-Watt University Student Union. We’re based at Riccarton (on the outskirts of Edinburgh) and our main goal is to make sure that Heriot-Watt students have THE BEST TIME whilst studying here. We have a bar, café, nightclub and shop, plus we work with Students to make their time at Heriot-Watt the best it can be through our Advice Hub, societies, academic representation and a whole load of volunteering opportunities.
You’ll join a friendly, hardworking and professional team and have a real opportunity to make a difference to our central business support services.
Is this job for you?
If you answer yes to these questions, then apply now!
- Do you have experience in an office admin role?
- Do you know the ins and outs of Microsoft Office? Or does the thought of doing a mail-merge fill you with terror?
- Can you handle the most bizarre questions and requests with a smile?
- Can you look at something and think of new and creative ways that will make it even better?
- Does it make you happy to help people, and go home at the end of the day knowing you made a difference?
- Are you happy spending everyday with students? It’s ridiculously rewarding – but you’ll never be able to find anything again!
- We will probably ask you for a baby picture and to photocopy your face. You ok with that?
Sounds great, what next?
If this sounds like the ideal role for you, then we’d love to hear from you. Simply click “Apply Now” to fill out our online application form. Once applications close, we’ll contact those people we think would be the best fit to come in and meet us for an interview.
We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, and would love someone that can bring their experience to our team to make us even better.
Downloads
Click here to download the Job Description