Weekend Lodge Receptionist (Porter) - 14 hours in Oxford

The College is located centrally in beautiful Radcliffe Square, and dating from 1509, Brasenose College is one of the older Colleges in Oxford. It is a medium sized college with 400 undergraduates, 210 graduate students and 131 support staff. Outside of the three 10-week terms, during Easter and summer, the College is exceptionally busy hosting international conferences and Bed and Breakfast guests.

Purpose of Job: The Lodge is the first point of contact for all guests and visitors to the College making this a key public-facing role providing a professional yet friendly welcome. The delivery of exemplary customer service is paramount to creating a positive impression and to the successful operation of an efficient and effective lodge reception. The Lodge is open round the clock, 365 days a year. The Weekend Lodge Receptionist will be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the Lodge and fulfilling the daily tasks as per departmental procedures, reporting to the Lodge Management Team in the first instance and Domestic Bursar when required.

Overview of Responsibilities:

• Customer service: Provide a warm, friendly and professional welcome to the College, ensuring visitors are acknowledged quickly and helped in a timely fashion. Be sympathetic to the support and welfare needs of the student body; providing a friendly, approachable and safe environment for students to get information or signposting to the appropriate support resources. Dealing with a wide and varied flow of people at different levels. Professionalism, tact, diplomacy, discretion and a friendly approach are always required, as well as an awareness of the need for confidentiality where circumstances dictate. To act as a point of information for college members during term time, to conference & events guests during vacation and to visitors throughout the year. Able to quickly provide, or know where to find information, and to be knowledgeable about the College history, the local area and tourism attractions. Handling telephone calls to the main switchboard, displaying a warm and professional welcome by phone and able to competently handle enquiries, deal with any requests yourself, where possible or, if unable to assist, then to probe for further information and direct the caller to the appropriate person. Taking and communicating messages where required. Ability to work proactively, to foresee any potential issues and to think about how the activities and interactions of a busy College operation relate to the Lodge operations. To deal with any unforeseen situations calmly and be able to use your own initiative to resolve minor issues confidently but be aware of limitations and know when to escalate. To effectively communicate to the guest, in the first instance, and to relevant departments as required. To be confident in handling complaints. Able to remain calm and composed to resolve the guest complaints quickly and to ensure all relevant departments are made aware of both the issue and the action taken to resolve it.
• Safety & Security: Supporting the Lodge Management Team to ensure a continuous safe and secure environment - highlighting any potential risk and impact on the College to the Lodge Management Team. Be first aid trained, proficient in fire prevention and H & S regulations and act as first responder to incidents, and to coordinate with emergency services or University Security where required. Lodge staff are required to carry out security patrols and deal with any security or behavioural issues appropriately and professionally. Being always vigilant and able to confidently, but tactfully and politely challenge anyone who appears to need assistance. The post holder should be fully conversant with the College Security systems and procedures. Able to deal with any emergencies in a swift and prompt manner following the College Fire and other emergency plans. Responsible for providing written incident reports in line with college policy.
• General operational duties: Ensuring the Lodge area is clean, tidy and organised and promotes a professional and welcoming first impression of the college, sorting post, delivering parcels and assisting with luggage. To be IT proficient, particularly in the use of MS Office and be able to use the college booking system. To act as an information point and communicate relevant information across the appropriate departments, ensuring accurate and detailed handovers between shifts. Assisting tour party visitors within the College and ensuring the College is well presented for this purpose. The post holder should display a high standard of written and verbal communication, duties will include monitoring the Lodge email account and responding professionally and timely to incoming emails. As directed by the Lodge Management Team, assist the Dean, Domestic Bursar and Junior Deans in the enforcement of College Rules, ensuring that noise disruption is kept to a minimum and that procedures for managing noise or behavioural issues are complied with to minimise the impact on residents of the College. Ensure the Lodge issue keys/fobs accurately, complying with all procedures. To support the Maintenance team in making initial assessments out-of-hours in resolving maintenance problems, referring as necessary. To put up and take down flags as instructed. To take responsibility for overseeing parking arrangements within Radcliffe Square and Frewin Annexe on a day-to-day basis, as per college procedures; To comply with any other reasonable request when required by the Domestic Bursar, and Lodge Management Team.

General: The post holder will be required to be familiar with, and work in accordance with, all College’s policies and procedures. To participate in training and development required by the College. To be willing and prepared to undertake any other duties as directed by the Lodge Management Team, and where necessary the Domestic Bursar. The job description may be subject to review in consultation with the postholder. To be vigilant and take responsibility for ensuring the Lodge and College property and equipment is always kept safe.

Person Specification:

Essential: Previous experience working in a customer service focused role in a hotel or similar environment. Good written and verbal communication skills. IT literate – able to use Microsoft Office. Ability to prioritise when dealing with a wide and varied workload. Able to use initiative to solve day to day problems or to react appropriately in the case of emergencies. Able to remain polite and calm under pressure, be self-motivated and organised. Able to demonstrate compassion and support in a high-pressure environment. Ability to work collaboratively as part of a team, in a flexible, supportive and adaptable manner. High level of motivation and initiative and be able to work without direct supervision.

Desirable: Experience using PMS (electronic booking systems). Experience working in an academic setting. Knowledge of emergency procedures and First Aid. Awareness of basic maintenance to triage calls into the Lodge.

Terms and Conditions of Employment:

Appointment: This is a permanent part-time post and there will be an initial probationary period of six months. The appointment will be conditional on verification of the successful candidate’s ‘Right to Work’ checks and subject to the receipt of satisfactory references and medical clearance along with a Disclosure and Barring Service check.

Salary: Equivalent to Brasenose College salary scale, Grade 3 £27,704 – £28,607 p/a according to experience. Calculated on a pro-rata basis for 14 hours per week (£11,081.60 – £11,442.80). Advancement up the scale is on merit.

Hours of Working: Part time, 14 hours each week depending on shifts. Due to the nature of the role, this shift pattern will fluctuate, with working days being Saturday and Sunday. The shift will be either morning 07:00am – 14:00pm or afternoon 14:00pm – 21:00pm. A flexible approach to shift changes is required according to the requirements of the College. On occasion you may be required to work beyond the regular shift times, as the operation demands; lieu time or additional overtime hours will be paid in agreement with the Lodge Management Team. This is to ensure the Lodge has sufficient cover 24 hours each day throughout the whole year. The post-holder should be willing to cover at short notice in the event of sickness or emergency situations.

Benefits:

• Pension - Eligibility to the Oxford Staff Pension Scheme (OSPS). The successful candidate will be entered into this scheme automatically on joining, but on-going membership of the scheme is optional.
• Salary Exchange Scheme - Staff who join OSPS will also be enrolled into the Salary Exchange Pension Contributions Scheme on or around three months after joining Brasenose staff. This scheme is financially advantageous both to the employee and the College as the employer.
• Annual leave - The paid holiday entitlement for an equivalent full-time contract for a year is six working weeks (30 days) of annual leave (5 days to be taken over Christmas break when College is closed) plus 8 Statutory Bank Holidays. Annual leave shall be taken at mutually convenient times agreed in advance with the Department Manager. The holiday year begins on 1 January and ends 31 December. For part years of service, the entitlement will be calculated as 1/12th of the annual entitlement for each completed month.
• Meals - Employees are entitled to take lunch free of charge, when the kitchen is open.
• Welfare Support – Employee Assistance Programme – a free confidential telephone helpline and online medical guidance. Free annual flu jab.
• Travel Pass Loan - a discounted travel scheme is available with monthly deductions from salary.
• Cycle to Work Scheme/Bike Loan – monthly deductions from salary.
• Sports Facilities – Access to the University Sports club.
• University Card - for discounts in shops, cafes and restaurants and University Leisure facilities.

Other Information: No smoking is allowed on the main College site.