Assistant Senior Tutor (Internal only)

Internal applicants only 

This is a new, temporary role designed to provide additional support for the Senior Tutor’s office. The role is designed to alleviate some of the day-to-day workload in defined areas as well as helping to review processes and procedures to further improve information flow in and out of the Senior Tutor’s office. The post-holder will be expected to work openly and collaboratively with the Senior Tutor and their reports to provide a seamless service across College. As well as having excellent interpersonal skills, you will be adept at managing and interpreting a wide range of complex information and will be able your excellent collaboration and communication skills to provide a range of efficient and effective methods for supporting and enhancing the academic office service. Further details on the experience and skills that we are looking for are outlined in the ‘selection criteria’ section below.

The Senior Tutor’s Office

The Senior Tutor has responsibility for the academic strategy of the College and works closely with all academics and senior members across College and the University to shape the academic direction of the College. They are responsible for ensuring that academics and students have the information and support that they need in achieving their academic aims and maintaining our excellent research and teaching standards. The Senior Tutor reports to the College’s Governing Body and is line-managed by the Principal.

The Senior Tutor manages a number of senior professional staff who provide a range of administrative and support services for students and academic staff. Day-to-day, the main areas of responsibility for the Senior Tutor’s office are: dealing with Graduate matters, dealing with undergraduate matters, managing admissions, access and outreach functions, support for academic employment matters and recruitment, providing senior support for student welfare issues as well as providing a wide range of expert guidance and support to students and academics on all issues concerning their work and wellbeing in College.

In addition to providing all-around support during any periods of the Senior Tutor’s absence, it is anticipated that this interim role will focus on supporting the undergraduate functions, daily administrative tasks and information flow. They will also support academic employment and recruitment processes.

Main responsibilities:

• providing hands-on support and guidance to the Academic Office team during the Senior Tutor’s absence;
• triaging of information coming into the office, directing queries as needed and keeping key members of the team informed of areas of work that may affect them at all stages;
• consulting with the Principal and/or Senior Tutor on any substantive matters requiring action or decisions
• managing Academic recruitment processes (alongside the Tutorial and Graduate Officer), representing Somerville’s interests as needed in correspondence with University Departments, other Colleges etc;
• as part of the above, reviewing data on academic leave, appointments and nominations and stint reports to ensure that teaching need, teaching undertaken and appointments and nominations processed are balanced in an efficient and timely way
• liaising with Fellows as needed on timely submission of information required for recruitment and appointment processes
• reviewing departmental processes, responsibilities and procedures to ensure efficient practice and that all involved in disseminating or providing information necessary to undertake key tasks are adequately trained/made aware of those processes.
• Identifying any current or potential issues relating to processes, procedures and information flow and creating proposals, in consultation with the Senior Tutor, for addressing those
• liaising with Fellows, on the Senior Tutor’s behalf, to identify their administrative support needs and propose revised or new measures to seek to provide that support at an appropriate level

General

• You will be expected to undertake any necessary training applicable to your role as well as training which applies to general College policies and processes such as health and safety training and data protection training.
• This is a senior role and as such may involve undertaking duties not listed above in order to fulfil the responsibilities of the post. The postholder will be expected to manage their own time and workload and take a flexible approach to their duties to ensure the role is carried out efficiently and effectively.

Selection criteria

Essential

• Recent knowledge and experience of providing support to academics and students at a very senior level in a very similar academic environment such as an Oxford College or University department
• Proven success and excellence in delivering and managing administrative and related support services to academics and students
• At least a master’s degree or equivalent – must have an in-depth understanding and empathy for the challenges of academic study and research at a high level in an institution such as Oxford
• Excellent communication skills and a proven ability to create positive, collaborative working relationships at a level which can provide expert guidance and influence to a variety of academics and professional staff at all levels
• A calm, confident and professional approach with an ability to represent the function at College and University wide-levels
• First-rate organisational and IT skills – must be able to manage a high volume of work efficiently, effectively and consistently, delegating as necessary and ensuring excellent records are kept
• Excellent awareness and knowledge of data protection and GDPR as they apply to this environment
• Driven to provide an excellent, inclusive and responsive service and inspire others to do the same
• Experience of managing academic recruitment and appointment processes
• Experience of creating and implementing new or revised processes and systems

Desirable

• Previous experience of tutorial teaching, personal tutoring or academic mentoring
• Understanding of and empathy with the ethos and academic aims of Somerville

 Salary and benefits

• Starting annual salary from £22,969 (for 0.4 FTE), which is equivalent to £11,485 for the duration of the fixed-term contract.
• Starting salary will depend on skills and experience and on weekly hours agreed.
• Membership of the Senior Common Room
• 38 days; annual leave per year (pro-rata)
• Free meals and opportunities to attend College events
• Subsidised rate for on-site College Nursery
• Wide range of discounts and access to University gardens, libraries and museums
• On-site working with some work from home possible

Further particulars can be downloaded from the link below

Assistant Senior Tutor, part-time, fixed-term (internal only) further particulars

To apply, please click on the 'apply now' button.

The deadline for completed applications is noon (UK time) on Wednesday, 18 December 2024. Interviews will be held in early January