PA to VP Student Experience in Portsmouth

Location: Cross Campus (Primary location: Highbury Campus)

Salary: £25,035.44 - £25,747.35 Full‑Time Equivalent per annum

Job Type: 37 Hours per week, 52 Weeks per year, Full‑Time Permanent

About us: At City of Portsmouth College, we aspire to be the employer of choice in the Portsmouth area, with a progressive, supportive, and rewarding workplace culture and one that offers competitive benefits for its staff. By joining us, you will personally be part of the change we are driving and will play a pivotal role in supporting the growth and development of our brilliant students, turning them into future leaders and innovators.

What we offer:

• Annual Leave: 25 days total and closure for winter shutdown period in line with Hampshire County Council school holidays & statutory bank holidays
• Pension: Generous Local Government pension
• Learning & Development: Programmes by The Community Adult Education Department
• Staff Development: Access to the College staff development programmes and CPD
• Onsite Discounts: City of Portsmouth College Hair Salon & 50% off at the City of Portsmouth College Sports Centre
• Online Discounts: Unidays, Student Beans, and Totum with a City of Portsmouth College email address
• Parking: Free car parking across all campus sites (apart from Arundel)
• Blue Light Card: providing several discounts for clothing, electrical goods, food and days out, even concert tickets!

About the role: The PA is responsible to the Vice Principal (Student Experience) and requires you to provide high quality PA support to the Vice and Assistant Principals (Student Experience). This highly professional, flexible, pro‑active customer service role requires the PA to be highly adaptable and demonstrate excellent interpersonal skills. Consistency, approachability, and helpfulness are key along with a positive self‑reliant manner. Discretion is essential at key times, with a can‑do problem‑solving attitude to seek long term sensible solutions. Workload anticipation is vital on a daily, monthly, and annual cycle. A willingness to own, problem solve and suggest new approaches and systems will also be important.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide initial point of contact for the Vice and Assistant Principals for general internal and external telephone, e‑mail, and face‑to‑face enquiries.
• Provide administrative assistance for the effective operation of the Student Experience Management team including producing letters, absence reports, student data and setting up meetings.
• Manage the diary commitments of the Vice and Assistant Principals.
• Arrange and set up meetings on behalf of the Vice and Assistant Principals and prepare required documents.
• Attend, contribute and take notes/minutes for essential team and college meetings as appropriate.
• Acquire a working knowledge of the services offered in Student Experience and be able to support staff and students with queries.
• Support Vice and Assistant Principals with Student Disciplinary actions and keep appropriate records.
• Progress, chase and collate reports/papers/documents requested by and on behalf of the Vice Principal and Assistant Principals.
• Raise purchase orders for goods and services as directed by the management team and monitor non‑pay spending.
• Collate Student Experience information and liaise with Marketing to ensure all details are up‑to‑date and correct in all formats.
• Support with planning, organisation and ensure smooth running of various college events including Open Evenings, Parents Consultation Evenings, Awards Ceremonies, Introduction Days, Induction Days etc.
• Support the Student Experience Management team with any other administrative duties as they arise.
• Gain a basic knowledge of safeguarding to support the VP effectively in their DSL role.
• Support with implementing safeguarding policies and procedures to support VP in DSL role.

Diversity and Inclusion: Equality, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion are central to the work of City of Portsmouth College. This underpins the vision of the College to transform lives through providing exceptional education and training. The College’s commitment to Equality, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion is reflected in the continued successful promotion of these strands through the curriculum, enrichment activities, and the range of direct and indirect student support services.

Pre‑Employment Checks: The City of Portsmouth College is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people in our college. All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check and two references. We reserve the right to close the job advert when we have had successful applications, and it may not run for the full duration of the advert. We do not accept CVs from agencies for these roles.