Administrative Assistant jobs in United Kingdom

Role: Student Wellbeing Executive Assistant

Salary: Grade 5 - £26,707 - £31,236

Contract Type: Full Time (1FTE), Open Ended

Rewards and Benefits: 28 days annual leave, increasing to 33 days per year after 5 years service, plus 9 buildings closed days for all full time staff. Use our total rewards calculator: https://www.hw.ac.uk/about/work/total-rewards-calculator.htm to see the value of benefits provided by Heriot-Watt University.

This post is located within the Disability Team, within the wider Student Wellbeing team, and works closely with colleagues from Counselling, Student Experience, and the Chaplaincy teams. The main purpose of Student Wellbeing is to provide advice, information, and support to undergraduate and postgraduate students, throughout the student lifecycle, from the point of initial enrolment onto a university study programme right through to graduation supporting them to overcome barriers to learning.

This post plays a key role in delivering front line advice and support to students in the department of Student Wellbeing. You will work alongside Assistant Disability Advisors and the Student Wellbeing Administrator to ensure that a friendly, efficient, and helpful frontline service is delivered. You will carry out administrative work, operating databases and other systems, primarily for the Disability service, and deliver some direct support for a small number of students to facilitate their learning experience.

• Provide a high level of customer service and front‑line advice (face to face, via phone, email) to anyone enquiring at Student Wellbeing Centre reception, linked with main objective of delivering the charter to be welcoming, friendly and to treat everyone fairly and with respect.
• Carry out financial processes, raising invoices, purchase order numbers, control department credit card and processing payments for the Disability Service. Update and process data, including financial information, on spreadsheets, databases and other procurement systems.
• Contact new students who have disclosed a disability and provide them with the relevant information and arrange appointments to see the appropriate advisor. Help collate and develop data reporting systems for the Disability Service.
• Carry out initial assessment of students who present with dyslexia and conduct online dyslexia tests.
• Log all student contacts on the database and run reports as necessary ensuring quick turnaround times and an excellent customer experience.
• Provide frontline advice and administrative support for the Student Counselling and Student Experience sections when the other Student Wellbeing Assistant is on leave.
• Support specific students in accessing timetabled lectures, tutorials, group work, laboratories, and related academic tasks.
• Undertake continuing professional development as appropriate.
• Undertake other tasks and responsibilities as requested by the Student Wellbeing Team.

Essential

• Good educational standard with excellent spoken and written English.
• Experience in working in front line services, assessing the appropriate response, and providing advice, information, and guidance on a range of issues.
• Experience in handling confidential/sensitive information.
• Experience of using IT, including Microsoft Office and Finance systems.
• Experience in carrying out a wide range of administrative tasks and implementing new processes and ability to handle large volumes of data.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills and a professional, customer-focused approach with experience of working co‑operatively and effectively within a team.
• Skills in responding to distressed or challenging customers.
• Understanding of the issues that affect students particularly those with a disability or mental health issue.

Heriot-Watt University has established a reputation for world‑class teaching and leading‑edge, relevant research, which has made it one of the top UK universities for innovation, business, and industry.

Heriot-Watt University has five campuses: three in the UK (Edinburgh, Scottish Borders, and Orkney), one in Dubai and one in Malaysia. The University offers a highly distinctive range of degree programmes in the specialist areas of science, engineering, design, business, and languages. Heriot-Watt is also Scotland's most international university, boasting the largest international student cohort.

At Heriot Watt we are passionate about our values and look to them to connect our people globally and to help us collaborate and celebrate our success through working together. Our research programmes can deliver real world impact which is achieved through the diversity of our international community and the recognition of creative talent that connects our global team.

Our flourishing community will give you the freedom to challenge and to bring your enterprising mind and to help our partners with solutions that can be applied now and in the future. Join us and Heriot Watt will provide you with a platform to thrive and work in a way that also helps you live your life in balance with well‑being and inclusiveness at the heart of our global community.

Please submit via the Heriot‑Watt on‑line recruitment system (1) Cover letter (2) Full CV.

Applications can be submitted up to midnight (UK time) on Tuesday 6th January 2026.

We expect interviews to take place on Thursday 15th January 2026.

Heriot-Watt University is committed to securing equality of opportunity in employment and to the creation of an environment in which individuals are selected, trained, promoted, appraised and otherwise treated on the sole basis of their relevant merits and abilities. Equality and diversity are all about maximising potential and creating a culture of inclusion for all.

Heriot-Watt University values diversity across our university community and welcomes applications from all sectors of society, particularly from underrepresented groups. For more information, please see our website https://www.hw.ac.uk/uk/services/equality-diversity.htm and also our award‑winning work in Disability Inclusive Science Careers https://disc.hw.ac.uk/.

We welcome and will consider flexible working patterns e.g. part-time working and job share options.