The Role
Are you looking to develop your customer service and administrative skills while playing an important role within a busy Finance team? We have an exciting opportunity to join the Tuition Fees Income Team as a Credit Control Clerk. In this role, you will support the billing and collection of student tuition fees, working with students, sponsors and third parties to resolve account queries and collect outstanding income in line with the University Credit Policy. You will deliver a high standard of customer service while maintaining accuracy, professionalism and integrity. We are seeking someone who is well organised, detail focused and able to manage their own workload effectively. Strong interpersonal skills and confidence communicating by phone, email and in person are essential.Informal enquiries are welcomed and should be addressed to Karen Carvell at The closing date for this role will be Sunday 22nd February and the interviews will be held on Friday 6th March.
Key Accountabilities
1. Verify and reconcile student and sponsor accounts by preparing, correcting and processing journal transactions in order to ensure that correct fees and charges are posted to Tuition Fee accounts.
2. Support the Senior Credit Control Clerk with processing and updating of information from the Student Loans Company with regard to Tuition Fees, grants, and loans in order to release student loan payments.
3. Process refunds for students within the SAP financial management system for verification and payment by the Financial Services Team.
4. Issue reminder notices, make phone calls, agree payment plans and send e-mails for collection of overdue tuition fee income as per the University Credit Policy.
5. Respond to various queries by telephone and email from students, sponsors and internal departments.
6. Create and issue documentation to provide proof of payment for students for visa and other third party purposes.
7. Provide a quality customer service through dealing with general student queries and providing detailed information regarding account transactions and student loans.
8. Communicate with Student Services and Faculties to resolve queries on student accounts.
9. Issue fees invoices for tuition fees using the SAP financial management system.
10. Participate in the central Student Registration process for the Finance Office by answering queries and ensuring students have met their financial obligations.
The Person
Knowledge, Skills and Experience
11. Good level of IT literacy is essential, in particular Microsoft Office (Excel and Word).
12. Good interpersonal/customer care skills are essential in communicating with internal and external customers both by telephone and face to face.
13. Good level of literacy and numeracy are essential in order to interpret and communicate financial data effectively.
14. Ability to work quickly and accurately to deadlines, with strong attention to detail.
15. Ability to organise and prioritise workload, working independently with minimal supervision.
16. Experience of handling queries and resolving issues in a professional and confidential manner.
17. Ability to work collaboratively as part of a team.
Attributes and Behaviour
18. Demonstrates a calm and professional self-assured manner.
19. Remains calm and solutions focused when responding to challenging or sensitive situations.
20. Must be confident and empathetic in dealing with students’ finance issues.
21. Initiative and sound judgement is required in agreeing payment arrangements with students who have fallen into arrears.
22. Flexible and responsive to changing priorities and peak workload periods.
Qualifications
23. Educated to a minimum of 5 GCSE grade 9-4 (A-C) including Mathematics and English, or equivalent standard by experience.
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 Gold award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a 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: 29078