Advice Service Manager - Greenwich/Avery Hill

The Greenwich / Avery Hill Advice Service Manager plays a pivotal role in providing comprehensive support and guidance to students on the Greenwich / Avery Hill Campus and managing the service.

This position is responsible for promoting and continually improving the Greenwich / Avery Hill Advice Service, including developing proactive interventions to enhance student success and evaluating the impact of these services.

Looking at trend data, the role will support the team in developing insights into the needs of students studying at Greenwich.

Guided by this information, the post holder will develop new initiatives and facilitate service outreach to reduce the likelihood of issues arising in the first place.

The manager will collaborate with other departments to ensure a holistic approach to student support.

This role sits within the Advocacy and Policy Team who focus on making 1-1 timely interventions to support students to succeed as well as identifying broader trends in student behaviour to inform our strategic approach to services and support.

Duties and Key Responsibilities

This post holder will be part of the wider Advocacy and Policy Team and will be expected to contribute to departments wider objectives and planning.

The post holder will:

Advice Team Management:

• Recruit, train, and manage the Greenwich / Avery Hill Advisers.
• Foster a positive and collaborative work environment for all staff.
• Provide supervision and support when required for Advisers dealing with challenging cases.
• Provide guidance and professional development opportunities for staff managed.
• Manage Greenwich / Avery Hill Advice Service within agreed budgets.

Operational:

• In conjunction with colleagues contribute to any professional awards for the service, i.e. quality mark, etc.
• Track and monitor issues affecting students.
• Reasonable cover for the Advice Service Manager (Medway) during periods of absence (can be done remotely).
• Occasional report writing or deputising for Head of Advocacy and Policy relating to Advice.
• To provide advice to students accessing the service.
• Attend with students to relevant meetings/hearings in relation to Advice cases.
• To create and maintain case records ensuring confidentiality as per the services procedures.
• To attend and contribute to appropriate meetings internally or externally.

Service Promotion:

• Develop and execute strategies for promoting the Service to both new and current students.
• Collaborate with the marketing and communications team to create marketing materials and campaigns when required.
• Engage in outreach efforts to raise awareness of the Service.

Impact Evaluation:

• Establish and maintain data-driven systems for evaluating the impact/quality of the Advice Service in conjunction with colleagues.
• Collect and analyse data to assess the effectiveness of interventions and make evidence-based improvements.
• Prepare regular reports on the outcomes and impact of the advice services.

Collaboration:

• To develop and maintain strong stakeholder relationships.
• Work closely with other university departments, such as Student Centre, Finance Team, Wellbeing Team, Faculties, etc to better support students.
• To attend meetings and forums as appropriate.

General Responsibilities

• Represent and be an ambassador for GSU.
• Be flexible and carry out other associated duties as may arise, develop, or be assigned in line with the broad remit of the position.
• Maintain and improve competencies through continuous professional development.
• Abide by organisational policies, codes of conduct and practices.
• Support and promote liberation, diversity and equality of opportunity in the workplace.
• Treat with confidentiality any personal, private, or sensitive information about individual organisations and or clients or staff and Project data.
• Actively seek better ways to assist GSU in its effort to become a more sustainable workplace.
• Any other duties commensurate with the accountabilities of the post.

Personal Specification

Experience

• Working or worked in advice or a related field.
• Case management system experience.
• Relevant managerial experience.
• Working and building relationships with a range of stakeholders and partners or strategic networking.
• Planning, delivering, managing and evaluating programmes and events.
• Develop and maintain effective systems for collecting, collating and reporting information.

Skills and Ability

• Data analysis and reporting skills.
• Communication and interpersonal skills to a broad range of people, stakeholders, students, external organisations, etc.
• Leadership and team management skills.
• IT skills.
• Ability to analyse and assess statistics to drive service improvement.
• Work to deadlines and prioritize work.
• Ability to engage and motivate others.

Knowledge

• Best practices in student advising and support.
• Regulatory requirements and best practice in the advice field.
• Detailed principles of confidentiality, GDPR and handling sensitive data.
• Health and Safety along with safeguarding.

Education/Training

• Advice or related field qualification preferred.
• Professional development in relevant area to the post.

Personal Attributes and Other Requirements

• Able to travel across our campuses, Greenwich, Avery Hill, Medway
• There is a dedicated bus service staff can use for intercampus travel
• May need to stay overnight for training and conferences. Advance notice given for flexibility.
• Works well in a team with a flexible approach to work.
• Commitment to anti-discriminatory practice and equal opportunities. An ability to apply awareness of diversity issues to all areas of work.
• Commitment to the values and ethos of the organisation.