Job Description

Job id: 074966. Salary: \xc2\xa331,396- \xc2\xa3 34,619 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance.

Posted: 18 September 2023. Closing date: 08 October 2023.

Business unit: Students & Education. Department: Social Mobility & Widening Participation.

Contact details: Micheala Whitley. Micheala.whitely@kcl.ac.uk

Location: Strand Campus. Category: Professional & Support Services.



About Us

The King\'s community is dedicated to the service of society. King\'s Strategic Vision 2029 sets out our vision for the future, shaped around five priority areas: educate to inspire and improve; research to inform and innovate; serve to shape and transform; a civic university at the heart of London; and an international community that services the world. Our ambitious Education Strategy sets out the actions that we must take to transform how we teach, how and where our students learn and how we support them during their time with us.

At King\'s College London Widening Participation Department we believe all young people should be able to have high expectations for their future. This means equal access to education and career opportunities. We run programmes that aim to empower young people from under-represented backgrounds to access and succeed at university.

We are part of the Students & Education Directorate, a collection of wide-ranging professional services in place to support King\'s students and their education. As a directorate we manage the student lifecycle from application to graduation and beyond, to ensure a coherent and seamless student experience and effective administrative processes, working closely with King\'s faculties to do so.

About the Role

The Widening Participation Officer (Pre-16) will provide efficient admin support for the pre-16 programmes team and support the three senior officers with the planning and delivery of our Year 7-9 flagship programme, King\'s Scholars. King\'s Scholars aims to support attainment in schools by teaching learning skills. The Pre-16 Officer will specifically lead on King\'s Scholars Challenges (remote activities designed for year 7-9 King\'s Scholars) and KS Connect which is our text message communication strategy for parents/guardians. In addition to this, the Officer will lead on the planning and delivery of aspects year 9 events such as Graduations. The postholder will support the team with the delivery of year 6 transition programme Step Up Scholars and KS4 raising attainment programme Scholars +. As part of this role, the Pre-16 Officer will assist with our community engagement programmes. This includes The Hastings Project, which works with white working class families, and Parent Power, which uses community organising to bring parents together to campaign for educational change.

This is an exciting opportunity for colleagues looking for a career with social impact, and who wish to utilise their skills and expertise in working with young people. This role gives the unique opportunity of working across the pre-16 life cycle from year 6-11. This is an opportunity to grow your skills in project management, partnership management, and in communicating with different audiences.

We encourage applications from candidates who have experience from both within and outside of the Higher Education sector where they can demonstrate the skills needed to succeed in this role.

This post will be offered on an indefinite contract.

This is a full-time post, but we welcome applications from candidates seeking a flexible work pattern within our 10am-6pm.

Key responsibilities

The Widening Participation Officer (Scholars+) is responsible for:

• \xe2\x80\x8b\xe2\x80\x8bProvide efficient administrative support to the Pre-16 programmes team, including maintaining accurate records of programme participants, data entry, booking rooms, and responding to enquiries.
• \xe2\x80\x8bSupport with the organisation and delivery of events for young people.
• \xe2\x80\x8bInstruct, supervise, and train student ambassadors working at Pre-16 events.
• \xe2\x80\x8bLead on the King\'s Scholars Challenges (remote activities designed for year 7-9 King\'s Scholars) and KS Connect which is our text message communication strategy for parents/guardians.
• \xe2\x80\x8bLead on elements of the year 9 activities, working closely with the Senior Officer (Scholars +)
• \xe2\x80\x8bUndertake basic financial procedures, such as ordering goods and services, processing invoices and receipts, and updating departmental budgets.
• Organise the Pre-16 Steering group meeting administration, such as setting the dates, liaising with school contacts, and circulating the minutes.

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.

Skills, knowledge, and experience

Please clearly address how you meet the essential criteria in your application, and where possible how you meet the desirable criteria as well.

Essential criteria * Relevant work experience and/or education: We think a wide range of different work and educational experiences could support you to be successful in this role. Relevant work experience might include work in education , or charity setting. Relevant educational experiences might include higher education in a related discipline, professional qualifications or other training

• Experience working or volunteering with children or young people
• Experience of undertaking and completing projects which require administrative and organisational skills
• Ability to communicate and present complicated information orally and in writing
• Ability to work with others to deliver project aims and overcome challenges
• \xe2\x80\x8bAbility to use initiative and judgement to resolve day-to-day and predictable problems
• Ability to manage multiple workload priorities and deliver work to deadlines
• Ability to decide own pattern of work and manage own workload and resources
• Ability to provide instruction and train others to undertake specific tasks
• Ability to gather and manipulate data so that it can be interpreted by others

Desirable criteria * Educated to degree or foundation degree level

• \xe2\x80\x8bUnderstanding of the widening participation agenda and/or the role of higher education in social mobility

Further Information

Please submit a personal statement when applying for this vacancy, clearly setting out how you meet the essential criteria, as this is how we shortlist applications. Learn more about how we recruit, including tips on writing your application and supporting statement on our website:

If you are a student or alumni of King\'s there are resources from to support you in your application and interview.

Interviews will be held using Microsoft Teams and will consist of competency-based questions linked closely to the essential and desirable criteria mentioned here.

Although we have made improvements over the last number of years, our team is still under-represented in terms of staff from global majority ethnicities, LGBTQ+ identities, and from people with disabilities. We encourage applications from all backgrounds, communities and industries, and are committed to employing a team that has diverse skills, experiences and abilities.

King\'s College London