Student Data Team Leader

Salary: £29,605 to £30,487 with progression to £32,982 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. 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: 05 December 2023

The Role

The Student Progress Service is looking to recruit a Team Leader to coordinate and oversee the work of the Student Data Team. You will liaise with multiple internal stakeholders and work closely with other members of the Student Data Team to plan, coordinate and deliver a successful service for students and colleagues.

You will have exceptional planning and organisational skills, being methodical in your approach to tasks. You can communicate effectively and confidently liaise with a wide range of academic and professional services colleagues as well as students.

You will be able to work on your own initiative as well as lead a team to ensure that work is still produced to a high level of accuracy even when under pressure and when working towards strict deadlines. You will come forward with new ideas and concepts to help enhance the service the team provides to students and colleagues and to ensure that all associated processes are as efficient and effective as possible. Excellent IT skills including the ability to manipulate datasets in spreadsheets or databases are essential.

As a member of the Student Data Team, you will also provide support for the successful delivery of the University’s key student administration activities including registration, module choice and the processing of assessment and progression results.

The Student Data Team is part of the Student Progress Service which offers a high quality and diverse range of services to students, graduates and staff throughout the entire student life-cycle. Further information about the Student Data Team and the Student Progress Service can be found at: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/student-progress/.

Please note that flexible working may be required at peak times and that annual leave will also be limited during those times.

Informal enquiries can be made to Jonathan Gray, Senior Student Data and Systems Manager (jonathan.gray@ncl.ac.uk).

Key Accountabilities

• To support the Student Data Team Managers with the coordination and management of the day-to-day activities of the Student Data Team, ensuring that an effective service is provided for students and Schools
• To ensure key activities managed by the team are delivered efficiently by managing workload allocations in line with Service priorities and targets
• To advise and train members of the Student Data Team to ensure a consistent and effective support service that is appropriate to the needs of the University. This includes overseeing the effective delivery of key student administration activities, including registration, module choice, progression and assessment record processing and student change of circumstances processing
• To implement and maintain appropriate practices and procedures to ensure the effective delivery of the service including the provision of advice and guidance to both students and a wide range of colleagues on matters relating to student data practices and procedures, and to ensure that queries/requests are dealt with appropriately and in a timely manner
• To maintain accurate individual student records on the University’s systems (including SAP and NESS), assuming an ‘expert user’ role and developing specialist knowledge of the student systems and relevant procedures
• To support the Student Data Managers during the key annual events that impact student records particularly registration, module choice and the assessment/exam board periods
• To support and instigate the development of optimum working practices, policy and process, and encourage the adoption of improved ways to working in order to provide a continuously improving service and experience for students and other University departments
• To maintain and audit student records to ensure accuracy and compliance with regulations, procedures and timescales, with support from the Student Data Assistants, including regular review of attendance and progression records and ensure follow-up to change of circumstances requests are correctly actioned
• To ensure that external reporting requirements to Student Finance and UK Visas and Immigration are completed promptly and accurately to enable the University to meet its compliance obligations
• To support the Student Data Managers in the administration and delivery of training and guidance on key systems and procedures to school colleagues (particularly on SAP and NESS systems)
• To deputise for the Student Data Managers as required, taking decisions relating to student data policies and procedures on a regular basis

The Person (Essential)

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Experience of student administration processes within a higher education institution and an understanding of the main activities within the student life-cycle
• Experience of effectively managing others and coordinating and overseeing the work of a team
• Excellent planning and organisational skills
• Excellent communication skills, both oral and written, including the ability to communicate effectively with students and staff at a wide range of levels
• Excellent IT skills across a wide range of applications, including the ability to manipulate datasets in spreadsheets or databases
• Experience of supporting change and improvements particularly in relation to business processes and improving customer service

Attributes and Behaviour

• Ability to work under pressure, manage conflicting priorities and meet strict deadlines
• You project enthusiasm and gain the trust and cooperation of colleagues
• Confidence to advise students and staff on matters of regulation and procedure, train others, lead workshops and present to an audience
• Comes forward with new ideas and concepts and is enterprising in approach
• Plans workload and tasks in a structured way
• Works effectively within a team and actively seek to assist team members with pressing or raised workloads
• Strong attention to detail with a commitment to data accuracy and integrity
• Ability to work independently and be proactive and positive in problem solving and issue-resolution
• Committed to delivering an effective and efficient service

Qualifications

• Educated to ‘A’ Level / NVQ Level 3 (or equivalent) or significant experience in a relevant role. (A first degree or significant experience in a similar role would be desirable)
   

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 Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.  We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.  We are a Disability Confident 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: 26417