Representation Coordinator

Applications are invited for the above full-time permanent post working in Bangor University Students’ Union (Undeb Bangor).

We are looking for a passionate creative and enthusiastic individual to work within the Membership Development department at Undeb Bangor as Representation Coordinator. You will work closely with the elected Students’ Union Sabbatical Officers and will support the development and delivery of representative and democratic activity within the Union, including Course Representatives, Student Council, elections and policy and UMCB representation activity.

Educated to A Level standard (or equivalent), you will work as part of the Student Voice team and will be responsible for coordinating and supporting the representative and democratic based activity in accordance with the Union’s strategic goals.

The role sits within a busy and dynamic department and therefore candidates must have excellent communication and organisational skills with an ability to be flexible and adaptable. The ideal candidate will have experience of working within a representative and democratic environment and a good understanding of student voice. Experience of working in a diverse organisation with the ability to flourish in a fast-paced, student-led environment would be advantageous.

The successful candidate will be expected to commence as soon as reasonably possible. 

The ability to communicate through the medium of Welsh or demonstrate a commitment to learn to a specified level is essential for this post.

This role will be located on campus at Bangor. Through our Dynamic Working framework , there will also be the option to spend some time working remotely (although remaining in the UK) to support work life balance, which will be discussed further with candidates at interview. 

Applications will also be considered to carry out this role on a part-time or job share basis

Applications will only be accepted via our on-line recruitment website, jobs.bangor.ac.uk. However, in cases of access issues due to disability, paper application forms are available by telephoning 01248 383865.

Closing date for applications: 20th March 2023.

Interview date: 29th March 2023.

Committed To Equal Opportunities

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Operational Delivery

• To be the first point of contact and provide one to one support, guidance and facilitation to course representatives and student councillors.
• Responsible for the administration for representation and democracy activity including the Course Representative system, Student Council, and our annual elections.
• Support the development and coordination of the Course Representative system across the University to ensure the delivery of effective student feedback, liaising closely with relevant staff and stakeholders to ensure recruitment across all academic schools, and reps are well supported and able to contribute to the development of education provision.
• To operate the established systems for the recruitment of, and liaison with, Course Representatives: administrating the system and creating and maintain an up-to-date database of Course Representatives as appropriate in accordance with Data Protection and identify any gaps in representative coverage.
• Working with the Vice-President Education to support Course Reps on a day-to-day basis to answer their queries and refer them to appropriate networks.
• The coordination and ongoing development of appropriate representation systems for Postgraduate and Welsh speaking students across the University.
• To assist the Membership Development Manager and Student Voice Lead in evaluating the effectiveness and impact of the Union’s Course Representative system and developing systems that enable student representation.
• Work with the Membership Development Manager and Student Voice Lead to assist in developing partnerships with relevant members of University staff, and to work with these staff to ensure that the Course Representatives are used to inform and provide feedback on relevant services and support available at academic schools and College’s.
• To keep an up-to-date record of key Course Rep achievements throughout the academic year, working with the Communications and Marketing team to promote them among the wider student body.
• Work with the Membership Development Manager and Student Voice Lead to support the planning and delivery of engaging in membership representation and consultation work.
• To support the development and implementation of large Union events across the academic year and assist in the organisation of events such as Welcome Week activities, Elections, Course Rep Week and SLTA’s and Course Rep Awards.
• Work closely with the Membership Development Manager and Student Voice Lead to support our democratic channels ensuring the delivery of engaging and vibrant student democracy and identifying ways to increase participation and engagement.
• Coordinate and support the ongoing development of democratic forums such as Students Council and the All-Student meetings, including advising on constitutional requirements, administration of policy votes.
• Maintaining the Union’s Democratic Policy and Ideas Archive and assisting student officers in the formation of policy.
• To work with Sabbatical Officers, Student Councillors and other Student Leaders to act on all policy initiatives and communicate outputs to the student body, ensuring that policy decisions are implemented across democracy and representation, communication is timely and accurate and that they comply with relevant external regulations and internal requirements.

• Support the Membership Development Manager to coordinate and organise the day to day running of Students Union Elections including the Sabbatical Officer, Student Council and NUS delegate elections, including nominations process, ensuring the elections are set-up and conducted democratically online, candidates training, hustings and voting.
• Specifically encouraging participation from sections of the student community with a history of low participation in democracy and representation and wider SU activities.
• Support other departments with the delivery of elections in other areas of the Students’ Union and referendums as directed by the Membership Development Manager.
• Support the identification of themes in student feedback and analysis and undertake occasional primary research on relevant matters supporting the Student Voice Lead to report on student activity and student feedback against set targets and key performance indicators.
• Support the Student Voice Lead to provide reports such as reports on student feedback and operational plan progress and so on as appropriate.
• Support the evaluation of the democratic structures and measure impact across the University and identify ways to increase participation and engagement within the elections in terms of the diversity and number of candidates and voters.
• Support the development and delivery of the Undeb Bangor Leadership Programme and implementation of training and development of Course Representatives and Student Councillors, to enable them to be effective in their roles. Working closely with the Student Voice Lead by contributing to the design and delivery of training.
• Promote and advocate a digital approach to representative engagement and support to all of our student leaders and representatives.
• Collaborating on, and implementing, project, campaign, and event plans within the work of representation and democracy, ensuring that through effective student representation and student led-campaigning we identify and resolve the issues that students care about.
• To support and facilitate the ideas and work of the Union’s Sabbatical Team, particularly the President, VP Education and UMCB President to identify ideas and opportunities for development and provide a day-to-day staff support function to the Officers to enable them to actively facilitate democracy and representative activities.
• Effectively supervise, support and coordinate the activities of some student staff roles as and when necessary, and positively contribute to their performance and development working closely with the Student Voice Lead as their direct line manager.
• Receive and respond to general information requests and queries, judging when to pass those on and involve others, and highlighting opportunities for development and enabling all activity to be student led.
• Support and deal with any initial queries and complaints to do with representation and democracy if suitable to do so informally and notify the Membership Development Manager and Student Voice Lead. Any formal or informal complaints deemed suitable for further investigation should be passed on to the Student Voice Lead for further investigation or for mediation as necessary.
• Maintaining an awareness of institutional, local and national education and academic based policy to provide briefings as and when necessary.

• Support the delivery and roll out of out of large Union events and engagement activities.
• Work with the Communications and Marketing team on marketing and communication plans for specific projects, campaigns, and events relevant to our representation work.
• Work closely with the Website and Digital Content Coordinator to ensure that the representation content on the website is relevant and is regularly reviewed and updated.
• Work closely with the Student Officer Team to realise their vision and goals for a Union where facilitation and empowerment is at the heart of our operations.
• Work with your manager to continuously improve the service delivery of your area of responsibility and ensure that our service offer remains relevant to students.

Stakeholder Relationships

• Building and managing effective working relationships with stakeholders to ensure the smooth operation of the department and to protect and enhance the Bangor student experience and the reputation of Bangor Students’ Union.
• Developing effective and long-lasting working relationships with University wide and local and national stakeholders to ensure that collaborative activities at the forefront of our offer and allows us to set up and develop new areas of work where relevant.
• Develop partnerships with relevant members of University staff, and to work with these staff to ensure that the student Course Representatives Representation are used to inform and provide feedback on relevant services and support.
• Develop relationships with relevant colleagues at other universities /students’ unions to identify opportunities to collaborate and build partnerships.
• Build relationships and contacts to facilitate future exchange of information.

General

• To support the development and implementation of relevant policies and procedures within the Union, working closely with the relevant manager and Officer.
• To closely support the Student Officer Team to realise their vision and goals for a Union where facilitation and empowerment is at the heart of our operations.
• Supporting the relevant democratic structures within the Union.
• Demonstrating that the core principles of the Students’ Union are central to all of their work.
• Supporting the aims and ethos of Bangor Students’ Union and Bangor University throughout the course of their duties.
• Adhering to and promoting Bangor Students’ Union’s Environment and Sustainability policy and helping the organisation to achieve our pledge to lessen our impact on the environment.
• Acting as a public advocate of the organisation, promoting the work of the Students’ Union to external stakeholders in the wider community.
• Willingness to adopt a flexible approach to work hours including evening, weekend and remote working where necessary.

The above-mentioned duties and responsibilities are indicative and are not intended to be exhaustive. Duties and responsibilities may be varied following discussion with the post holder.

Other Duties and Responsibilities

• Participate in performance review and developmental activities.

• The post holder will be expected to comply with the University equal opportunities policies, Dignity at Work and Study Policy and the University’s Welsh Language Policy and the Welsh Language Standards.

• Comply with the general and legal duty of care in relation to health, safety and wellbeing and must take all reasonable steps to ensure a safe and healthy working environment for him/herself and for other members of staff, students and visitors affected by his/her actions or inactions. The post holder is also required to comply with all applicable health and safety policies, procedures and risk assessments.

• Comply with relevant legal and financial policies and procedures and be aware of their responsibilities in terms of the legal requirements of their posts.

Person Specification

Essential

• Educated to AS Level (2 AS Levels or 1 A level) or NVQ level 3 in are relevant subject area or possess equivalent experience.
• Knowledge of the importance of supporting the development and enhancement of the student experience.
• A good understanding of democratic principles and processes and ability to operate in a democratic environment along with a good understanding of student voice, representation and advocacy and the roles of Officers and Student ‘Unions in HE institutions.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills with demonstrable ability to liaise effectively and establish effective working relationships with staff and stakeholders at all levels.
• Excellent organisational and personal time-management skills enabling efficient working, both independently, and as part of a team. to ensure delivery of outputs to strict deadlines, maintaining accuracy under pressure.
• Excellent IT skills including familiarity with MS Office applications.
• Willingness to adopt a flexible approach to work hours including evening, weekend and remote working where necessary.
• Personal commitment to core organisational values.
• Willingness to accept additional responsibilities.
• The ability to communicate through the medium of Welsh or demonstrate a commitment to learn to a specified level is essential for this post.

Desirable

• Educated to NVQ level 4 in a relevant subject area.
• Experience of working in a Students’ Union, or similar union/membership-led organisation.
• Experience of working with volunteers.
• Knowledge of relevant legislation (Charity Acts, Education Act 1994).
• Commitment to finding innovative ways to interface with the student body on a variety of issues.

General

The 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.  We strive to develop a workforce from all sections of the community regardless of sex, gender identity, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, trans identity, relationship status, religion or belief, caring responsibilities, or age. We promote and facilitate the use of the Welsh language through our progressive Welsh Language Policy. We comply with the Welsh Language Standards and are committed to equality of opportunity. You are welcome to apply for any job in English or Welsh and all applications submitted will be treated equally.

We are a member of Advance HE’s Athena SWAN Gender Equality charter and hold a Bronze award in recognition of our commitment to and progress towards gender equality within the University’s policies, practices, and culture. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.

All members of staff have a duty to ensure their actions are in line with the overall environmental aims of the University and minimise their environmental impact.

All offers are made subject to proof of eligibility to work in the UK and receipt of satisfactory references. 

All candidates must meet the requirements of UK ‘right to work’ requirements *** If you require Home Office permission to work in the UK, or need to switch your visa status in order to take this job  we recommend you use the following link to information about the routes into employment and to check eligibility requirements:  https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas

Please note that we are unable to employ anyone who does not have the right to live and work in the UK legally.   When applying for this post you will be required to explain the basis upon which you believe you will be able to live and work in the UK legally on the commencement date of the role should your application be successful.

Please note that, in the event of applications being received from candidates on the University’s Redeployment Register with a reasonable skills match to the post specification, these applicants will be given prior consideration.