The University

At Durham University we are proud of our people. A globally
outstanding centre of educational excellence, a collegiate
community of extraordinary people, a unique and historic setting –
Durham is a university like no other. We believe that inspiring our
people to do outstanding things at Durham enables Durham people to
do outstanding things professionally and personally. Across the
University we have a huge variety of roles and career
opportunities, which together make us a large and successful
community, which is a key hub of activity within our region and
nationally. We would be thrilled if you would consider joining our
thriving University. Further information about the University can
be found here

The Role and Department

The Student Immigration and Funding Service (SIFS) works with
internal colleagues and external bodies to provide high quality
advice and support relating to immigration legislation and
financial support for both undergraduate and postgraduate... students
and applicants.

The Service is part of the Academic Office. The Academic Office
provides a professional administrative support service to staff,
students and potential students of Durham University. We currently
offer staff a hybrid working opportunity in line with standard
University policy.

The Academic Registrar is the head of the department and is
responsible to the Pro-Vice Chancellor (Education) for its
management. The following services fall under the remit of the
Academic Office:
• Curriculum, Learning and Assessment
• Student Immigration and Funding
• Student Registry

All the services are based in the Palatine Centre in Durham
City.

The post holder will be responsible for a range of challenging
duties around undergraduate student financial support, covering
both the administration of internal and external sources of funding
for students and managing and developing the provision of
information and guidance on financial support to prospective and
current undergraduate students.

You will be responsible for the team whose primary area of
responsibility is to support both students and the University with
the administration of undergraduate and postgraduate student loans.
This will include liaising with the Student Loans Company (or the
relevant bodies of the home nations), responding to queries,
confirming attendance confirmation and change of
circumstances.

You will also be responsible for processing other student funding
streams which provide funding to students at the University. This
will include liaising with the NE First Credit Union and the US
Federal Government, processing US Federal Aid applications for
students studying, or intending to study, at the University.

You will play a key part in the running of a customer-focussed,
efficient and professional service dedicated to ensuring that
undergraduates applying to, and attending, Durham University
receive service befitting a world-class university in the area of
student financial support.

You must also be a flexible team-worker able to take responsibility
for managing a varied workload to a high standard. A high level of
accuracy, sometimes under pressure, is essential. You will be
dealing with highly confidential, and potentially sensitive,
information and must ensure that it is kept in accordance with the
principles of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and in
the strictest confidence.

Further information about the role and the responsibilities is at
the bottom of this job description.

Working at Durham

A competitive salary is only one part of the many fantastic
benefits you will receive if you join the University: you will also
receive access to the following fantastic benefits:

• 30 Days annual leave per year in addition to 8 public holidays
and 4 customary days per year – a total of 42 days per year.

• The University closes between Christmas and New Year

• We offer a generous pension scheme, As a new member of staff you
will be automatically enrolled into the University Superannuation
Scheme (USS).

• No matter how you travel to work, we have you covered. We have
parking across campus, a cycle to work scheme which helps you to
buy a bike and discount with local bus and train companies.

• There is a genuine commitment to developing our colleagues
professionally and personally. There is a comprehensive range of
development courses, apprenticeships and access to qualifications
and routes to develop your career in the University. All staff have
dedicated annual time to concentrate on their personal development
opportunities.

• Lots of support for health and wellbeing including discounted
membership for our state of the art sport and gym facilities and
access to a 24-7 Employee Assistance Programme.

• On site nursery is available and children’s clubs in the summer
holidays.

• Family friendly policies, including maternity and adoption leave,
which are among the most generous in the higher education sector
(and likely above and beyond many employers).

• The opportunity to take part in staff volunteering activities to
make a difference in the local community

• Discounts are available via our benefits portal including; money
off at supermarkets, high street retailers, IT products such as
Apple, the cinema and days out at various attractions.

• A salary sacrifice scheme is also available to help you take
advantage of tax savings on benefits.

• If you are moving to Durham, we can help with removal costs and
we have a dedicated team who can help you with the practicalities
such as house hunting and schools. If you need a visa, we cover
most visa costs and offer an interest free loan scheme to pay for
dependant visas.

Durham University is committed to equality, diversity and
inclusion

Our collective aim is to create an open and inclusive environment
where everyone can reach their full potential and we believe our
staff should reflect the diversity of the global community in which
we work. As a University equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI)
are a key part of the University’s Strategy and a central part of
everything we do. We also live by our values and our Staff Code of
Conduct. At Durham we actively work towards providing an
environment where our staff and students can study, work and live
in a community which is supportive and inclusive. It’s important to
us that all of our colleagues are aligned to both our values and
commitment to EDI.

We welcome and encourage applications from members of groups who
are under-represented in our work force including people with
disabilities, women and black, Asian and minority ethnic
communities. If you have taken time out of your career, and you
feel it relevant, let us know about it in your application. If you
are a candidate with a disability, we are committed to ensuring
fair treatment throughout the recruitment process. We will make
adjustments to support the interview process wherever it is
reasonable to do so and, where successful, reasonable adjustments
will be made to support people within their role.

Qualifications :

What you need to demonstrate when you apply/Person
Specification

When you apply it is important that you let us know what
skills/experience you have from a similar role and/or what
skills/experience you have which would make you right for this
role. Further information about the role and responsibilities is at
the end of this job description.

Where a criteria has an asterisk* next to it, it may be given
additional weighting when your application is considered. Your
application should cover the following criteria:

Essential Criteria
• Excellent oral and written communication skills and the ability
to develop excellent working relationships both internally and
externally.
• Excellent digital competence with demonstrable skills in using
core digital tools including internet, email, digital communication
tools, Microsoft 365 applications (particularly Excel and Access),
financial systems and Student Loans Company systems.
• Educated to degree level (or equivalent experience).
• Continuing professional development required to maintain
professional recognition.
• Professional practitioner with knowledge and expertise used to
contribute to the delivery and development of services, events and
activities within the organisation.
• Knowledge and experience of working in a student loans
environment. Working with the SLC (and other home nation funding
providers); ensuring compliance with regulatory and organisational
policy and guidelines.
• Experience of providing specialist advice and guidance to a
range of customers and colleagues, including more senior
colleagues.
• Experience of managing and developing a team or teams and/or
line management qualification.

Desirable Criteria
• Experience of implementing policy and procedures and
involvement with future changes for a service area.
• Experience of being able to network effectively and develop
strong and productive working relationships, to influence
perceptions of the University.
• Experience of working with other external funding sources for
students (e.g., US Federal Aid/Credit Unions etc.)

How to Apply

To progress to the assessment stage, candidates must evidence each
of the essential criteria required for the role in the person
specification above. It will be at the discretion of the recruiting
panel as to whether they will also consider any desirable criteria,
but we would urge candidates to provide evidence for all criteria.
Please don’t forget to check if there is any weighted criteria (see
above).

While some criteria will be considered at the shortlisting stage,
other criteria may be considered later in the assessment process,
such as questions at interview.

Submitting your application

We prefer to receive applications online. We will update you about
your application at various points throughout the selection
process, via automated emails from our e-recruitment system. Please
check your spam/junk folder periodically to make sure you have not
missed any of our updates.

What you need to submit

• A CV

• A supporting statement or covering letter which outlines how you
meet all of the criteria within the Person Specification.

Contact details

For a chat about the role or any further information please contact
Michael Parks by email at [email protected]

Typical Role Requirements

Core responsibilities:
• Recognised professional practitioner and management and/or
service specialist with responsibility for the management o f the
Staff in the team.
• Ensuring that the various student loan regulations are adhered
to in order to ensure that students receive their loans in a timely
manner, support any students with difficulties.
• Provide input to the design and development of service
processes, techniques and deliverables for one or more service
areas or projects.
• Manage operational service activities to ensure excellence in
the staff and student experience.
• Contribute to the analysis of stakeholder feedback to help
define needs and requirements, inputting to the design and planning
of services.
• Internal and external relationship development and partnership
working, networking and participation to engage and influence
future services and the University reputation.
• Provide feedback on team and individual performance and
identify development needs, conducting regular staff ADR and
performance r eviews for staff in the team.
• Handle the vast majority of welfare issues within the team,
referring more complex welfare issues to appropriate support
services/senior management.
• Delivery of ongoing coaching, mentoring and training to team
members.
• Maintain an awareness of current student loans policy to
support University business goals such as widening participation
and access.
• Take responsibility for the US Federal Aid processes,
supporting the team responsible for processing US loans.
• Contribute to business meetings, working groups and sub
committees at departmental and operational service levels.
• Responsible for managing the student support fund budget,
keeping records and processing payments.
• Devolve responsibilities to team members to ensure continuity
of service provision and encourage skills development.

Role responsibilities:
• Provide management for service areas and/or processes ensuring
a high quality and timely service to all stakeholders, including
prospective, existing and past students and staff.
• Mana ge and monitor performance and workload outcomes and/or
staff, planning cover to ensure smooth service provision through
peaks and troughs.
• In relation to government student loans, credit union loans and
US Federal Aid; analyse data and provide reports to Service Heads
making recommendations for improvement to the service.
• Provide advice to applicants and students in relation to the
Student Loans Company, University and/or Department policy,
procedures and regulations.
• Ensure the review and improvement of systems and procedures
(e.g. Student Loans processing and US Federal Aid data transfer) in
li ne with University and Departmental frameworks.
• Distribute service information and provide advice to
stakeholders regarding compliance and regulations and annual
expenditure.
• Ensur e regulations and procedures are updated to take account
of internal and external changes.
• Manage and oversee the team supporting students with all loans
within the University and following up on appropriate committee
decisions.
• Awareness of the external environment and sector best practice
to support high quality services, in particular in relation to
student loans and financial support provided across the
sector.
• Manage an active relationship between the University and the
Student Loans Company to ensure the payment of loans to
students.
• Any other reasonable duties.

Please note that in submitting your application Durham University
will be processing your data. We would ask you to consider the
relevant University Privacy Statement
Privacy Notices - Durham University which provides information
on the collation, storing and use of data.

When appointing to this role the University must ensure that it
meets any applicable immigration requirements, including salary
thresholds which are applicable to some visas
United Kingdom

Salary Criteria