Business Support Manager

Salary: £33,966 to £36,024 with progression to £44,263 per annumNewcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent . We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.Closing Date: 22 April 2024The RoleThis is an exciting opportunity for an experienced professional who has a passion for continuous improvement. If you thrive on getting things done and love seeing the positive impact you can make, we invite you to apply to join our team. Based in the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences within the Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering, you will support the Unit’s current and emerging business, you will be responsible for coordination and monitoring delivery against plan, balancing demands across the executive portfolio and ensuring that time, information and decision-making are effective and agile.Working with the Head of School Operations, the role involves complex administration, project coordination and management so you will need to be highly organised and agile in your approach. You will be someone who enjoys working across a wide portfolio of activity and can see opportunity in emerging or complex scenarios.The role will work across the full range of our activities. You will be required to reflect and review progress on several key areas within the Unit whilst maintaining an excellent working relationship with all colleagues, across the wider Faculty, University and externally and proactively contributing to a ‘One School’ culture.We are looking for candidates who are proactive and innovative, with evidence of successful development and implementation of policy, procedure or change processes. To succeed in this role, you will have a strong commitment to sharing best practice in a culture of continuous improvement, in addition to excellent interpersonal skills.If this sounds like you, please contact Tom Harding, Head of School Operations at for an informal chat.Interviews will be held in person at our city centre campus on Friday 10th May.To apply, please upload your CV and a letter of application that outlines how you can evidence the knowledge, skills and experience requirements in the person specification below.
For more information about the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences please click .Key Accountabilities

• Provide management coordination and support to ensure delivery of the Unit’s current and emerging Plan; monitoring progress and deadlines; managing resources and budgets; preparing reports and helping develop new projects
• Develop and maintain a high level of working knowledge of the Faculty’s full portfolio of activities, identifying initiatives and opportunities that meet strategic objectives of the Unit and Faculty and ensuring join up with cross cutting initiatives and those that reach outside of the Unit
• To respond to a range of issues on behalf of the Executive Board and senior staff. Collate, review and publish deliverables and other documents including drafting reports or briefings or operating procedures for Unit and Faculty committees, noting to take care that aspects of the work may be sensitive or confidential
• Take a data informed approach, using PowerBI or AI tools to convey information and support the Executive Board in decision making. To interpret data and provide briefings as appropriate to key colleagues
• Lead the development and/or provide continuity for key projects, including representing Executive Board members in meetings
• Management of the Executive Support team and function, responsibility for workload and development and effective support for key actions and deliverables
• Develop and sustain a stakeholder engagement ethos. This includes a complex and diverse range of activities across a number of internal and external organisations/partnerships
• Build and maintain relationships with project partners across the University and facilitate effective internal communications across teams
• Support Steering Groups, Advisory Boards, Stakeholder Engagement Meetings, and other formal bodies constituted to oversee business and strategic project delivery
• Maintain financial records, manage outputs and impacts and publicise project outcomes
• Any other duties within the scope and general nature of the grade which may be required

The PersonKnowledge, Skills and Experience

• Proven track record in an administrative based co-ordinating role, preferably within a large complex organisation
• Experience of working with a large Executive Board (or similar), coordinating, supporting and monitoring actions to deliver targets against KPIs
• Experience of delivering on projects to meet organisational objectives within deadline
• Evidence of strong written and verbal communication skills and ability to adapt
• Experience of leading a team and coordinating workload across multiple sites
• Experience of preparing good quality written reports to inform decision making
• Ability to work calmly and efficiently under pressure
• Excellent organisational and time management skills
• Experience of establishing, reviewing and monitoring administrative systems in office environments
• Ability to effectively use MS Office applications for agile business purposes

Attributes and Behaviour

• Understanding , appreciation and ability to recognise confidential material and conversations and to handle confidential information appropriately
• A positive, proactive and professional customer focussed attitude
• Acts in a collaborative, inclusive, transparent and open manner, acting with integrity and able to build high levels of trust
• Uses initiative to sort things out, is enterprising in effective use of material, financial and human resources
• Confidently deals with a broad range of information
• Respects the value that different views bring to the team and leads an inclusive environment
• Proactively anticipates and plans for likely problem areas or obstacles by assessing and managing risks
• Sets own priorities in conjunction with team and area objectives
• Plans workload and tasks in a systematic way
• Uses systems and tools to ensure records and audit trails are clear and up to date
• Clear and concise; gets the message across to others
• Able to adapt content of communication to the audience, changing style, tone and format appropriately

Qualifications

• A first degree qualification, plus work experience in a relevant role; or substantial relevant work experience in a comparable setting

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.At Newcastle University we hold a silver award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.Requisition ID: 26824#LI-LF1