King's College London

Head of Student Wellbeing & Welfare

Salary: £46,292 – £54,534 per annum inclusive of £3,500 London Weighting Allowance per annum
This post will be offered on an indefinite contract
This is a full-time post

Job Description

The university is creating a cross-institutional, faculty-based student support and wellbeing team, organised on a ‘hub and spoke’ basis with faculty-based staff who are supported and coordinated by specialist teams in Student Support & Wellbeing Services.

The Head of Student Wellbeing and Welfare will lead on establishing and strategically delivering a new service of high-quality support to students alongside a wide network of university colleagues. This includes the management of the team of wellbeing and welfare advisers based centrally and in faculty.

The purpose of the team is to triage on a variety of presenting issues, including wellbeing & welfare concerns, mental health support, fitness to study and fitness to practice as appropriate, student of concern, safeguarding, harassment and bullying. The team will also support the wider institution in embedding systems and practices that enhance student wellbeing. Wellbeing and Welfare Advisers will also be able to offer guidance to Personal Tutors and Senior Tutors, where students are experiencing difficulties, and to support signposting to specialist services.

The successful candidate will be responsible for designing, implementing, embedding and managing this new team, to ensure effective prevention, reporting, support and wellbeing / welfare training initiatives for colleagues both within and external to the service. Understanding the current context of pressures and concerns in relation to student engagement and participation will be key in underpinning this activity.

With the Covid-19 pandemic, the health and wellbeing of King’s College community, staff and students is our absolute priority, so our campus will be open for the new academic year with safety measures in place - informed by our leading researchers and academics and based on the latest UK government guidance. However, please apply on the basis that you might be working from home some of the time. You will need to be able to work in a secure environment, whereby all information will always be managed in a confidential manner.

Further information

Your application should clearly set out how you meet the skills, knowledge and experience criteria listed, along with relevant examples. Candidates will be shortlisted based upon these criteria.

Key responsibilities

Embedding and a managing a collaborative new team of transformative, engaged and constructive Wellbeing and Welfare Advisers to work across organisational boundaries
Overseeing the casework of the team and taking responsibility for a small caseload of more complex cases. The team will triage on a variety of presenting issues, including wellbeing & welfare concerns, mental health support, fitness to study and fitness to practice as appropriate, student of concern, safeguarding, harassment and bullying, and sexual assault, referring to specialist services when required
Overseeing the provision of a flexible service offering support to students and staff at a faculty level, complementing existing support mechanisms such as Personal Tutors and Student Experience Managers
Supporting continuous service improvement by leading on the development of institution-level policy and practice in relation to student wellbeing and welfare
In conjunction with faculty staff and specialist central teams, developing an offering of staff training and self-supporting resources for students
Working in collaboration with support and wellbeing initiatives led by others across the university and KCLSU
Collecting and analysing data, outcomes measures and feedback to improve the service
Taking on responsibility as the Lead Safeguarding Officer (Students) and/or the Student Wellbeing and Welfare Lead for management of the Student of Concern process
Overseeing non-mental health cases referred through the Student of Concern process, identifying when more specialist support is required, and referring to specialist services as appropriate
The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.

Skills, knowledge, and experience

Essential criteria

Educated to degree level and have professional qualifications relating to the field of Social Work or similar
Significant relevant work experience in a higher education setting, supporting students navigate substantial difficulties, including the assessment of risk and appropriate support response
Experience of managing and supervising a team responding proactively to diverse and challenging situations, and working with colleagues across an organisation, both directly and indirectly, in order to support potentially complex cases
Proven understanding of confidentiality and ability to maintain professional boundaries
Strong interpersonal and communication skills (using variety of formats), with experience of building effective relationships with students and staff, leading and delivering outcomes through negotiation and influence
proven emotional resilience and ability to work calmly under pressure, containing anxiety in self and other whilst prioritising activity to meet service demands and deadlines
Experience in analysing, interrogating and evaluating data to inform practices

Desirable criteria

Proven experience of developing and implementing a new system, process, or support initiative

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Faculty Student Wellbeing & Welfare Adviser

Salary: £38,304 - £45,026 per annum inclusive of £3,500 London Weighting Allowance per annum
This post will be offered on an indefinite contract.
This is offered as a full-time post but we are happy to talk about part-time, job-share and other flexible working options.

Job Description

About us

We are Student Support & Wellbeing Services (SSWS), a division that focuses on delivering specialist support, advice and guidance for our students. We also engage staff across the College through advice and training, enabling them to support and correctly signpost students to the most appropriate specialist services at the right time.

Our division is made up of three departments: Advice & Guidance, Counselling & Mental Health Support, and Disability Support & Inclusion.

We are now recruiting six new Faculty Student Wellbeing & Welfare Advisers. These roles will create a new Wellbeing & Welfare team. This new team will sit within our Advice & Guidance Department and report to a new Head of Wellbeing & Welfare. Each advisor will be based in one or more of our faculties working to support their students day to day.

About the role

This role offers an exciting and significant opportunity to shape and co-create delivery of a new service to support student wellbeing and welfare, and to help embed a culture of continual service improvement.

Faculty Wellbeing & Welfare Advisors will provide an accessible point of contact for students in one or two faculties. For students experiencing challenges or in need of support, advisors will offer professional and pastoral help and guidance, including supporting students who have concerns about their peers. The mechanisms for delivery will include regular office hours and drop-ins and will complement the work of Personal Tutors and Senior Tutors.

Advisors will maintain a knowledge of support services available both centrally and specific to their faculty and be active in ensuring students are appropriately signposted to specialist services in a timely manner. Being a key conduit between central and faculty-based services supporting students, they will also be able to offer guidance to Personal Tutors and Senior Tutors, where students are experiencing difficulties, and to advise and guide staff on signposting to appropriate services.

As well as individual student support and staff guidance, advisors will work as a team to coordinate proactive communication, outreach and programming on student wellbeing and welfare, including working with themes such as mindfulness, stress management, and maintaining healthy physical and psychological balance.