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
Chief Operating Officer department, Executive Support team.
Your line manager will be David Balme, Chief Operating Officer.
Place of work flexibility
The majority of your working week will be spent at our office in Reading and the rest at your home. You will work three days each week in Horizons, ideally on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. 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
This is a high-level professional and fast-paced role taking responsibility for delivering effective and efficient support to the Chief Operating Officer (COO), who is a member of the Executive team. You will take a proactive approach to coordinating and directly supporting the work of the COO and their interactions with other members of the Executive, the Senior Leadership Team and their wider departments.
As a member of the Executive Support team, you will work with fellow Executive Assistants to coordinate the effective and efficient overall running of the Vice Chancellor’s Office. You will also provide support to the COO’s direct reports, aiding them in the delivery of their duties.
Specific job role accountabilities and responsibilities
1. Work closely with the COO to help deliver the University’s vision: to become the centre of excellence for built environment education.
2. Support the COO in all aspects of diary management, always ensuring a balanced and effective schedule, ensuring all elements of meeting management are handled seamlessly.
3. Provide documentation and project support for strategies, policies and project planning, being led by the COO and their direct reports. This includes research, drafting documents, as well as collating sources and resources related to document preparation and projects. You will also provide information to support decision-making relating to strategic developments for the University.
4. Be responsible for advising the COO of impending internal and external work deadlines and assist with the preparation of materials for these (e.g. written reports, data reports, presentations).
5. Track and progress actions to be completed by other managers in the COO’s departments, ensuring the highest quality standards and that deadlines are met.
6. Organise and support meetings chaired by the COO, including preparing meeting packs, taking appropriate minutes, and following up actions between meetings.
7. Bring urgent matters to the attention of the COO, proposing possible solutions and making appropriate decisions on their behalf where possible.
8. Liaise with key external stakeholders, following up with contacts after meetings and events on behalf of the COO.
9. Deal proactively with incoming post and emails, including preparing draft responses and seeking information from relevant sources. Ensure deadlines are diarised and met.
10. Ensure best practice file management, both manual and electronic, as part of the Executive Support team.
11. Establish, maintain, and proactively progress an actions log arising for all activities undertaken by the COO.
12. Handle digital processes:
o Manage purchase orders and invoices.
o Prepare, monitor and approve (or otherwise) digital expenses claims.
o Manage content on the University’s intranet SharePoint. Liaise with the marketing team regarding any updates required to the external website.
o Book UK and international travel for the COO.
13. Ghost write communications and assist in proofreading other university documentation on behalf of the COO.
14. Support the organisation of COO events.
15. Handle information requests with tact and diplomacy and manage confidential information with integrity.
16. Undertake any other duties which fall within the scope of the post, and which may be required from time to time.
Other important features of the job role
Line management responsibilities: None.
Budget responsibility: None.
In this role you will liaise with the following: All internal colleagues relating to the work of the COO, as well as third party contacts.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
E = Essential person requirement; D = Desirable person requirement
How the person requirement will be assessed: This is not a heading
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 (A).
Further education level qualifications (D, A).
Secretarial/Administration training or qualifications (D, A, I).
Previous experience
Providing direct EA/administration support to an executive director or senior manager (E, A, I).
Experience within (or sound knowledge of) the higher education sector or other regulated environment (E, A, I).
Creating project plans, supporting multiple projects, and seeing projects through to timely completion (E, A, I).
Reviewing papers, conducting research, and preparing reports for senior managers (E, A, I).
Arranging UK and international travel (D, 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
Strong literacy and numeracy skills (E, A) along with strong verbal and written communication, including in report writing and minute taking (E, A, I).
Business acumen; professional and confident approach (E, I).
Ability to build relationships at all levels, internally and externally (E, A, I).
High level organisation, planning, prioritisation and time management skills (E, A, I).
Calm and methodical attitude in pressured situations (E, I).
Ability to work flexibly, to switch tasks at short notice (E, I).
Analytical and problem solving skills (D, I).
Research skills (D, I).
Digital skills confidence: We use MS Office which includes Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and several other systems/technology. You must be especially skilled in Excel for data management and Outlook for diary management (E, A, I).
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: Actual salary £34,000 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 Microsoft Office 365 applications for personal use.
* 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 Zoe Berger on 0118 467 2381 or email z.berger@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 Wednesday 3 June 2026 at 10:00. We will not consider late applications. Our ATS does not screen applications, we humans do. Applications will 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 and we intend to carry these out, without delay. Interviews are normally carried out over Microsoft Teams however your interview may be at our Reading office.
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.