Project Officer – (Modern Foreign Language Projects Portfolio)

Job title:

Project Officer – (Modern Foreign Language Projects Portfolio)

Company

Cardiff University

Job description

School / DirectorateSchool of Modern LanguagesAdvertProject Officer – (Modern Foreign Language Projects Portfolio)The post holder will be part of the team delivering the , which has been funded by Welsh Government since 2015 to arrest and reverse a 20-year decline in the number of young people opting to study a modern foreign language at GCSE in Wales (please see the additional information section for more project detail).This role is designed to support the recruitment and day-to-day management of secondary school partners and university mentors. The post holder will be allocated a caseload of schools and mentors that they will support throughout the lifecycle of the project. They will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the university students engaged with the project, and the partner teachers. This will involve tracking progress, providing updates on processes and procedures, providing support and guidance and offering support as per the needs of the teacher or university mentor.The post holder will be managed by the Operations Manager for the project, and will be a critical member of the broader team who provide logistical support to the core function of the project. The role will require some occasional travel and weekend working predominately within Wales.This post is part-time (28 hours), available immediately, and is fixed term until 31 March 2025.Salary: £26,444 – £29,605 per annum, pro-rata (Grade 4)For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Glesni Owen, Operations Manager: [email protected]Date advert posted: Friday, 26 April 2024Closing date: Friday, 10 May 2024Please be aware that Cardiff University reserves the right to close this vacancy early should sufficient applications be received.Cardiff University is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse range of staff from many different backgrounds who have the ambition to create a University which seeks to fulfil our social, cultural and economic obligation to Cardiff, Wales, and the world. In supporting our employees to achieve a balance between their work and their personal lives, we will also consider proposals for flexible working or job share arrangements.Applications may be submitted in Welsh, and an application submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application submitted in English.Post Reference Number18574BRJob DescriptionThe job requires the role holder to:

• Proactively support the day-to-day operations, and provide detailed advice and guidance on project processes and procedures relating to the Year 8/9 Mentoring Project to internal and external customers (staff, students or members of the public), using judgement and creativity to suggest the most appropriate course of action, and contributing to the solving of more complex issues.

• Ensure that activity taking place is in compliance with all regulations of risk, and that all processes relating to mentor and school management are fully adhered to.
• Take responsibility for resolving issues related to school and student ambassador logistics and session content independently, escalating to your line manager where necessary.
• Seek opportunities to improve the processes and procedures of the project’s day-to-day functioning, proactively contributing to the continuous improvement of operational systems and processes to facilitate the work of the project.
• Support and deliver communications to teachers and student language ambassadors through different mechanisms and update and improve these communications as required. This will include newsletters, events, social media and providing information to be include in website updates.
• Gather and analyse data so that informed decisions can be made, establishing basic trends and patterns in the data and providing basic reports for management to support evaluation of the project.
• Establish working relationships with key internal and external contacts to help improve service delivery.
• Work collaboratively with other members of the team, providing support where necessary.
• Contribute to the training of a cohort of mentors both in terms of logistics and delivery.
• Maintain appropriate project documentation.
• Be confident using a range of digital tools to support your working practices across all areas of the role.
• Plan and deliver specific small-scale projects, as needed, supported by your line manager.

General Duties

• Abide by all University policies and undergo appropriate personal and professional development.
• Perform other duties which are not included above, but which will be consistent with the role.
• Uphold the Professional Services Values & Behaviours or local equivalent.

Salary Range Max.29,605GradeGrade 4Salary Range Min.26,444Job CategoryAdmin / ClericalAdditional InformationThe Modern Foreign Language (MFL) Mentoring project has been funded by Welsh Government since 2015 to arrest and reverse a 20-year decline in the number of young people opting to study a modern foreign language at GCSE in Wales, in support of the aims and ambitions of Welsh Government’s strategy. The project works across Wales working with over 160 secondary schools across Wales, 100s of teachers, 10 partner universities, over 150 university students spanning university and subject areas, and engaging with over 6000 secondary school learners each year. The project also has partnerships that extend throughout the UK including but not limited to Ulster University, Stirling University, Leeds University and Warwick University.Career PathwayAdministrative SupportPerson SpecificationIt is Cardiff University’s policy to use the person specification as a key tool for shortlisting. Therefore, candidates must evidence they meet ALL the essential criteria and, where relevant, the desirable. Please attach a supporting statement, using each of the below criteria as a heading and evidencing how you meet each one. When attaching the supporting statement to your application, please ensure you name it with the vacancy reference number: 18574BR.Essential Criteria * Experience of working within projects including evidence of ability to simultaneously manage a range of project activities.

• Experience of working within a role that requires building up specialist knowledge of related policies and procedures.
• Ability to communicate in writing clearly, concisely, and effectively in order to communicate specialist and complex information and guidance effectively and professionally to a range of customers with varying levels of understanding.
• Ability to use your initiative and creativity to solve problems, respond to queries and make recommendations, identifying and proposing practical solutions.
• Excellent organisational skills, including the ability to independently plan, prioritise and organise own workload within established time scales.
• Ability to set up and adhere to standard office systems and procedures, and make improvements to these as appropriate.
• Ability to work as an effective team member, providing advice and guidance to other team members where necessary.
• Evidence of ability to explore and understand customers needs and adapt the service accordingly to ensure a quality service is delivered.
• A clear interest and/or experience of working in education in Wales, above all in languages education.

10. A willingness to undertake further learning and development as required for the roleDesirable Criteria * Fluency in Welsh, written and oral

• Project Management qualifications (eg. Prince 2).

Expected salary

£26444 – 29605 per year

Location

Cardiff

Job date

Mon, 29 Apr 2024 05:31:41 GMT

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