Robert Gordon University (RGU) – Aberdeen’s university of choice for thousands of staff and students - has a well-established reputation as an innovative and modern workplace, with multiple awards and recognition of our courses and Schools. Our mission is to transform lives and communities, celebrating the values of collaboration, ambition, and respectfulness.
RGU is on a bold journey to become the UK’s leading work-integrated university by 2030. We are committed to delivering a flexible, future-focused curriculum that attracts students, employers, and industry partners, and to providing an exceptional student experience that enhances individual growth, skills development and employability.
At the heart of this vision is the Student Life Directorate; a vibrant, student-centred team dedicated to supporting every student’s journey through and beyond their time at RGU. Student Life at RGU is about more than support; we are focused on empowering students to thrive academically, personally, and professionally and developing them into highly employable graduates. We foster a welcoming, inclusive environment where students are encouraged to develop their skills, embrace new opportunities, and prepare for successful, fulfilling futures.
You will provide strategic leadership and operational management for the Student Inclusion and Wellbeing Service, ensuring the delivery of high-quality, student-centred support in line with legislative requirements and sector best practice. The role involves staff leadership, service development, budget management, stakeholder engagement, and oversight of complex student wellbeing and safeguarding matters.
Significant experience in leading student support, wellbeing or related services, with strong knowledge of inclusion, disability, mental health and the Equality Act 2010. Proven ability to manage staff, budgets and service development, with demonstrable experience of effective partnership working across a range of stakeholders, including senior colleagues and external agencies. Experience of supporting complex individuals, assessing and advising on risk, alongside excellent communication, leadership and stakeholder management skills essential.
In keeping with RGU's commitment to work/life balance you will have the opportunity to work from home for a portion of the working week, but you must be in a position to deliver teaching on campus to meet the requirements of the course. You also will benefit from a generous pension scheme, 46 days annual leave, onsite nursery, sports centre as well as a range of voluntary health and travel benefits.
We are committed to attracting and engaging a diverse range of staff and fostering a culture where everyone feels welcome, comfortable to express their ideas, and can reach their full potential. For more information, please visit Our Diverse Workforce pages.
JOB DESCRIPTION
RESPONSIBLE TO: Head of Student Support & Safeguarding
RESPONSIBLE FOR: Student Counsellors, Mental Health and Complex Case Manager, Inclusion Coordinators, Study Skills & Technology Assessors and Inclusion Administrators
PURPOSE OF POST: To lead the development and operational management of all student inclusion, wellbeing and mental health services and programmes, ensuring the provision of a high quality, effective and integrated service to students as part of the University’s whole institution approach to student support and inclusion.
PRINCIPAL DUTIES:
- Manage the university’s inclusion and wellbeing services, ensuring services operate within statutory and best practice guidelines.
- Support the Head of Student Safeguarding and Director of Student Life to develop future plans, objectives and impact measures for the service.
- Provide effective, empowering and visible line management and support the professional development of all members of the Student Inclusion and Wellbeing team.
- Provide high quality advice to the Head of Student Support and Safeguarding, the Director of Student Life, other senior staff and academic and professional services colleagues on matters relating to student mental health & wellbeing, disabilities and inclusion, paying regard to legislative and best practice guidelines. This will include producing high quality written reports and briefing papers including analysis of service metrics and impact measures.
- Manage the relationship between the service and the Academic Schools, supporting colleagues in dealing with student issues as part of a Team Around A Student (TAAS) approach, and providing advice, training, guidance and awareness raising as appropriate.
- Contribute to the management of critical or complex student incidents, working closely with colleagues in Student Life and elsewhere within the University, and with external services e.g. NHS, Social Work. This will often include being the key point of contact for external agencies and/or trusted contacts and might involve out of hours work.
- sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Be responsible for the service’s budget, maintaining an appropriate audit trail in line with university financial procedures. Ensure income targets for income from funding bodies are on track, and ensure invoices are up to date. Raise any discrepancies with budget with the Head of Student Support and Safeguarding and Director of Student Life without delay.
- Be the University’s primary contact with funding bodies e.g. SAAS
- Coordinate the communications and engagement plan and impact evaluation plan for services within the remit of the role
- Build effective working relationships with other managers across the University and represent the University’s interests in relevant internal and external forums.
- Be part of the Student Life management team duty rota and to participate on the Out of Hours duty rota (note: the Out of Hours rota attracts an additional on call payment).
- Deputise for the Head of Student Support and Safeguarding as appropriate.
ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS
Qualifications / Professional Memberships
First degree or equivalent professional experience
Knowledge
Comprehensive knowledge of the Equality Act 2010, disabilities and inclusion, including mental health/mental illness and neurodiversity.
Comprehensive knowledge of current issues facing universities and students in relation to student support.
Understanding of the use of IT systems and automation to improve service delivery and streamline administrative process.
Experience
Management and leadership
Demonstrable experience of leading the development and delivery of services & programmes in the areas of student support.
Experience of staff management and development, ideally with responsibility for multiple teams.
Partnership working
Demonstrable experience of effective partnership working with colleagues in different roles and at different levels of seniority, and with external partners.
Service delivery
Significant experience of working with complex individuals, assessing and advising on risk.
Experience of working with people from diverse backgrounds with complex needs.
Experience of budget management and successfully meeting income targets.
Experience of developing policy and procedures and preparing briefing papers and reports.
Experience of leading projects to successful conclusion
Experience of developing measures to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of services.
Personal skills
Ability to communicate effectively with neurodiverse people, individuals who are distressed or experiencing mental health difficulties.
Ability to remain calm under pressure and to prioritise effectively, maintaining clear professional boundaries at all times.
Well-developed interpersonal skills and motivational skills.
Unsociable Hours
This role involves supporting students in crisis and contributing to student events such as Open Days and recruitment events and will include some unsociable hours including weekend working.
DESIRABLE REQUIREMENTS
Qualifications / Professional Memberships
Professional qualification in mental health nursing/ psychology, social work or similar field.
Experience
Previous management of professional staff in the fields of mental health nursing, psychological services, or counselling.
Behaviours 1: Pastoral Care and Welfare - Experience of calming and reassuring those with work/study related problems who may be experiencing distress, dealing with difficult welfare situations or confidential matters and providing support for those in considerable distress or requiring long-term complex support
Behaviours 2: Team Development - Experience of providing advice or guidance to new starts, delivering training or instruction to others on specific tasks or activities and identifying the training and development needs of the team and carrying out performance appraisals
Behaviours 3: Communication - Ability to receive, understand and convey information requiring careful explanation and information of a complex or conceptual nature, in a clear and accurate manner
Behaviours 4: Service Delivery - Experience of exploring and adapting a service to meet customers’ expectations and also identifying ways of improving standards
