Careers Information and Systems Assistant

JOB DESCRIPTION

Employment status and working hours

Permanent, full time for 35 hours per week.

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, Careers and Employability.

Your line manager will be Bridget Wells, Careers Consultant.

Place of work flexibility

Your time will be split between the Horizons, Reading office and your home*. The exact split of days/hours is negotiable but must include a minimum of four working days each month in Horizons. *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

In this role, you will contribute expertise in and enthusiasm for data and systems to support the work of the Careers and Employability team and wider University teams.

The University’s careers platform offers exciting functionality with significant potential to benefit students, employers, and staff, and you will be pivotal in utilising the platform to enhance the student experience and graduate success. In addition, you will identify potential and existing data, analysing, presenting and sharing this to inform the development of the service and the work of the Careers Advisers and wider teams.

Specific job role accountabilities and responsibilities

Careers platform (currently Target Connect)

• Develop the use and functionality of the careers platform, improving the user experience and maximizing its value to users.

• Use system features, such as custom panes, to promote events and other initiatives.

• Develop the record keeping of placements activity, including placements for the London School of Architecture.

• Keep abreast of new functionality and proactively identify opportunities for improving the user experience, and improving how data is collected and used, including process enhancements to support wider service improvements.

• Work with the HR and Payroll team to introduce, manage and review staff access to the platform.

• Create training materials for users.

Graduate success data

• Manage the Alumni Contact Plan and notifications.

• Develop a suite of regular metrics and reports to inform teams and Academics of student journeys, destinations and outcomes.

• Present information in a clear, inclusive and accessible format suitable for a variety of platforms and audiences.

Labour market information

• Source, evaluate and curate careers and labour market information (LMI).

• Support consultants and advisers by supplying up-to-date information to underpin guidance delivery.

Resources

• Assist in creating engaging, user-focused content such as sector insights, LMI and career resources.

• Explore (when available) use of social media to engage students in careers activities.

Compliance and regulation

• Ensure all systems and data use comply with University’s policies, legislation and regulations.

• Maintain the Careers and Employability team’s data compliance schedule, so that team members manage student and graduate information appropriately.

• Complete the annual Audit of the Careers website pages.

• Maintain the Student Services Register of Processing Activities list.

Data

• Collect and analyse service usage data to identify trends and engagement, and produce reports and data segments for the department.

• Manage complex data imports and exports, including careers registration data.

• Develop and maintain technical knowledge and competency in the use of key University systems.

• Work closely with the Technology team and the Data and Analysis team to ensure the systems are fully optimised and integrate effectively with other key institutional IT systems.

Other important features of the job role

Line management responsibilities: None.

Budget responsibility: None.

In this role you will liaise with the following: Academic team, Student Services, Data Analysis team, Technology team.

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).

Degree level qualification (E, A).

Previous experience

Working with systems and/or databases (E, A).

Within the education sector or higher education (D, A).

Experience of training others (D, A).

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

Ability to analyse and interpret data using Excel and Power BI (E, A, I).

Ability to design a positive User Experience for students which enables confident use of the Careers Platform (E, I).

Able to use external data reports, such as ONS reports to identify relevant trends (E, A, I).

Understanding of GDPR and the safe and responsible use of data (E, A, I).

Organised record keeping with confidence to ensure team members understand and adhere to the standards set (E, I).

Strong presentation skills, with the ability to present data to a variety of audiences in accessible and engaging way (E, I).

A curious and motivated approach and innovative problem solver (E, I).

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

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 range £25,000 to £27,000 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 Bridget Wells on 0118 467 4392 or email b.wells@ube.ac.uk or contact Charlotte Thackeray on c.thackeray@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 Monday 28 September 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

First stage interviews are scheduled for Thursday 08 October 2026. 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.