Student Services Team Lead

Contact the internal recruiters who posted this position.

HR Administrator at King's Service Centre

About the job

We are delighted to announce that our Service Desk is expanding to create these exciting new opportunities in our Newquay based office!

Overview of role

The King's community is dedicated to serving society. King's Strategic Vision 2029 outlines our future vision, focused on five priority areas: educating to inspire and improve; researching to inform and innovate; serving to shape and transform; being a civic university at the heart of London; and fostering an international community that serves the world. Our ambitious Education Strategy details the actions needed to transform our teaching methods, enhance student learning experiences, and support students throughout their time with us.

Student Services brings together colleagues who are focussed on helping students to get the information they need quickly and easily and also to engage with their programme and university life more broadly, through the management of inbound enquiries and service requests, static and dynamic digital content, and outbound communications.

As a Senior member of the Newquay based Service Desk team, you will be responsible for ensuring the delivery of an efficient and high-quality team to support students and associates of King’s College London.

The Student Services Team Lead manages the day-to-day operations of the frontline team who are responsible for enquiry handling and managing the student’s life cycle from application to graduation. They will promote high performance, achieve defined service performance KPIs and provide holistic support to their direct reports while acting as a point of escalation for complex enquiries.

The Student Services Frontline team handles a wide array of enquiries from current students, alumni and third parties, received through online enquiry forms, over the phone and through webchat. This is an exciting opportunity for candidates looking to gain experience in improvements to student success, and who wish to utilise their skills and expertise in customer services.

This post holder will be responsible for the direct line management of a team of Service Desk staff, coaching and motivating them to deliver excellent customer service in a pressurised environment, and actively managing the team’s rota to ensure that staffing levels are maintained to meet agreed service level targets.

Working with the Service Desk Manager you will maintain 'quality management' within the Service Desk to ensure we meet and exceed customer expectations.

The applicant will require strong interpersonal, influencing, communication and report writing skills with the ability to interact appropriately with users of various skill levels, remaining calm and courteous while working to resolve challenging queries and dealing with customer escalations.

Experience in a management role is highly desirable, however, applicants with training and leadership experience will be considered.

The post holder must be willing to undertake training to provide First Aid and Fire Warden cover for the office.

Some travel may be required (predominantly between the Quintrell Downs office and College campuses in London).

The normal hours for this post are 8.5 per day, covering 07:00-21:30, Monday to Friday with some flexibility to cover weekends and Bank Holiday in our busy periods.

Key skills and experience required

Experience in a Team Lead / Manager role. (E)

Strong interpersonal, influencing, communication and report writing skills, interacts appropriately with users, remains calm and courteous, working to resolve enquiries and deal with customer escalations. (E)

Experience in rota management. (E)

Ability to show empathy in a professional environment. (E)

Experience delivering excellent customer service in a pressurised, high-volume environment, with the ability to lead a successful team. (E)

Experience and understanding of equality, diversity, and inclusion with the ability to apply this knowledge when making decisions for both you and your team. (E)

Strong experience in the management and development of people. (E)

Technical understanding of an enterprise / complex support environment. (D)

Ability to adapt and understand new technologies, and a drive to seek out emerging industry best practices. (E)

Strong reporting skills, with the ability to interpret data to ensure KPIs are met, and to contribute towards Continual Service Improvement. (E)

Ability to take responsibility for own decision making while knowing when and how to escalate or signpost sensitive enquiries. (E)

Ability to work under pressure and remain calm and resilient in a fast-paced, customer-focused environment, whilst making an active contribution to achieving team goals. (E)

Ability to work with others as an effective team and share knowledge in support of excellent customer service to students. (E)

Methodical approach to problem solving and attention to detail, and a passion for continual service improvement. (E)

Understanding of the need for confidentiality with working knowledge of UK General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). (E)

Proficient documentation skills; able to fully document operational requirements, proposed solutions, processes, and data flows effectively. (E)

Effective time management skills with the ability to work on multiple tasks simultaneously, requiring experience with prioritising tasks due to shifting priorities, fluctuating workloads, and deadline pressures. (E)

Sound knowledge of Microsoft Office suite including Outlook and Excel (E), understanding of customer relationship management (CRM) software and the ability to learn new systems quickly and competently (D).

ITIL Foundation (D) or prepared to achieve qualification. (E)

Full Driving Licence (D) or the ability to get to our Quintdown office in Newquay within 60 minutes (E).

Equality, diversity and inclusion

We are an inclusive and welcoming employer that encourages a wide range of applicants. We embrace diversity and want everyone to be able to bring their whole selves to work and succeed.

This is in line with KCL.

Flexible Working Requests

For all our roles we are open to discussing the possibility of part time work, reduced hours, hybrid working and flexible start and finish times. Unfortunately, we cannot promise to agree to your original request, but we do promise not to judge you for asking and to consider the possibility.

Employee Benefits

• Hybrid Working - Minimum of 5 days per month in the office
• 10% Performance related bonus
• 30 Days holiday and maximum of 8 public holidays (pro-rata)
• Sick pay
• 4 Discretionary Christmas Closure Days
• Contributory pension scheme
• Life Assurance cover
• Service time - 3 Volunteer days per year
• 2 Well-being days per year
• Free onsite parking & Bike racks
• Annual leave purchase scheme - up to a maximum of 10 days (subject to national minimum wage requirements)
• Student Discount (access to Totum, Unidays & Student Beans)
• CycleScheme
• TechScheme
• Opportunities for formal training and professional certification
• Free access to Linkedin Learning
• Free access to Future Learn short courses
• Potential for internal promotion and advancement