Business Support Administrator

Overview

We are looking for a Business Support Administrator to play a key part in supporting senior staff in the department’s Leadership Team and their areas of responsibility. This is a varied role and you will undertake a wide range of duties including diary management, meeting and project support and finance administration. You will primarily support the Head of the Academic Programmes Office, the Head of Apprenticeship Compliance and the Head of Apprenticeship Quality, but will be required to work across Student & Academic services.

You will become part of the Business Support Team; a dynamic, driven, and experienced team with a broad knowledge base and varied skill set. The team supports administrative, HR, health and safety and financial operations across a department of 400+ staff. We work together to maintain policies, processes, principles and standards and ensure consistency.

We are looking for someone with exceptional customer service skills, high attention to detail and a willingness to learn. You should also possess excellent time management skills and the confidence to communicate with senior members of staff. This role requires someone with a positive attitude and a willingness to help out when needed.

Main Duties And Responsibilities

• Provide diary support for members of the department’s extended leadership team.
• Arrange internal and external meetings, including room bookings, audio visual requirements, refreshments and support the distribution of meeting papers/documents.
• Carry out general administrative duties including creating and maintaining departmental documents using Google and Microsoft Office packages (i.e. Google Docs/Excel and other in-house systems), record keeping, photocopying, ordering stationery, electronic filing etc.
• Make travel and hospitality arrangements for staff.
• Provide support for departmental meetings including collating and distributing papers, accurate note taking and subsequent write up – ensuring timely follow-up of actions from meetings are received.
• Respond to routine and non-standard enquiries from senior members of staff.
• Support day-to-day financial management including placing orders, preparing purchase orders/invoices and reconciling Barclaycard transactions in compliance with University regulations.
• Support the management of the department’s physical estate including reporting building faults and following up with suppliers.
• Collate and compile the monthly internal staff newsletter, liaising with staff across the department to source content and input this into the newsletter software.
• Support the accurate recording of apprentices on central University systems, including admissions and registration processes.
• Assist with the maintenance and ongoing accuracy of apprentice records on the Central Apprenticeship Hub Management Information System (MIS).
• Support other members of the Business Support Team with the day to day running of the office and provide appropriate cover for others as required.
• As a member of staff you will be encouraged to make ethical decisions in your role, embedding the University sustainability strategy into your working activities wherever possible.
• Carry out other duties, commensurate with the grade and remit of the post.

Person specification

• Five GCSEs at Grade C/4 including Maths and English (Essential).
• Proven IT skills including knowledge and experience of using email, Microsoft Office and/or Google apps (Essential).
• Previous experience within a customer focused environment with experience of responding efficiently and effectively to enquiries (Essential).
• Ability to use your initiative to find creative solutions to varying demands (Essential).
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal (Essential).
• Good attention to detail, with a proven ability to spot numerical discrepancies and work with data, reports and financial documents (Essential).
• Ability to recognise where additional support is required within the team and to prioritise own work to meet deadlines (Essential).
• Ability to deal with documents or information of a sensitive and confidential nature (Essential).
• A willingness to learn new skills and undertake training when required (Essential).
• Previous administrative experience in an office environment (Desirable).
• Experience of the University’s systems (e.g. uBase, myPurchase and Google Calendar) (Desirable).

Further information

Grade: 4

Salary: £25,249-£26,707 with potential to progress to £28,778

Work arrangement: Full-time. 35 hours per week.

Line manager: Senior Business Support Officer / PA

Direct reports: None

Disability Confident Employer: If you have a disability and meet the essential criteria for this job you will be invited to take part in the next stage of the selection process.

Our website: www.sheffield.ac.uk/saas

For informal enquiries about this job contact Kathryn Rooney, Business Support Team Leader: on k.rooney@sheffield.ac.uk

Next steps in the recruitment process: It is anticipated that the selection process will take place on 11th November 2025. This will consist of an interview and a test. We plan to let candidates know if they have progressed to the selection stage on the week commencing the 3rd November 2025. If you need any support, equipment or adjustments to enable you to participate in any element of the recruitment process you can contact: interviews@sheffield.ac.uk