Receptionist (University Accommodation) in Cardiff

Receptionist (University Accommodation)

We are looking for an enthusiastic, well presented, customer focused and reliable individual to provide a highly professional, efficient and effective reception service to customers within university accommodation.

Open ended, part time 20 hours per week, Monday - Friday, 2.00pm - 6.00pm.

Post available from 12th January 2026.

Starting Salary: £12.79 per hour (£23,350 per annum, moving to £23,742 per annum from 1 August 2026, pro‑rata for hours worked – Grade 2).

This is a campus based role.

We Offer a Leading And Rewarding Staff Benefits Package

• 32 days holiday per year plus 8 bank holidays, including Christmas and New Year Off, pro‑rate for part‑time staff
• Uniform and Training
• Two contributory pension schemes, automatically opted into the relevant scheme for your job type
• Cycle 2 Work scheme enables employees to lease bicycles and associated safety equipment up to a value of £3,000 through a Salary Sacrifice scheme
• Annual Season Ticket Travel Loans scheme – interest‑free loan to purchase a yearly travel ticket, repayable over 10 months
• Reduced rates on sports memberships
• Access to 90+ staff discounts and deals
• Discounted childcare

For more information go to: What we can offer – Jobs – Cardiff University.

The role will require a flexible approach to working hours as required, to support the achievement of departmental goals. During arrivals / departures, conferences and other busy periods you may be required to work additional hours.

Date advert posted: Tuesday, 18 November 2025. Closing date: Tuesday, 2 December 2025.

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.

Job Description

Main Duties

• To provide a professional, friendly reception service and act as an initial point of contact for student customers, external customers, and visitors.
• To deal with routine enquiries, including face‐to‐face, telephone, and e‑mail.
• To act as an initial point of contact for both routine and more complex enquiries from internal and external customers and deal with these in a professional manner, following established procedures, referring more complex enquiries to the relevant staff members, ensuring all relevant facts and information needed is recorded and passed on.
• To establish positive working relationships with key contacts to help improve service levels.
• To undertake a variety of routine administrative duties to support the team and department.
• To refer customers and visitors to other members of staff or departments as applicable.
• To issue master keys to contractors / estates personnel ensuring they are made aware with all relevant policies and procedures.
• To process and distribute mail and deliveries in a timely manner.
• To ensure that the reception / public areas are kept well presented at all times.
• To assist in preparing and clearing rooms for meetings/events which will involve the movement of equipment and furniture.
• To liaise closely with the Residences Management Team on a daily basis to support and assist with the following:
• Act as a first point of contact for receiving and providing accurate information to customers, contractors, and members of the public.
• Signpost student customers to other sources of assistance on welfare matters including ResLife and Student Support.
• Providing a meet/greet and welcome service during major seasonal activities, in particular student arrivals/key issue, end‑of‑year departures, conference reception and open days.
• Maintain and update residential and student records both paper and electronic.
• Receive, receipt, refund and bank monies, maintaining financial records in accordance with financial regulations.
• Record and update maintenance related faults on the Maintenance database and inform management if urgent.
• Gather and analyse data to update administrative systems with accurate information.
• Take an active role in the team supporting team objectives and other team members, contributing to the training of new team members.
• Ensure compliance with legal and regulatory requirements in respect of equality and diversity, data protection, copyright and licensing, security, financial and other University policies, procedures and codes as appropriate.
• Abide by university policies on Health and Safety.
• Provide a service to customers during arrivals / departures, conferences, open days and other busy periods which may be within other residences and may involve working additional hours, outside of regular shift pattern.
• You may be asked to perform other duties occasionally which are not included above but will be consistent with the role.

Person Specification

This Person Specification is split into 2 sections: essential and desirable. Please demonstrate clearly how you meet all of the essential criteria. Where possible you should give examples of how, when and where you have used your experience, knowledge, specific skills and abilities to match those required for this particular job role.

Please ensure that you communicate this fully by creating a new document containing your supporting statement, refer to sample layout below, listing ALL OF THE CRITERIA and commenting against each one as to how you meet them.

This will need to be completed before you begin making your application online as you will be required to upload it. When uploading the supporting statement the document title needs to read “supporting statement and should also detail the post reference number ending in BR” (relevant to the job you are applying for).

Essential Criteria

• Proven ability to work in a busy customer focused environment and communicate information effectively, both orally and in writing, to a wide range of people.
• Ability to deal with all customers in a prompt, professional and effective manner, including face to face, over the telephone or via e‑mail.
• Basic numeracy and literacy (for example NVQ1/GCSE level D‑G or equivalent work‑related experience).
• Evidence of IT skills, including knowledge of MS applications, internet and e‑mail.
• Proven high standard of organisational and general administrative skills.
• Ability to work as an effective team member.
• Ability to plan, prioritise and organise own workload within established time scales.
• Ability to identify problems using own initiative, determining which standard process and procedures can be used to solve them.
• Ability to carry out manual handling activities.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience of reception work.
• NVQ 2 or GCSE’s at A‑C, or equivalent.
• Experience of working in an administrative or office environment.
• Ideally the successful candidate should be able to communicate in Welsh or have a willingness to learn.

The desirable section contains a list of skills, qualifications and experience that it would be beneficial for the jobholder to have. All shortlisting decisions will be based initially on essential criteria, with desirable being used to further select or deselect candidates as appropriate. We interview those candidates who are the closest match to the identified criteria.

Additional Information

Campus Services provides a range of professional support services to students, staff and visitors at Cardiff University. Residences manages accommodation places for approximately 5,500 students, both catered and self‑catered. In terms of catering, there are cafés and restaurants conveniently located across university campuses, in addition to a delivered hospitality service. Cardiff University Sport exists to provide students and staff with a balanced, high quality and integrated sport service which meets the needs of a broad range of users. The Nursery offers facilities for children aged between 10 weeks and 5 years and is divided into sections appropriate to the ages and development of the children. Both residential and catering facilities are utilised for conferences and functions during the University’s vacation periods. A purpose built and designed conference centre and conference facility is also available throughout the year. The Campus Services operation is supported by its own central administration functions covering the allocation of residences, human resource and quality, purchasing, facilities, finance, and general administration.

Salary Range Min. 23,350

Salary Range Max. 23,742

Job Category Admin / Clerical

Grade Grade 2