Student Information and Advice Manager

JOB DESCRIPTION

Employment status and working hours

Permanent, full time.

Full-time hours at the University are 35 per week with the standard working pattern Monday to Friday from 09:00 to 17:00, with some flexibility in start/finish times.

Organisation structure

Education and Students, Student Advice.

Your line manager will be Ella Wheeler, Head of Student Support.

Place of work flexibility

The majority of your working week will be spent at our office in Reading and the rest at your home*. The exact split of days/hours is negotiable but must include a minimum of three working days each week in Horizons (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday). The office closes on Fridays. *Working from home is only possible if your environment is suitable – please see the ‘Working from home’ section on our Careers Site for further information.

High level summary of job role

As the Student Information and Advice Manager, you will oversee the operational delivery of high-quality information, advice and guidance to a diverse cohort of students, including undergraduates, postgraduates and degree apprentices.

You’ll balance day-to-day team leadership, active performance management, meaningful liaison and problem solving with colleagues across the organisation, and quality improvement.

Working closely with the Head of Student Support, you will take a data-led approach to lead the Student Advice team to continuously develop their service, including preparing for and supporting new ways of working as our organisation changes and grows. You will ensure the team continues to work in line with the Matrix Standard for information, advice and guidance.

You will deputise for the Head of Student Support when required and act as a strong link between the Student Advice and Student Community teams, ensuring your service listens to student voices and provides excellent student experiences.

Specific job role accountabilities and responsibilities

Team leadership and operational management

• Lead, motivate, and line-manage a team of seven Student Advice officers in their roles delivering student support across phones, email, and online platforms.

• Manage day-to-day operational issues, workflow distribution, working patterns, rotas, and escalation handling to ensure consistent, timely support for students and apprentices.

• Foster an open, collaborative, and accountable team culture, encouraging professional development and the maintenance/building of positive cross-organisational working practices.

Performance management and supporting change

• Set and review clear performance targets, and service level agreements (SLAs) for individual team members and the team as a whole.

• Manage SLAs for student enquiries across the organisation, supporting other teams where required to ensure excellent customer service.

• Conduct regular one-to-ones and team meetings, quality assurance checks on advice delivery, and constructive performance reviews, proactively managing underperformance and ensuring the maintenance of positive workplace behaviours.

• Act as a change champion, supporting staff through organisational change whenever it arises, focusing on enquiry systems and best-practice digital support.

• Support team members to design and run their own specialist areas of knowledge/projects to drive service improvements.

Process improvement and stakeholder engagement

• Identify friction points in procedures and processes, particularly where they impact students, working cross-functionally across the University to resolve issues at source.

• Establish strong working relationships across departments to ensure the Student Advice team receives accurate, up-to-date policy, regulatory, and procedural information.

• Regularly review operational workflows to improve advice quality, response times, and overall student satisfaction.

Service development and knowledge management

• Work with the Head of Student Support to implement a vision for the advice service aligned with organisation strategy, contributing to continuous service evaluation and redesign if and when required.

• Support a shift toward proactive knowledge management, aiding in the creation and maintenance of a robust, student-facing knowledge base to enable student self-service.

• Analyse service interaction data and student feedback to identify common enquiry trends and feed findings into service improvements.

Other important features of the job role

Line management responsibilities: Yes, and the number of direct reports is seven.

Budget responsibility: None.

In this role you will liaise with the following: Students and apprentices, Academic teams, Academic Registry, Student Services teams and the majority of university support/professional services teams. Occasional contact will also be required with employers, regulators and accreditation bodies.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

E = Essential person requirement; D = Desirable person requirement

How the person requirement will be assessed:

A = Application; I = Interview; T = Test or other assessment

Please be aware that as part of safer recruitment and onboarding processes, we will seek original documentary evidence of the relevant academic and/or professional qualifications which you include within your job application. This is all part of our comprehensive pre-employment screening which also includes checking your identity, right to work, criminal record history (basic disclosure unless specified otherwise), and three years employment history. This is all part of our commitment to safeguarding our students. Keeping our students safe is a responsibility shared by everyone within the University.

Qualifications and training

GCSE Maths and English language Grade C or 4 or above (E, A).

Team leadership or management qualification at level 3 or above (D, A).

Qualification in information advice and guidance (IAG), coaching, counselling, or other client support discipline at level 2 or above (D, A).

Previous experience

Proven experience of managing a large, busy, customer-facing team (E, A, I).

Track record of successful performance management (E, A, I).

Working with developers or technology teams (as a non-technical partner) to improve clients’ online experiences (E, A, I).

Successfully managing or resolving challenging cases involving staff, stakeholders or clients (E, A, I).

Proven experience of working sensitively and effectively with clients and colleagues from diverse backgrounds, cultures and lived experiences (E, A, I).

Successfully using data to improve processes and services (E, A, I).

Designing and working with client/student representatives, feedback activities and complaints (D, A, I).

In a management role within the education sector (D, A, I).

Leading staff who are working remotely (D, A, I).

Behaviours and attitudes

Alignment to the University’s core values and growth mindset approach, which reflect our culture. Refer to the specific behaviours within the Competency Framework (E, I) – summarised within the careers site.

Skills, knowledge, other requirements

Skilled in problem solving, diplomacy and conflict management (E, I, A).

Capabilities in identifying inefficiencies/underperforming processes and designing client-focused, efficient alternatives (E, I, A).

Proficiency with online enquiries management or CRM systems (E, I, A).

Proven performance management skills with the ability to set clear objectives and boundaries (E, I, A).

Strong attention to detail and ability to absorb and disseminate complex information (E, I, A).

Proven ability to develop and deliver a long-term vision for operational improvement (E, I, T).

Capable of taking a calm, client-focused approach in a busy environment where there might be multiple workstreams and conflicting priorities (E, I, A).

Excellent communication skills across digital channels, over the phone and in person, with the ability to adapt to different audiences and situations (E, I, A, T).

Understanding of information, advice and guidance standards in the education sector (D, I, A).

Understanding of student facing policy, apprenticeship standards, course structures and governance in Higher Education (D, I, A).

Collaborative approach with the confidence to influence internal University stakeholders (E, I, T).

Adaptable and comfortable operating in an evolving, remotely delivered service model (E, I, T).

Clear knowledge and understanding of the concepts of student experience, student community and student belonging (D, A).

Digital skills confidence: We use MS Office which includes Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and several other systems/technology (E, I, T).

Commitment to delivering positive outcomes for our students regardless of your area of work within the University; we want our students to be successful (E, I).

You must be prepared to undertake mandatory online training should you be appointed. The University is regulated by the Office for Students and Ofsted, and we have specific requirements and expectations around safeguarding, Prevent, and anti-harassment and bullying. This is all part of our Competency Framework requirements (E, I).

PAY AND BENEFITS

Salary: Salary £35,000 per annum.

Holiday: 26 days paid holiday (rising to 28 with service) plus paid bank/public holidays plus up to five paid closure days (typically between Christmas and New Year); all per holiday year Full Time Equivalent. Our holiday year runs from 1 August to 31 July. We also have a holiday buy and sell scheme in place. Sometimes the University does not need to close for five days per year and any balance (for example one day), can be used as a paid Wellbeing Day to take time out for your own physical or mental health.

Pension and life assurance: Pensions auto-enrolment to the People’s Pension which is a default salary sacrifice scheme. You may opt out of salary sacrifice but remain in the scheme, or you may choose to opt out altogether. We provide life assurance (death in service) cover as standard to all employees.

Family-friendly policies: Policies in place for all types of family-friendly statutory leave with enhanced pay available from day one of employment for some leave types. Access to Tax-Free Childcare (Government scheme).

Wellbeing: Full access to the Employee Assistance Programme as well as the Thrive Mental Wellbeing app. Several employees are trained Mental Health First Aiders and can support staff. We have a wellbeing policy and we focus on five pillars of wellbeing.

Sustainable travel: Cycle to Work and Electric Vehicle salary sacrifice schemes.

Parking: We have locked sheds for bicycles. For cars, for Horizons based roles, we may in the future be able to offer parking on site however you must not assume this will be possible. Every now and then we may have a spare parking space become available and you can ask to join the waiting list. The University is keen wherever possible, to encourage staff to commute as sustainably as possible.

Other health related benefits: Employer-funded Health Cash Plan (Simplyhealth) and voluntary dental insurance (Unum).

Other valuable benefits:

• Charity giving options available including one voluntary paid day, per annum.

• You will have access to range of lifestyle discounts and everyday savings.

• We offer learning platforms including LinkedIn learning.

APPLICATIONS - THINGS TO CONSIDER

For an informal discussion about the role please contact Ella Wheeler on 0118 467 2030 or email e.wheeler@ube.ac.uk. For any other enquiries please contact HR on 0118 467 2454 / 2433 or email recruitment@ube.ac.uk

Did one of our employees recommend you? If you apply on the recommendation of an existing employee, please make sure to mention their name within your application.

We're passionate about sustainability and we have a five-year strategic plan: We expect job seekers to be curious about who we are and what we do. We point you towards a couple of resources about who we are and sustainability.

Closing date and next steps

We will receive applications until the advert closes on Thursday 12 November 2026 at 17:00. We will not consider late applications. Our ATS does not screen applications, we humans do. Applications may be reviewed prior to the closing date and occasionally, you may be invited to interview ahead of the closing date.

Interview details

Dates for interview will be advised to you later in the process. We'll ask you to tell us about any dates you cannot make, up to 4 weeks from the closing date; this helps us to plan interviews should you be shortlisted, prior to contacting you.

Interviews are normally carried out over Microsoft Teams or Zoom. Depending on the job role and place of work, your interview may be at our Reading or London office. Please be prepared for a two-stage interview process, held on different dates. As part of the interview process, you will likely meet a member of the Senior Leadership Team.

Note for internal candidates

If you are an existing employee, we request you inform your current line manager of your intention to apply for this role.