Job description examples for Professional and Administrative roles
This guidance is intended to support Managers writing job descriptions. When you're preparing a job description, you'll need to complete either of the two forms below:
Please read the job description guidance, the Professional and Administrative Grade Descriptors. Also have a look at the examples below.
You can use the examples to help you draft the main sections of the job description template. These examples should help you with a range of professional and administrative roles.
The examples below are not intended to represent specific roles. But they can guide you in writing the different sections.
Section 1.1: Main Job Purpose
An example for a School administration role might be:
- “Work under the direction of the Head of School. Taking responsibility for administration support and line management for all support staff in the School”
An example for an administration role:
- “To provide full personal assistant and administrative support to the management team”
An example for a Finance administration role:
- “Responsible for accurate day to day financial management of several School accounts. Prepare and monitor budgets, and investigate any variances”
An example for a Finance administration role:
- “Provide secretarial and administrative support to the School's academic staff. Help with all financial processes related to the School's academic staff. Help with all financial processes related to the School's research programme"
An example for a Finance administration role:
- “Provide financial support to the Faculty. This includes producing and monitoring monthly accounts. Assist in producing the University’s financial statements”
Section 1.2: Statements of Responsibilities
In the examples below, each statement is under the most appropriate representative work activity heading, from the Professional and Administrative Grade Descriptors . (For example, ‘Customer Service & Support’.) You can find more information on writing responsibility statements, in the job description guidance.
An example of Analysis, Reporting and Documentation for a Finance administration role:
- “Set up, monitor and reconcile accounts using the centralised University system. Maintain accurate manual and computerised records and audit trails. Always follow established processes ”
An example of Analysis, Reporting and Documentation for an Assistant Librarian:
- “Upgrade and maintain existing catalogue records consistently. Ensure the online catalogue correctly shows the current status and disposition of all collections”
An example of Customer Service & Support for a Faculty/School administration role :
- “Support the secretarial service. This includes typing referees reports, meeting minutes, forms, labels, email and mail-merging.”
An example of Customer Service & Support for a Faculty/School administration role:
- “Maintain office supplies (stationary, water etc) and re-order when needed. Ensure that essential supplies are always available”
An example of Customer Service & Support for a Faculty/School administration role:
- “Answer the telephone and book appointments for the management team. Manage enquiries from the public, staff and students. Pass messages on to other members of staff”
An example of Customer Service & Support for a Faculty/School administration role:
- “Assist with a range of clerical duties including: filing, envelope filling and photocopying”
An example of Customer Service & Support for a Faculty/School administration role :
- “Maintain the School's website using the appropriate software. And work in alignment with UOB marketing and web content standards”
An example of Customer Service & Support for a Library Assistant :
- “Managing customer enquiries. This includes finding pre-ordered books and overdue loan fines. Help customers use the photocopier”
An example of Customer Service & Support for an Education and Students administration role:
- “Manage the undergraduate admissions system. Process applications quickly, and regularly reviewing applicant numbers”
An example of Planning and Organising for a Faculty/School administration role:
- “Provide dedicated support to nominated members of the School’s senior academic staff. Including diary management, arranging meetings and travel (national and international)”
An example of Liaison for a Faculty/School administration role:
- “Liaise with other members of the administrative staff to support good communication”
An example of Liaison for a Communications and Marketing role:
- “Build and maintain good relationships with range of internal and external contacts. This helps to promote the University's reputation and interests. Contacts could include academic and support staff, key external organisations, journalists and influencers"
An example of Decision-making for a Finance administration role:
- “Help the Head of School agree a budget and monitor the School’s expenditure against that budget”
An example of Decision-making for a Finance administration role:
- “Maintain and monitor the research accounts of the Faculty/School. Resolve any discrepancies and escalate issues to budget holders”
An example of Problem-solving for an IT services role:
- “Diagnose and resolve a wide range of complex IT issues. This could relate to hardware, operating systems, application software or the network”
An example of Continuous Improvement for a Faculty/School administration role:
- “Review administrative processes and make suggestions for improvements”
An example of People Management for a Faculty/School administration role :
- “Supervise secretarial staff. Including staff reviews, managing performance issues, allocating work and supporting training needs.”
An example of People Management for a Faculty/School administration role:
“Supervising clerical staff. Including assisting, motivating, monitoring, and training temporary staff”
Section 1.3: Relationships and Contacts
Examples for Internal Contacts
An example for an Education and Students administration role:
- “Share information about the University's policies with academic and support staff. For example, the undergraduate admissions policy”
An example for an Education and Students administration role:
- “Use good listening skills and sensitivity when dealing with student queries”
An example for a Library Assistant:
- “Be polite and helpful when dealing with a range of customers, including students and staff. Provide accurate information and know when to pass an enquiry on”
An example for a Faculty/School administration role:
- “Organise meetings for academic staff. As part of this, gather information and use negotiation skills to co-ordinate schedules and requirements”
An example for a Research and Enterprise administration role:
- “Provide advice to the university’s senior managers, to inform policy development”
An example for an IT services role:
- “Train and support staff throughout the University. Deploy and troubleshoot PC systems, servers and software. Maintain services guidelines”
An example for a Faculty/School administration role:
- “Provide ongoing secretarial support to academic staff on a regular basis. Demonstrate professionalism, tact and assertiveness”
Examples for External Contacts
An example for an Education and Students administration role:
- “Supporting prospective students, teachers and parents with admissions enquiries. Explain policies and procedures, while being tactful and persuasive. For example, helping an unsuccessful candidate accept the outcome they’ve received”
An example for an Education and Students administration role:
- “Organise visiting lecturers for the School. This might require negotiation skills and diplomacy to arrange the timetable”
An example for a Faculty/School administration role:
- “Answer calls from the media. This involves tact and confidentiality regarding the Faculty’s/School’s work”
An example for an Education and Students administration role:
- “Contact and participation with professional bodies operating within higher education. Represent the interests of the University and to ensure that the University is aware of developments elsewhere in Higher Education”
An example for an IT services role :
- “Liaise with external suppliers to correctly diagnose/clarify specific problems. Make sure that hat any hardware or software problems are resolved quickly. ”
Section 2: Person Specification
Section 2.1: Relevant Experience, Skills and Knowledge
An example for an administration role:
- “Excellent administrative skills, including proficiency in Microsoft 365 applications and online business systems. Ability to manage competing priorities and work autonomously. Thriving in a fast-paced environment”
An example for a Faculty/School administration role:
- “Able to draft letters and reports on behalf of the management team, with a high standard of English”
An example for an Education and Students administration role:
- “Able to design, develop and maintain databases using appropriate tools to support reporting and operational requirements”
An example for an administration role:
- “Accurate audio and copy typing essential. Experience of transcribing audio recordings”
An example for an administration role:
- “Proficient in Mircosoft 365 applications including Word and Excel”
An example for an administration role:
- “Must be able to manage multiple ongoing tasks at the same time, and to be able to cope under pressure”
An example for an administration role:
- “Able to work with minimum supervision. Have confidence to make decisions based on the University’s policies and operations”
An example for a Finance role:
- “Experience of managing and motivating a team”
Section 2.2: Relevant Qualifications
An example for an administration role:
- “Education to GCSE level in Maths and English (Grades A – C)”
An example for an administration role required to give professional advice might be:
- “A degree level education and a relevant professional qualification. Or equivalent level of work experience”
An example for a Finance role:
- “An accountancy qualification such as ACCA or CIMA. Or equivalent level of work experience”
Section 2.3: Communication and Interpersonal Skills
An example for an Assistant Librarian:
- “Effective oral and written communication skills. Able to explain complex information to a diverse range of audiences”
An example for an administration role:
- “Consistently polite and respectful”
An example for a Education and Students administration role:
- “Show empathy when dealing with students who may be upset”
Section 3: Additional information for UBJES evaluation
Section 3.1: Work Examples
Work examples need to illustrate the degree of autonomy/responsibility in the role. This should include a focus on planning and organising, decision-making and problem-solving.
An example for an Education and Students administration role:
Range of Administrative Duties
Typically, a two-day period could include:
- Collate all the papers for the Annual Programme Review
- Supervise the invitations to undergraduate interviews
- Collate marks and reports for the postgraduate exam board
- Deal with admissions enquiries
- Arrange dates for Staff Reviews,
- Respond to multiple ongoing requests for advice and information. These may come from members of the School staff, other University offices, students and members of the public.
- Able to switch rapidly between a wide range of processes and systems.”
Some of these tasks require a high degree of concentration, attention to detail and prioritisation.
An example for a Faculty/School administration role:
Receptionist duties
- “Provide joint cover for the Reception Desk in the School Office as agreed with the manager. Use initiative to see when the Reception desk is busy and offer to help.
- Manage enquiries from a range of sources. Refer students to a senior staff member if an issue is complex. Support staff members with issues and enquiries.
- Ability to decide when to manage a request or issue personally or refer onwards.
- Always provide excellent customer service to members of the public. Be consistently polite, respectful and helpful.
- Balance competing demands of a busy office environment, with routine work. Display flexibility and adaptability”
An example for an administrative role:
Project Role
“Manage all administrative tasks associated seminars and conferences. Events can have from 8 to 150 delegates, typically from UK higher education institutions. The role holder has day-to-day responsibility, alongside the Project Manager’s guidance”.
Activities include:
- Processing delegate bookings and fees
- Booking facilities and ordering food
- Overseeing printing, collation and distribution of materials. These can range from 4-page booklets to ring-bound 50-page full-colour packs.”
An example for a Finance administration role:
Research grant support
- “Supporting Principal Investigators (PI) at all stage. Managing research sponsors of all types.”
- “At an early stage this involves reading contracts and guideline documentation from sponsors and Research and Innovation Services. This also includes advising PIs on suitable items to include in proposals. Producing Full Economic Cost proposals for research grant applications. Checking costings in all proposals to ensure that these achieve optimum benefit for the School.”
- “Liaise with the Principal Investigator and to ensure that the University’s full Economic Costing tool (fEC) is completed properly. Help to complete funders’ application forms and check they are correct. Making sure they align with the funders’ guidelines.”
- “Let the Principal Investigator know if the application may not meet appropriate regulations.”
- “Manage the submission process. Make sure that everything is submitted correctly. Allow time for everything to be finally approved by the University's Faculty Financial Controller.”
- “Principal Investigators can be in the UK or overseas at critical moments. It is important to set clear deadlines, to avoid any delays.”
An example for a Communications and Marketing role:
Writing press releases
- “Researching, writing and issuing press releases - using a network of contacts. Being proactive and finding interesting stories within the University"
- "Talking to academics involved to gain information about their work. Using this information to write and edit lively and accessible press releases"
- "Getting approval for the release from relevant people. This could include the Academic, any funding body and the academic journal publishing the release"
- "Researching and creating a list of media contacts and sharing the release with them"
- "Following up with calls to individual journalists to encourage them to use the story. Post the release on key news distribution websites. Responding to calls from journalists requesting more information and interviews.”
Section 3.2: Additional Statistical Information
An example for a role with Financial responsibilities:
- “Monitoring grants expenditure - £2 million”
An example for a Faculty/School administrative role:
- “Secretarial support for 4 academic members of staff”
An example for an administrative role:
- “Full line management of a team of 5 administrative staff”
An example for an Education and Students administrative role:
- “Dealing with undergraduate student queries – approximately 250 students”
