Office Administrator - Information Pack for Applicants

Office Administrator - Information pack for applicants

Background information

What is BAC? The British Accreditation Council (BAC) has been for over 28 years the principal non-EFL (English as a Foreign Language) accrediting body in the rapidly expanding independent sectors of further and higher education and training.

Our aim has been two-fold: 1. to establish a system of accreditation in the private education sector to be used as an indicator of quality; 2. through this accreditation process to improve the standards of independent further and higher educational institutions and training providers.

Location BAC enjoys a convenient and pleasant central London location in Fleet House, New Bridge Street, close to Blackfriars and City Thameslink stations.

Constitution and governance BAC is a non-governmental body, established in 1984 to provide an inspection and accreditation service for independent further and higher education institutions, after the withdrawal of the inspection and recognition service previously provided by the Department of Education and Science. It was initially funded in part by grants from the government, but is now totally self-supporting, with its income coming from annual fees paid by accredited institutions and from charges for inspections. BAC is a registered charity. It is also recognised by the Home Office as an accreditation body for student visitor visa purposes.

BAC was founded with the support of a number of bodies involved in education at a national level. Several of these (or their successor bodies) continue to nominate members to BAC’s governing Council, including Guild HE, Universities UK, the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) and the British Council (who operate an equivalent accreditation scheme for EFL providers, called Accreditation UK). The Council meets twice annually, while its two management committees, the Executive Committee and the Accreditation Committee, both meet around five times each year. No officer, committee member or Council member may have a direct financial interest in an independent further or higher education provider.

What BAC does BAC’s core business is to inspect and accredit providers of further and higher education which operate outside the funding and quality assurance framework underpinning the public university and college sectors. The majority of these providers are private institutions in the UK which offer a variety of vocational, academic and specialist education programmes to both domestic and international students aged 16 and above.

BAC currently accredits more than 300 institutions in the UK. These include independent sixth form colleges, colleges offering aspects of business studies and computer studies, a growing 5th Floor, Fleet House, 8-12 New Bridge Street, London EC4V 6AL Tel: 0300 330 1400 Fax: 0300 330 1401 Email: [email protected] Website: www.the-bac.org Private company limited by guarantee (Registered in England No. 1828990). Registered as a charity (Charities Registration No. 326652).

FE sector, and short course training providers. There is considerable diversity in the programmes offered by accredited institutions, including, for instance, drama training, audio engineering, complementary therapies, Montessori and Steiner teacher training, biblical and Islamic studies and animal osteopathy.

Since 2000, BAC has also operated an accreditation service for overseas colleges. At the moment there are around 30 such accredited overseas colleges based in Greece, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Lebanon, Mauritius, South Africa and Switzerland.

The accreditation process requires a comprehensive, on-site inspection, leading to an institutional report to be considered by the Accreditation Committee, which makes all decisions on the award of accreditation. If successful in gaining accreditation, an institution will receive a re-inspection every four years, with an interim inspection within one year and a requirement to submit an annual return to alert BAC to any significant changes.

Organisational structure BAC employs six members of permanent staff. In addition, it retains the services of around 50 self-employed Inspectors (often ex-HMIs) who undertake institutional inspections and related work on behalf of BAC.

BAC’s governing Council delegates authority to two management committees for decisions on strategy, policy and the award of accreditation. The Executive Committee, whose members all serve on and are elected by the Council, acts as the Board of Directors of the company and Trustees of the charity. It is responsible for the overall strategic direction of BAC, the conduct of BAC finances and the way in which BAC manages its business. The Accreditation Committee has delegated authority for all decisions on the award of accreditation, as well as approving any amendments or additions to BAC’s accreditation criteria and policies. Members of the Accreditation Committee are appointed by the Council for their individual and specific qualities of knowledge, judgement and experience in the field of educational quality assurance.

The Executive Committee delegates day-to-day responsibility for the effective and efficient management of the business to the Chief Executive, who is supported in this role by the administrative staff at BAC’s head office.

The Post - Office Administrator

Summary of benefits

Remuneration Salary of between £21,697-£25,527 per annum, inclusive of London weighting. Subject to satisfactory performance, the salary is increased each year on 1 September by the amount of the annual settlement agreed for all staff, and may be reviewed further on an individual basis.

Annual Leave The General Administrator is entitled to 30 days per annum in addition to public holidays. Four of those days must be taken while the BAC office is closed over the Christmas period.

Paid sickness leave Up to six days of self-certified sickness leave in any one year. Medically certified sickness leave on full pay may be taken up to a maximum of one week for every seven weeks of service, subject to a maximum of twenty weeks in any one year.

Eyecare BAC will cover the cost of an eye test once every two years and will also contribute up to £50 towards the cost of the prescription should glasses be required for working with a computer.

Employee Assistance Programme BAC provides its staff with 24 hour access to an EAP service which offers confidential legal, financial and personal advice on life management and on work-related issues.

Pension The position is pensionable after one year in post. BAC will make an employer contribution of 10% of salary into a nominated personal pension scheme when joined by an employee contribution of at least 4%.

Travel to work loans BAC supports methods of travelling to work other than by car, for which local parking is anyway strictly limited, and offers interest-free loans to employees who wish to purchase train, coach or bus season tickets, to a maximum of £3,000.

Ride2Work scheme BAC can provide a tax free voucher to buy a bicycle to ride to work.

Give As You Earn scheme Through monthly payroll, employees may donate to charities of their choice on a tax free basis.

Additional information relating to the post

Location The post holder will work primarily at the BAC head office, currently in Fleet House, New Bridge Street, London. However, he or she may also be expected to represent BAC at external meetings and events, both within the UK and on occasion internationally, as the role requires.

Hours of work 35 hours per week, to be worked during BAC’s office hours of 8:30-17:30 Monday to Friday. Flexibility will be required at times of high pressure.

Period of appointment This is a permanent position.

Notice One month’s notice is required on either side following successful completion of a six month probation period. Either party may terminate the contract at any time with one week’s notice during the probation period.

Right to work in the UK The successful candidate must have leave to remain and permission to work in the UK. BAC is not licensed to sponsor workers from outside the European Economic Area.

Terms and conditions Appointments are subject to BAC’s terms and conditions of employment, as stated in the offer letter and in BAC’s Staff Handbook.

Application procedure and selection process

Please complete the application form and send to: Ms Christina To, Operations Manager British Accreditation Council, Fleet House, 8-12 New Bridge St, London EC4V 6AL or email for her attention to: [email protected]

You should use the application form to set out your reasons for applying for the post, describe your experience of or interest in the independent FE/HE sectors, and indicate to what extent and in what way you meet the criteria included in the person specification. You may also provide a copy of your CV (not mandatory).

The closing date for completed applications is Monday 8 July by 12 noon. Late applications will not be accepted.

Interviews and a short written exercise for shortlisted candidates will take place at our London office on Thursday 11 July or Friday 12 July.

Please note that you will receive confirmation of receipt of your application by return e-mail. However, due to time pressures we will only be able to advise applicants where they have been taken forward to interview. Should you receive no further response by 10 July 2013 please assume that your application has been unsuccessful.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Job title: Office Administrator

Work location: Fleet House, 8-12 New Bridge Street, London

Hours: Full-time, 35 hours per week

Purpose of job

The Office Administrator will provide administrative support across the organisation, including the effective co-ordination of office services.

Specific duties and responsibilities

Office administration  Provide an efficient and effective reception service including handling public enquiries (via phone, e-mail and post), and incoming and outgoing post o Ensuring relevant responses to BAC enquiries are sent in a professional and timely manner o Forwarding queries or requests to relevant colleagues o Maintaining accurate records of contacts, as appropriate o Meet and greet any visitors to the BAC offices  Ensure BAC’s website remains up to date, supporting the posting of blogs, events and news  Support the communication with accredited colleges and the sector more widely using supporting e-mail software  Ensure that room booking arrangements are made for BAC’s committees (Council, Executive and Accreditation Committee) and other meetings, as appropriate, including ordering food and preparing the room in advance of the meeting  Monitor contracts between BAC and suppliers (of services and materials, including its landlord), liaising with suppliers where appropriate and ensuring a record is kept  Maintain good levels of tidiness and order in the office, including an adequate stock of office supplies  Provide administrative support for BAC Educational Consulting

Accreditation Services  Provide administrative support to the Accreditation Officer in the preparation and collation 6

of document packs for Accreditation Committee meetings and final dissemination of accreditation certificates and inspection reports for colleges  Provide administrative support to the Accreditation Officer in the issue of annual return forms, along with the collation of data  Provide administrative support with the running of any BAC events  Provide administrative support in the preparation and publishing of press releases, blogs, and any general communications for accredited colleges and the wider sector

Support for the Chief Executive  Provide support to the Chief Executive with the organisation of BAC’s Council and Executive Committee meetings, including preparation and dissemination of materials before and after, and minute taking  Undertake secretarial duties for the Chief Executive

Other tasks as requested to include, but not limited to:  Provide cover for absent members of staff  Any other tasks which may reasonably be directed with the agreement of the Chief Executive

Person Specification for Office Administrator

Requirements Criteria Essential How or assessed desirable Education & . Maths and English GCSE grade C or above, or E A qualifications equivalent . Educated to degree level or equivalent E A

Knowledge & . At least 2 years of experience of working in an E A/I experience office administrative role, ideally with customer service experience . Experience of providing administrative support in E A/I the running of independent committees, including minute taking . Knowledge of the independent HE and FE sectors D A/I . Good numerical skills, including experience or D A/I understanding of data collection and analysis D A/I . Experience of using e-mail marketing software D A/I

Skills & abilities . Excellent telephone manner E I/T . Excellent IT skills, including Microsoft Office E A/T (particularly Word and Excel) and Outlook

Planning & . Focus on critical priorities and manage priorities E A/I organisation to bring results . Accurately anticipate time resource required for E A/I each task and meet time commitments to others . Monitor progress and keeps colleagues and E A/I stakeholders informed . Follow procedures to ensure that all parts of a E A/I task are completed to the required standards . Update records at regular intervals, regularly E A/I checking for missing documentation . Develop reasoned and feasible work plans D A/I . Create systems for record or data management D A/I

Attention to . Good command of the English language, E A/I detail producing coherent and grammatically correct documentation . Identify errors in text and numerical data E A/I

Customer focus . Listen to customer requests, replying in a timely E A/I manner, and consistently meeting expectations . Follow through on customer commitments and E A/I assume ownership of issues, taking steps to eliminate problems . Remain calm, polite and professional with E A/I difficult or angry customers . Develop relationships with customers over time E A/I

Communications . Actively listen to colleagues and customers, E A/I gaining sound understanding of their position before responding (written and oral) . Consistently deliver accurate, clear, and concise E A/I messages to inform audience

Other . Flexibility – willingness to undertake tasks not E A/I Requirements directly related to job role . Commitment to personal and professional D A/I development . Willingness to travel – may need to travel within D A/I the UK as the role requires

Codes: E = Essential A = Application form D = Desirable I = Interview T = Test