Assistant Accommodation Advisor in London

About us

UCL Accommodation sits within UCL Estates and is an award-winning team running over 26 Halls that are home to more than 6,500 students. Most of our Halls are close to campus in Bloomsbury, one of London’s most desirable neighbourhoods, with further Halls in Camden and Victoria.

We have an ambitious vision: to become the leading provider of accommodation in the HE sector, delivering an exceptional student experience. Despite the pressures of London’s property market, our prices are kept as low as possible and are among the cheapest in the area. Students create the communities, and we believe it’s everyone’s job in the team to help every resident feel at home.

We are embarking on a new strategy to deliver this vision, and we’re looking for people who want to be part of that journey, providing an experience befitting one of the world’s greatest universities in one of the most exciting cities on earth.

About the role

As an Assistant Accommodation Advisor you will be the friendly, professional face of UCL Accommodation on one of our sites, providing a meet and greet front of house service while supporting the back office functions of the Halls. You will help with open days, intake days and departures, and assist students, visitors and external contacts day to day.

Your key responsibilities will include:

• Providing front of house reception services, including key and visitor management and handling lock-outs
• Welcoming visitors and contractors, carrying out the relevant security and identity checks and recording their presence
• Responding decisively and effectively to customer queries and complaints, helping to resolve disputes and escalating where necessary
• Reporting maintenance issues and making sure work is completed, and ensuring the property is presented to the required standard
• Maintaining accurate, secure and compliant resident records on StarRez, Excel and hard-copy files, and processing resident admin and rent payments
• Supporting check-in and check-out, room and communal area inspections, and projects such as the summer turnaround
• Helping to coordinate resident social events and applying our Brand and Student Experience Standards consistently
• Building positive relationships with neighbours, local communities, police community officers and the Fire and Rescue Service
• Supporting colleagues at other sites when needed, and handing over incidents and outstanding issues to our out-of-hours teams
• Following health and safety, data protection and UCL policies at all times, and reporting any incidents or concerns

Please note that hours will vary with operational requirements and may include evenings, weekends and bank holidays, for which time off in lieu is given. Annual leave is discouraged during the department’s holiday embargo.

36.5 hours per week, worked on a rota between 8am–7pm Monday to Friday and 9am–5pm Saturday (shifts determined by your line manager). In the summer period, hours are worked on a rota of five days in seven, including weekends.

About you

You’ll be someone who enjoys helping people and takes pride in delivering excellent service, staying calm and professional when things get difficult.

To be successful in this role you will have:

• A good general education with sound literacy and numeracy skills
• Previous experience in a customer-facing role, and in an administrative role
• The ability to understand, empathise with and deliver against customer needs
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with an objective, professional and calm approach to difficult situations
• The ability to build good working relationships internally and with third-party suppliers
• Computer literacy, including Microsoft Office
• The ability to work at pace with a high level of accuracy and attention to detail
• Strong time management, with the ability to prioritise, multitask and meet deadlines
• A positive, collegiate attitude, adaptability and a willingness to take on challenging tasks
• Self-motivation and the ability to work on your own initiative
• Flexibility with working hours and a willingness to take part in a rota
• A DBS certificate (subject to review)

It would also be desirable to have:

• Experience of working in accommodation, hospitality or retail
• Experience of handling complaints
• Willingness to have your photograph used on UCL Accommodation marketing materials, posters or website

You’ll also demonstrate UCL’s Ways of Working: working together, achieving our mission and personal excellence.

UCL is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, and we welcome applications from all sections of the community.

What we offer

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which are below:

• 41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days)
• Additional 5 days’ annual leave purchase scheme
• Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE)
• Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan
• Immigration loan
• Relocation scheme for certain posts
• On-Site nursery
• On-site gym
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
• Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service
• Discounted medical insurance

Visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/rewards-and-benefits to find out more.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We particularly encourage applications from candidates underrepresented in UCL’s workforce, including those from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds, disabled people, and – for Grade 9 and 10 roles – women. Read more: UCL Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. Applicants should also familiarise themselves with UCL’s policies on: Prevention of Bullying, Harassment and Sexual Misconduct Policy and Personal Relationships Policy