Centre Administrator

The Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences at King’s College London is looking to appointment a Centre Administrator to support the successful operation of the Centre by providing an efficient and effective administrative service to the Centre Lead and to academic staff within the Centre more broadly, so as to help them fulfil their organisational, academic and professional roles.   

The successful candidate must be capable of working autonomously and liaising directly with internal and external colleagues in an independent manner, the post holder will use their initiative, discretion, knowledge and experience to help plan, manage and coordinate the work of the Centre; including undertaking routine financial operations, assisting with the management of Centre space and facilities and administering HR-related processes. 

As part of the faculty’s operations and resources administrative functional team the post holder will be expected to be mutually supportive, covering reasonable duties, as necessary during colleagues’ absences and at times of additional pressure.   

This post will be offered on an indefinite contract   
This is a full-time  post

Key responsibilities

• Provide effective administrative support to the Centre Lead as required; this may include diary management; organisation of meetings, travel and accommodation; registration for conferences; assisting with document production, presentations etc.  
• Act as a central point of contact for academic staff, researchers and research students within the Centre, providing timely and efficient administrative support; taking ownership of problems and finding innovative solutions to issues. 
• To take responsibility for planning and organising small scale events, functions and projects, working autonomously in most areas. This will include co-ordinate research events and meetings held by the Centre with direction from the Centre Lead, including staff conference attendance, coordination of travel arrangements, accommodation and timetables. 
• To service Centre committee meetings, taking responsibility for the preparation of agendas, pre-circulating relevant documentation, reporting on administration, taking minutes and acting on action points accordingly.
• To contribute to the content and production of Centre documentation e.g. research papers, posters, reports, guidelines, educational material, grant applications, preparation of returns for the Centre, Faculty, or university using appropriate software. 
• Maintain the Centre’s web pages, ensuring that staff profiles are added and up to date and that information shared on the pages is relevant, stimulating and accurate. 
• Maintain the Staff Directory for the Centre, ensuring that new staff details are accurately added to the Kings internal telephone directly promptly and leavers are removed. 
• Take an active role in the financial administration of the Centre in line with King’s College London’s financial regulations and procedures. This will include procurement of goods and services (raising POs and goods receipting); administering expense claims; advising staff and students on basic financial procedures/regulations and supporting good budgetary management through monitoring Centre accounts: tracking expenditure, investigating and resolving variances, and communicating financial performance. 
• In liaison with the Business Co-ordinator, to provide effective and comprehensive support for all human resource related processes within the Centre, including supporting the recruitment, selection and appointment of Centre staff (advising on, and administering, the recruitment process, co-ordination of interview panels, appointment process etc.) and supporting the process for the review of fixed-term contracts.   
• Monitor leave arrangements, including the reporting of sick leave for staff and be responsible for visitors in the Centre, liaising with HR with regard to honorary contract applications as appropriate. 
• Assist with the induction of new members of academic staff in line with faculty arrangements, acting as a point of reference for queries, advising them on university procedures and referring them to appropriate university services and contacts (e.g. Security, HR, IT, mandatory training etc). 
• Liaise with the Faculty Resource Manager to ensure effective management of the space assigned to the Centre (such as teaching rooms, offices and student areas), including arrangements for refurbishments, repairs and satisfactory provision of equipment and facilities. 
• Ensuring the Centre is kept up to date through the effective dissemination of key information/communications, both within FoDOCS and across Kings more broadly.  
• Contribute to the development of the Centre administrative systems, helping to ensure best practice is shared and developed 
• Support the Centre Lead and Business Co-ordinator in ensuring the timely production of management information and statistical reports as required by the Faculty, the Health Faculties, university or external purposes (NHS, HEFCE etc.) 
• Attend and actively participate in local team meetings as required, as well as those of other relevant faculty/function/university boards, as agreed with the Business Co-ordinator. 
• To provide cover for other members of the administrative team (across Centres) when necessary, maintaining a collaborative approach to administrative tasks and ensuring relevant information is shared across the Centres. Ensure own work is covered when necessary.  Developing and maintaining effective working relationships with team and others. 
• Promote and sustain a constructive and supportive working relationship with all stakeholders (external and internal) and academic and administrative colleagues, both within the faculty and function more broadly.  
• Supports equality of opportunity and equity of treatment to all staff and students.
• Commits to own personal development and training. 
• Contributes to a culture of professionalism and customer service. 
• Acts as evacuation marshal and DSE (Display Screen Equipment) Assessor,  

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.

Skills, knowledge, and experience 

Essential criteria  

1. Good standard of general education (‘A’ level or equivalent) or significant relevant vocational experience 
2. Excellent written and spoken English with demonstrable communications and interpersonal skills and a service-focused approach. 
3. Excellent IT skills (including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, databases and internet browsers). 
4. Good numeracy skills 
5. Good organisational skills, able to balance competing work demands (workload) and manage own time in order to meet imminent and distant deadlines 
6. Previous experience of office administration and supporting large teams, preferably in the Higher Education sector. 
7. Experience of dealing with budgetary and financial processes 
8. Experience of HR procedures i.e. recruitment, appraisal, probation etc 
9. Ability to work independently and as part of a team and to deal with a wide variety of people in a professional and assured manner. 
10. Demonstrates excellent attention to detail. 
11. Finds innovative solutions and takes ownership of tasks 
12. Ability to deal discreetly with confidential or sensitive matters. 

Desirable criteria

1. Undergraduate degree 
2. Previous experience editing Web pages 
3. Knowledge of administrative platforms used by research staff and students (eg. PURE, research FISH, ethical databases, Endnote (or equivalent reference management tools)  
4. Demonstrable experience of committee administration and taking accurate notes / minutes.