£28,636 to £30,394 per annum (for exceptional performers, there is scope for further progression up to £34,953 per annum)
Hybrid
This role will be based on site, primarily in the named location with the opportunity to work remotely available in line with our Adaptive Working Framework.
We have one simple promise – to make a positive impact. Through our ground-breaking research, teaching excellence and commitment to sustainable living, we are changing lives for the better.
The University of Derby is a modern university with a modern outlook. Everything we do is driven by delivering excellence and opportunities for our students, our staff and our region.
We have some of the best university facilities in the UK and achieve outstanding results for our teaching and research and have been awarded Gold in the prestigious Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) 2023 – making it one of the top universities in the country recognised for its outstanding student experience and student outcomes.
Financially strong and seriously ambitious we offer our employees an inclusive culture that centres itself around staff wellbeing, where you can be confident you will receive all the help and encouragement you need to build a rewarding career with lots of opportunities to enhance your skills.
The Registry support all aspects of the student journey, right from initial enquiry and application, all the way through to final award and student completion. We strive to provide an outstanding service to all our users and to be thought leaders in our fields of expertise, developing research informed practise. Registry teams work collaboratively with stakeholders to deliver a high-performance culture that promotes wellbeing, diversity and opportunity for all, supporting excellent student experience.
As a Senior College Advisor you would be part of the wider Registry Team including working within the College Registry Operations Team and the Student Hub.
We are seeking a highly organised and proactive Senior College Advisor to join our College Registry Operations Team, playing a pivotal role in supporting our students and academic teams.
Our College Senior Advisors make a significant contribution to the student journey which can help them achieve their success. You will manage a team of advisors who will provide academic administration across a range of programmes, ensuring that effective processes are in place to provide an excellent experience for students. Being digitally focused you will use a range of technologies to support the inter site working of the Registry. You will also be comfortable with using technology to gather information to gain a clear understanding of the level of student engagement and performance on the programme with working knowledge of the wider services of the Registry to enable you to deliver a seamless service to students and staff.
You will be responsible for ensuring data quality within a right first-time ethos for all data within your business area, supported by an awareness and understanding of the data processed within your area, particularly any data classed as personal or sensitive.
Working together with colleagues in our academic colleges and professional services, we aim to provide a high-quality user experience for students and staff who support the student journey (admissions to graduation). The role will also include supporting our Student Hub offering support, advice and guidance on a variety of areas. We are committed to excellence and continuous improvement in all that we do and aim to provide a service that is fair, compliant, professional, and dynamic.
Anticipated interview date: Tuesday 16th June 2026
The primary base for this role will be across all Derby sites. However, due to programme delivery across both Derby and Chesterfield locations, there will be a requirement to travel to Chesterfield on a weekly basis. The post holder must be flexible and able to work across both locations to meet service needs, including providing extra cover as and when required.
The ideal candidate will thrive in a fast-paced environment and are confident working with colleagues across the University. You’ll communicate clearly and professionally, with a strong focus on accuracy and customer service.
You will be highly organised, detail-oriented, and able to manage competing priorities while meeting deadlines. You’ll also be able to handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion and sound judgement. You will provide administration across the University, ensuring that effective processes are in place to deliver gold standard services consistently across the Registry. Liaising across the Colleges and Registry, you will act as a contact point for staff and students providing advice, information, guidance and professional support services. You should be proactive and inquisitive, willing to question, investigate, and improve processes. Adaptable and resilient, you’ll respond positively to changing priorities and challenges.
You should be confident using Microsoft Office applications, including Word, Excel, and Outlook, and able to quickly learn new systems. The ability to set up, maintain, and clearly communicate administrative systems and processes is essential. You will be self-motivated, able to work on your own initiative, and take a proactive approach to your work.
You will work with academic colleagues to deliver excellent student support and provide data and information to support student outcomes.
* Have a high level of understanding of the student journey, to provide advice, information and guidance to students on issues relating to their programme of study including dealing with complex queries.
* To have a good level of understanding of, and input in to, the university’s policies and procedures for academic standards and quality in order to work with academic colleagues to deliver excellent programme support.
* Provide academic administration across a range of programmes, ensuring that effective processes are in place to provide an excellent experience for students.
* Responding to escalated issues and cases from Level 4 College Advisors.
* To monitor & manage student record profiles and provide reports and analysis from a range of data sources, ensuring that all requested information is clearly reported to relevant stakeholders in a timely manner.
* Develop and utilise management information to support University metrics for student retention, progression and achievement.
* To plan, prioritise and implement key activities across the College e.g. Assessment Board schedules, to ensure a consistent approach and compliance with University Regulations & requirements.
* Work collaboratively with all areas of the University to ensure the best response to students.
* Researching and establishing suitable sources of information required to support students, ensuring it remains current, in appropriate formats and is shared appropriately with colleagues.
* Meet regularly with the Course Director/ Programme Leader to review student profiles and attendance, identify potential issues, provide advice on University processes and regulations and take action as required.
* Make a significant contribution to the development and positive promotion of the College Registry team, including active participation in appropriate Committees and meetings.
* Ensure an inclusive service with a focus on delivering excellence.
* Provide mentoring and training for College Advisors and Assistant Advisors.
* To develop and implement contract monitoring processes and procedures including the preparation of reports and returns as required.
* Contribute to small scale projects and preparing associated reports and analysis.
* May be asked to provide line management and associated support for other members of the College Advisor Team.
* Undertake reviews and evaluation of the services provided to develop and enhance service standards.
* Maintain professional competence through continuous professional development in line with role.
* Support the wider work of the Registry across a range of programmes from undergraduate to postgraduate, providing an excellent student experience and assisting in key University operational activities e.g. enrolment, awards ceremonies, clearing and open days.
* Adopt the University’s core values and underpinning behaviours.
* Educated to HND level standard or equivalent significant work-based experience.
* GCSE Maths and English at grade C or above.
Experience
* Experience of delivering information, advice and guidance, preferably in a student support environment.
* Experience of managing a diverse workload with the ability to meet deadlines, effectively manage own time and competing demands, prioritise and react swiftly when these change.
* Experience of using data to manage workload.
* Experience of successful implementation of business processes and systems.
* Experience of working in an administrative role in a service setting.
* Experience of understanding and applying data protection requirements.
Skills, knowledge & abilities
* Strong interpersonal skills.
* Ability to demonstrate tact and diplomacy in dealing with a wide range of contacts both internal and external.
* Advice and guidance skills.
* Good judgement of situations and people and the ability to respond appropriately.
* Ability to take a professional approach and work on own initiative.
* Ability to adapt and be flexible with the ability to work across teams building relationships to ensure a good result.
* Creating innovative solutions to problems, addressing the root cause.
* Working collaboratively across boundaries to achieve common goals.
* Ability to understand and apply regulations/rules e.g. GDPR, quality assurance frameworks.
* Confident and able to demonstrate digital competency across a range of technologies, including but not limited to Microsoft Office.
* Ability to support decision making involving complex facts or situations, which require the analysis, interpretation and comparison of a range of options.
* Systematic and organised to manage competing priorities.
* Is consistently a positive role model to the team and strives for all team members to perform to their highest potential by inspiring and motivating others to achieve their best at all times.
* Has a resilient nature and able to work through service pressures methodically and calmly.
* Doesn’t take things at face value; is confident to question and investigate beyond first impressions.
* Thinks creatively and looks for more efficient ways of doing things.
* Is able to see and consider the bigger picture; asking searching questions to resolve issues.
Business requirements
* Able to recognise the need and be willing to work outside of normal hours at times as relevant to achieving service delivery, targets and deadlines.
* Able to recognise the need and be willing to travel and work at any of the University sites as relevant to support staff, attend events, meetings or for presence.
* Ability to work outside of normal working hours (including some evenings and weekends), to support the business during key University events, such as Graduation, Clearing and Open Days.
Qualifications
* Customer Service Qualifications.
* NVQ (3 or 4) in Information Advice and Guidance.
Experience
* Experience of working in the Higher Education sector.
* Experience of managing a team and managing resources and operational activity effectively.
* Mentoring and/or training experience.
Skills, knowledge and abilities
* Ability to assimilate written and verbal information.
* Ability to work in a fast-paced environment.
* Generous annual leave entitlement of 38 days inclusive of bank holidays and concessionary days (pro rata).
* Suite of holistic wellbeing benefits and support including family‑friendly policies, generous sick pay provision and comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme.
* Access to a variety of staff discounts at high street retailers.
* Discounted onsite gym.
* Cycle to Work scheme.
* A flexible working environment.
* A commitment to personal and professional development.
For further information and informal enquiries regarding the role, please contact Julie Eley, College Team Leader via j.eley@derby.ac.uk
For enquiries regarding your application and for sponsorship eligibility, please contact the recruitment team via recruitment@derby.ac.uk .
The University is unable to sponsor the employment of international workers under the Skilled Worker route for this role; however, applications are welcome from candidates who are able to demonstrate an alternative right to work in the UK.
Equity, diversity and inclusion
The University of Derby is committed to promoting equity, diversity and inclusion, regardless of age, disability, trans status, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief (or none), sex and sexual orientation.
We are Disability Confident Employers, demonstrating our commitment to disability inclusion, and invite applicants to highlight adjustments they may require to ensure equitable participation in our recruitment processes.
Further, we are committed to ensuring an environment which is trans and non-binary‑inclusive for all our staff, students, partners, and visitors, and continuously review our policies, guidance and training.
When applying to join the University, you can choose your preferred title, including the gender‑neutral title 'Mx'. We also ask our candidates if they would like to share their preferred pronouns. This is voluntary but demonstrates our commitment to inclusivity for trans and non‑binary candidates. Once employed, you can add pronouns and preferred names onto our system.
The University of Derby undertakes anonymised shortlisting during the staff recruitment process. This means that, when shortlisting, panel members will not be able to see an applicant’s name and will see an applicant number instead. This demonstrates the practical steps we are taking to remove barriers to recruitment by minimising the possible impact of our unconscious bias.
However you identify, we actively celebrate the knowledge, experience and talents each person brings. Our students come from a wide range of backgrounds; therefore we are particularly interested to hear from applicants who will help our leaders and teams be more reflective of our student population.
At the University of Derby, we are passionate about embedding sustainability into everything that we do. We aim to bring environmental sustainability into all aspects of the University, including teaching, research and operational activities. In line with the University's strategic framework, we expect all our staff to embed sustainability into their working practices and support the University's objective to reach net zero carbon by 2050.
Be part of something extraordinary, apply now.
How to apply
You can apply by submitting an online application. Once you have signed in or registered with us you will be able to begin your application. If you are creating an account for the first time, please ensure you provide an email address that you access regularly as this will be our main means of contacting you regarding your application.
The University reserves the right to close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of applications. We encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
If you require any assistance, including the provision of any documentation in an alternative format, please contact the Recruitment team at recruitment@derby.ac.uk .
Please note all applications must be submitted online by Midnight GMT on the closing date of the vacancy.
The University of Derby is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all our staff, students and children. At the University of Derby, safeguarding is everybody's concern.
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