Welfare Lead

**Job Title: Welfare Lead**

**Accountable to**:Welfare Fellow/ Domestic Bursar

**Accountable for**:Junior Deans

**Liaison with**:College Nurse, Student Services and Support Administrator, Students, Staff, Applicants, College Officers and Committees, Disability Advisory Service, Counselling Service, University Administration, External Consultants

**Salary**: Grade 8, currently £44,414 - £52,281 with discretionary points up to £57,723

**Hours**:37.5 hours a week full time during all three terms (weeks 0th to 10th week) and 25 days out of term delivered flexibly.

Balliol is a constituent college of the University of Oxford and, with Dame Helen Ghosh as its Master, has about 400 graduates and 400 undergraduates, employs some 70 Fellows, 40 Lecturers and about 120 support staff. Further information about the College is available on its website.

This is an exciting position for a Welfare Lead. Balliol has recently had a review into its Welfare Provision and following a transitional year, we are looking for someone to take on the permanent position.

**Job Purpose**

Our College strategy actively seeks to promote wellbeing within our community, particularly mental wellbeing and we want to support all our students to enable them to flourish and achieve their academic goals.

You will coordinate welfare provision for all our students, both Undergraduate and Graduate and to coordinate and support the welfare team in student wellbeing and welfare as its driving principles. There will be considerable contact between the college welfare team - the college nurse, the Junior Deans and the Student Support and Services Administrator. There will also be liaison with the College GP, the College Counsellor, the University Counselling Services and the Disability Advisory Service.

You will support the education and personal development of students by facilitating access to welfare and wellbeing services and by hearing and signposting individual student cases.

**Main Duties and Responsibilities**

As a member of the College Welfare Team, the duties and responsibilities are to:

- Become an accessible figure in College so that the student population know who to approach. This will include liaising with Personal Tutors, who have the primary academic and pastoral relationship with undergraduates in the College, getting to know the student bodies, making connections with key staff.
- Liaise with relevant student representatives, for example the graduate and undergraduate welfare representatives to ensure clear and consistent communication across the college.
- Meet with students for confidential discussions;
- Attend regular training and ensure all compliant training is done and the post holder is professionally up to date.
- Support students on all welfare matters; providing information, advice and guidance, and signposting to appropriate services;
- Support complex cases including where they may be fitness to study concerns;
- Sit on relevant committees and working groups;
- Record, track and monitor caseload in line with GDPR and confidentiality policies, including convening the student casework group and managing the group’s action list;
- Liaise, where appropriate with the broader welfare team, DAS, departmental contacts, Proctors’ Office, Student Fees and Funding, Education Policy Support, College Doctors regarding individual cases;
- Represent College on Welfare Forum and other relevant external committees;
- Maintain accurate records ensuring legal compliance
- Act as line manager to the Junior Dean/ Welfare Officers
- Keep training records for everyone working in the Welfare team
- Making sure information about Welfare is effectively shared with everyone in College but particularly students.

Lead the planning, coordination and delivery of health and wellbeing-related activities and briefings in the fresher’s week timetable and during the academic year to ensure that students know how to access appropriate support.

**Selection criteria**

You will have excellent interpersonal skills, excellent people skills, a calm and considered approach to dealing with any welfare related issues that arise. Your relevant experience could be from a similar role or from a role with an educational setting perhaps in counselling or pastoral care. You will have an interest in student well-being particularly with mental health and disability issues.

The person appointed will have the following essential qualities:

- A professional qualification in a related field (e.g social work, mental health or wellbeing) and/ or significant experience.
- Experience working in student facing, similar role. Either in Higher Education or Education.
- Understanding of student mental health and disability concerns
- Excellent Communications skills and interpersonal skills and being able to work with a large range of people in College and outside College
- Dealing with sensitive situations in a discreet and professional way
- Ability to work w