Program Assistant, Part Time in Belfast

Contract Type: Part time, 5-8 hours per week; Spring 2026 Semester, with opportunity to extend.

Compensation: 15 GBP/Hour

Benefits: Enjoy flexible work arrangements and an appreciation for work/life balance & holiday entitlement at 28 days full-time basis, pro-rata for 5–8 hrs/week.

Location: QUB, Belfast, Northern Ireland & activities/excursions throughout the semester in the immediate region.

Reports to: Ireland & Northern Ireland Programmes Director, based in Dublin.

Position Overview: Are you a life-long learner, curious about the world around you? Are you ready to bring your unique skills to a mission-driven organization? Do you enjoy being a part of a student's journey of personal, academic, and intercultural growth? If so, we would love to welcome you to our global community. We are looking for an individual to support IFSA's custom and catalog programmes in Belfast, as Program Assistant. This position provides academic and cultural support for undergraduate students; organises co-curricular activities and contributes to the overall programme delivery.

In this position, you will work closely with all members of the local team, as well as colleagues from our sites in Europe, the Global Health & Safety Team, Programme Operations, Academic Programmes and Student Engagement teams.

IFSA (Institute for Study Abroad), a US-based nonprofit organization, creates global learning environments to help students gather the critical perspectives, knowledge, and skills essential for future success. With innovative programming and world-class support, IFSA delivers future-focused study abroad options in 19 countries and 48 cities around the globe. Our commitments to inclusive excellence, intercultural agility, individualized learning and enduring impact are present in every aspect of our programs.

In this position, your responsibilities would include:

• Coordinating and supporting pre-arrival webinars, quarantine and welfare check-ins, excursions, co-curricular activities and orientations.
• Conducting appreciative advising with students, including learning plan consultations, and regularly meet with students to assess their experiences and help resolve problems.
• Monitoring student’s integration and well-being through regular communication and campus visits.
• Support the planning and delivery of student events and activities.
• Supporting the planning and delivery of custom programmes.
• Supporting academic management of programmes, including the course registration process, appreciative advising, and student learning plan consultations.
• Helping to cultivate and model practices and behaviours that reflect IFSA's organisational commitments of inclusive excellence, intercultural agility, individualized learning and enduring impact.
• Contributing to emergency response and student incident management based on established protocol, and participate in after-hours emergency phone rotation.
• Having additional opportunities that may include contributing to other IFSA site operations via remote work and working with other IFSA departments such as Student Engagement for pre-travel program advising.

Requirements, Work Experience and Education:

• One - two years of work experience; desired industries include study abroad, higher education, hospitality, tourism, and non-profit.
• Strong local knowledge of Belfast, as well as of Northern Irish culture and history.
• Contagious enthusiasm for IFSA's mission, vision, and commitments.
• Strong time management and planning skills, with the ability to work independently to execute time-sensitive tasks and duties successfully.
• Strong attention to detail in creating internal and external documents and managing programme and administrative data.
• Success in engaging with and supporting students with diverse lived experiences including students of colour, students with mental and physical disabilities, first-generation college students, and LGBTQIA+ students.
• Flexibility and ability to adapt and thrive in ambiguous and changing situations and to shift focus and reprioritise work as needed.
• An ability to respond calmly and professionally to emergency situations.
• General knowledge of university system and student life in Ireland.
• Undergraduate degree preferred.
• The legal right to work in Northern Ireland, reside in Belfast.

We know there are great candidates who won’t check all of these boxes, and we also know you might bring important perspectives, experiences, and skills that we haven’t considered. If this describes you, please don’t hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself.

Physical and Work Environment:

• Working on a computer, placing phone/video calls.
• Required to navigate and travel around the city and for excursions, potentially outdoors in the heat or cold.
• Occasional travel around the country is required.
• Occasional physical activities such as arranging chairs/tables in conference room settings.
• Ability to attend occasional meetings outside of local business hours, due to the global nature of our operations.

To Apply:

To apply, please submit your cover letter and CV for this position via IFSA's career page. In your cover letter, offer a compelling "Why" statement as to your suitability to the role of PA in Belfast using the job responsibilities and organizational commitments as a framework. Also, please detail your knowledge of local culture and history in Belfast and Northern Ireland. Review of applications will begin immediately, and the position will remain open until filled.

IFSA is an equal opportunity employer, and our hiring process is inclusive of all genders and gender expressions, races and ethnicities, ages, religions and sexualities as well as veterans and people with disabilities.