Student Information and Advice Manager

Permanent, full time.

Full-time hours at the University are 35 per week with the standard working pattern Monday to Friday from 09:00 to 17:00, with some flexibility in start/finish times.

Education and Students, Student Advice.

Your line manager will be Ella Wheeler, Head of Student Support.

The majority of your working week will be spent at our office in Reading and the rest at your home*. The exact split of days/hours is negotiable but must include a minimum of three working days each week in Horizons (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday). The office closes on Fridays.
* Working from home is only possible if your environment is suitable – please see the ‘Working from home’ section on our Careers Site for further information.

As the Student Information and Advice Manager, you will oversee the operational delivery of high-quality information, advice and guidance to a diverse cohort of students, including undergraduates, postgraduates and degree apprentices.

You’ll balance day-to-day team leadership, active performance management, meaningful liaison and problem solving with colleagues across the organisation, and quality improvement.

Working closely with the Head of Student Support, you will take a data-led approach to lead the Student Advice team to continuously develop their service, including preparing for and supporting new ways of working as our organisation changes and grows. You will ensure the team continues to work in line with the Matrix Standard for information, advice and guidance.

You will deputise for the Head of Student Support when required and act as a strong link between the Student Advice and Student Community teams, ensuring your service listens to student voices and provides excellent student experiences.

• Lead, motivate, and line-manage a team of seven Student Advice officers in their roles delivering student support across phones, email, and online platforms.

• Manage day-to-day operational issues, workflow distribution, working patterns, rotas, and escalation handling to ensure consistent, timely support for students and apprentices.

• Foster an open, collaborative, and accountable team culture, encouraging professional development and the maintenance/building of positive cross-organisational working practices.

• Set and review clear performance targets, and service level agreements (SLAs) for individual team members and the team as a whole.

• Manage SLAs for student enquiries across the organisation, supporting other teams where required to ensure excellent customer service.

• Conduct regular one-to-ones and team meetings, quality assurance checks on advice delivery, and constructive performance reviews, proactively managing underperformance and ensuring the maintenance of positive workplace behaviours.

• Act as a change champion, supporting staff through organisational change whenever it arises, focusing on enquiry systems and best-practice digital support.

• Support team members to design and run their own specialist areas of knowledge/projects to drive service improvements.

• Identify friction points in procedures and processes, particularly where they impact students, working cross-functionally across the University to resolve issues at source.

• Establish strong working relationships across departments to ensure the Student Advice team receives accurate, up-to-date policy, regulatory, and procedural information.

• Regularly review operational workflows to improve advice quality, response…