International Support Officer

Business Unit:

Canterbury College

Location:

Canterbury, Kent

Salary Details:

£35,110 FTE per annum

Hours Per Week:

37

Weeks Per Year:

52

Annual Leave:

28 days (FTE) per annum

Proposed Interview Date:

Week Commencing 24/11/2025

Advertising End Date:

19/11/2025

Ready to start your own new journey while helping international students begin theirs?

As our International Support Officer, you'll coordinate all aspects of international student support, from accommodation and host family arrangements to welfare, administration, and cultural enrichment. You'll be the main point of contact for students and host families, ensuring a smooth transition and a positive experience for everyone involved.

• Oversee and coordinate international student support, accommodation, and pastoral care.
• Recruit and match host families to students, supporting both parties throughout the process.
• Organise transport, airport transfers, and enrichment trips.
• Liaise with international partners to ensure students' welfare and support needs are met.
• Manage administration, including processing invoices and payments.

Here are just some of our benefits when working for the East Kent Colleges Group:

• Generous Annual Leave - 28 days FTE per annum
• Learning and Development Opportunities - 3-4 annual paid group development days, bespoke programmes e.g. Aspiring Leaders Development Programme and strong internal progression where 1 in 3 roles are filled internally
• Exclusive Discounts & Perks - Inc. restaurant, grocery, retail and holidays discounts as well as car leasing and tech purchasing schemes, on-site nursery
• Flexible Personal Leave - Time off for your child's first day at nursery or school, moving homes and for interviews
• Wellbeing and Health Support - Generous sick pay, counselling services, discounted gym membership at Canterbury College
• Culture and Recognition - Being part of Community Days, an annual Staff Celebration Day, and an eco-friendly organisation dedicated to reaching net-zero by 2030
• Competitive Pension Scheme - 18% employer contribution

We're looking for someone who:

• Possesses excellent planning, organisational, and communication skills.
• Can build strong relationships with students, families, and external partners.
• Is proactive, inclusive, and committed to continuous improvement.
• Ideally, has experience working with different international cultures.
• Ideally, has experience supporting the welfare and pastoral needs of international students.

Ready to make a difference?

now and help us create a welcoming home away from home for our international students

No need to dust off your CV - just click apply and fill out our short application form. You can save your progress as you go, and we'll be in touch with everyone after the closing date.

If you'd like an informal chat about the role or have any questions, drop us a message at - we'd love to hear from you

Outstanding Ofsted Provider

East Kent Colleges Group is an Ofsted Outstanding rated provider. It is proud to be the first General Further Education college organisation in the country to have received the Outstanding grade against each of the strands under the new Ofsted inspection framework. An inclusive provider, our colleagues place our students and the communities we serve at the heart of everything they do across EKC Group and this is illustrated in our 'Strong' skills grading by Ofsted.

Commitment to Safeguarding

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and we ensure that all staff are aware of their responsibilities for upholding these principles.

As a designated establishment, we are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore have an obligation to carry out checks to ensure that staff are suitable to work with children and vulnerable adults. These checks include conviction/caution self-declaration, Enhanced DBS check and obtaining sufficient referencing.

It is a criminal offence to apply for a post which involves engaging in regulated activity relevant to children if you are barred from doing so.

If you are successful in being shortlisted to interview, your suitability to work with children and vulnerable adults will be explored as part of the interview process.

Commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

East Kent Colleges Group is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all members of our communities. We are particularly keen to increase the diversity of our staff body and encourage applications from candidates where there is underrepresentation in our workforce.

We are proud to hold the Positive About Disability Award and are a Disability Confident Employer. This confirms our commitment to interviewing all applicants who declare that they have a disability and who meet the essential criteria outlined in the person specification. With any successful candidate, we will explore any reasonable adjustments to a role due to a health needs or disability.

Similarly, we have a commitment to Care Leavers (Care Covenant Pledge) and to current or previous Armed Forces personnel (Armed Forces Covenant Pledge) with a commitment to interview applicants who meet the positions essential criteria and who have declared this on their application.

We welcome applications from anyone wishing to work flexibly and those considering a return to work from a career break.

We do not engage with agencies for permanent staff and have an in-house recruitment team.