PURPOSE OF THE JOB:

To form part of the international sales team, delivering high-quality customer service, working collaboratively with colleagues, and students. (The focus on B2B or B2C varies depending on business needs. The role includes contacting international students (email & phone calls) to assist them with their bookings, and explain our policies; as well as supporting international agents referring students to us with bookings and all enquiry types.

The role more broadly will also include offering customer service to international customers on various channels (calls, wechat, emails etc)

Summary of the role:

Contact: 12 months (with end day in March 2027)

Location: Hybrid: Mainly working from home and attending our London office for training purposes, and occasional meetings only. Occasional travels within the UK required.

Working Hours and Shift Pattern; Monday - Sunday 5-day working week, including work some weekends and during Bank Holidays 7.5 hours a day between 6am - 8pm Early shift starts at 6am. Late shift usually ends at 6pm, in fewer instances, late shift will be till 8pm). 37.5 hours a week

Your specific weekly working pattern will be discussed and arranged with you by your line manager. We reserve the right to change your pattern of work from time to time depending on the needs of the business.

KEY TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Customer Focus

• Assisting agents and customers in a professional and courteous manner and providing information regarding our properties and services across the UK.
• Conducting sales conversations with Chinese agents and students, via various channels including WeChat, Webchat, calls, emails ...
• Answering agents and student enquiries
• Following-up on any customer related issues requiring action in a timely manner, engaging with other teams when necessary
• Providing a decisive and effective response to complaints, assisting in and resolving customer disputes and escalating where necessary
• Maintaining positive relationships with agents, colleagues and students.

Administration

• Maintaining Unite Students` information systems including the booking system, MS Excel spreadsheets, ensuring customer data is accurate, secure and compliant with the Data Protection Act and GDPR.
• Undertaking general administration duties, to including processing bookings and payments, debt chasing, no shows and absconders,
• Providing financial administration support, escalating customer arrears issues; assisting with international agents commission checks; monitoring the commission budget.
• Promoting to agents & students ad hoc and cyclical sales & marketing campaigns
• Undertaking additional duties and tasks as requested by line management

Teamwork

• Demonstrating a flexible approach to work and a willingness to undertake all reasonable duties at the request of the team manager
• Providing support to the city-based teams and other support teams when required
• Working collaboratively to help support the overall business development team to deliver its business plan and broader objectives
• Enhance sales opportunity and performance, including gathering and sharing market information, agents and students feedback, competition activities.
• Working in a collegiate and supportive manner with colleagues, ensuring opportunities to share best practice are utilised
• Developing and maintaining productive working relationships with support functions and third party suppliers
• Attending regular meetings with colleagues, communicating outstanding issues and requests
• Embracing change, supporting the business and colleagues through business transformation

Compliance

• Ensuring that Health and Safety legislation is adhered to at all times
• Maintaining an awareness of current legislation concerning Data Protection and compliance
• Conducting all duties in line with Unite Students policy and procedure
• Ensuring management is informed of any serious issues
• Fulfilling the varied administration requirements

Performance and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Ensuring all work is completed within the required standards and KPI targets set by the business
• Maintaining the highest level of productivity at all times
• Contributing to the delivery of the KPIs within the team, including measures for:
  • Sales & conversion rate
  • B to B and B to C channels performance
  • Agents / 3^rd parties satisfaction
• Contributing suggestions for areas of improvement to benefit the business
• Reflecting Unite Students` mission, vision and values in all activities

KEY REQUIREMENTS:

Essential

• Chinese native speaker; (written and spoken fluency in Mandarin)
• Ability to work outside or regular office hours to communicate with customers based in China if / when needed
• Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing and demonstrate an objective, professional and calm approach when handling difficult situations
• Ability to build relationships internally and with third party suppliers
• Computer literate with the ability to use Microsoft Office
• Ability to work at pace whilst maintaining a high level of accuracy & attention to detail
• Ability to manage own time effectively, prioritising tasks when required, multitasking and meeting deadlines
• Previous experience of working within a sales environment with administrative tasks
• Highly skilled in advising and delivering against customer needs
• Ability to work with a positive and collegiate attitude, to adapt swiftly and to undertake challenging tasks to ensure customer satisfaction
• Self-motivated and possessing the ability to work on own initiative

Desirable

Previous experience of working in the accommodation, hospitality or education sectors

What You`ll Get in Return

• A discretionary annual bonus so you can share in the company`s success
• 25 days` paid holiday and an annual holiday buying scheme, with 5 additional days awarded for long service
• A generous pension scheme - employer contributions between 5% and 11% depending on how much you save
• Various benefits to support your health and wellbeing including a Healthcare Cash Plan, an Employee Assistance Programme, a Wellbeing platform and a Gym benefit that you can share with your family and friends
• Enhanced Family Leave including 18 weeks full pay for birthing parents and 4 weeks for non-birthing parents
• Lots of other great benefits including an annual ShareSave scheme, Employee Life Assurance, a discounts portal and more!

About Unite Students

Founded in 1991, Unite Students is the UK`s leading provider of purpose-built student accommodation. You can find us in 23 leading university towns and cities, with 70,000 students calling US home! We are driven by our values, culture, and a commitment to develop diverse and inclusive teams, filled with positive energy and new ideas.

Instinctive inclusion. We know that to create and maintain a happy healthy organisation, we have to work hard to ensure inclusion isn`t just what we do but who we are.

People make Unite Students. Employees, students and neighbours all contribute to building environments where we can all thrive.

Room for Everyone

We`re proud to be an employer that embraces individuality, and we`re passionate about building inclusive teams. We focus on creating a collaborative culture where you can be you, where your voice is heard, and where you can truly belong. We take great pride in being rated Gold Investors in People and are constantly striving to provide the highest standard of learning and development opportunities and professional pathways for our people. Building a home for success, for both our employees and students, requires exceptional people with a passion for creating room for everyone, doing what`s right, keeping US safe, and raising the bar. Join us as we build better experiences for students that live with us.

We are US.