The Role

Unite Students have an exciting opportuinity to join our fantastic Student Support Team. Regional Student Support Officers provide specialist advice and support to colleagues across the business guiding them on their approach to student support related matters. The Student Support Team provide indirect support to our customers by upholding our processes and Support to Stay framework, delivered by property teams, in order to manage the breadth of student wellbeing cases. This role provides operational support for London.

Under the line management of the Regional Student Support Managers, the Regional Student Support Officers provide day to day advice, guidance and, where needed, `on the ground` support to city teams, including delivering training and coaching to address specific challenges in delivery. Balancing their knowledge of the nuances of the sites within their region and their knowledge of national best practice, they are the primary Officer on operational implementation of intervention, legal compliance and consistency of approach to student support throughout the region and nationally. The service aim is to provide a consistent proactive and reactive response to student wellbeing matters, maximise student belonging and success, and to facilitate timely access to appropriate support, in partnership with their university and other relevant services.

What You`ll Be Doing

• Work collaboratively and strategically with the wider Student Support Team, stakeholders, and our Resident Ambassadors
• Develop and implement proactive student support interventions, initiatives and campaigns with a focus on harm reduction, inclusion, belonging and positive outcomes
• Be the voice for best practice for student support matters within the region and ensure staff take a balanced and boundaried approach
• Ensure consistent delivery of frontline student support through our property teams, in line with the business` agreed aims and Support to Stay framework, acting as a regional voice to and for students and those supporting students, in relation to wellbeing matters
• Confidently use reporting systems and guide teams in their use as a case management tool, contributing to continuous improvements to our CRM systems, to better understand and support the resident experience
• Ensure that all student-facing employees are able to report and escalate student wellbeing concerns appropriately and have a thorough understanding of appropriate referral pathways (internally and externally)
• Have a routine, and responsive, in-person presence and a strong virtual presence connecting with teams, in order to maintain a reasonable level of visibility throughout the region
• Support the wider team to build greater awareness of student wellbeing issues across the region, and its relevance to the national picture, including sharing data and learnings, updating on new policy and cascading training as required
• Ensure a high professional standard of incident reporting and case management across the region, escalating any concerns or under-reporting to the Regional Student Support Manager accordingly
• Provide peer to peer supervision and communication with Student Experience Teams (including Team Leaders and Managers), identifying training and development needs and offering `coaching`style support to aid their development
• Supporting the work of Regional Student Support Managers to establish and maintain excellent working relationships and networks with Student Services professionals in universities and relevant community organisations, including participation in multi-stakeholder committees (e.g. student safety committees)
• A committed and strategic approach to balancing safeguarding responsibilities and reasonable duty of care, within the limitations associated with being an accommodation provider - trained as a Designated Safeguarding Officer for the region, you will be alert to concerns, liaising with the Regional Student Support Manager (Safeguarding Lead) to be responsive to safeguarding risks
• Develop and contribute to content and resources which address trends and concerns that impact on the student population, taking responsibility for your own learning and understanding of the key issues
• Support the wider team to build greater awareness of student wellbeing issues across the region, and its relevance to the national picture, including sharing data and learnings, updating on new policy and cascading training as required
• Support the Head of Student Support in implementing a national best practice approach and contribute to the future development of student support
• With a post of this nature, some out of hours working and flexibility will be required, a reasonable level of contact may be required beyond normal working hours (e.g. in the event of an incident) and whilst this is not an `on call`post the team aims to have a reasonable level of responsiveness to serious incidents

What We`re Looking for in You

• Experience of working in or with students / student accommodation or young people aged 18-25 years old
• A good working knowledge of University, NHS and community services
• The ability to empathise with a variety of welfare issues and understand the impact these on young people
• An understanding of disabilities and barriers to education
• Experience of managing high risk student cases and an ability to identify and prioritise concerns
• The ability to present an inclusive and engaging training session to a range of key stakeholders
• Expience of community building and wellbeing iniatives
• MHFA Trainer qualification, or similar, and/or a willingness to undertake training as required is desirable
• Flexibility to work unsociable or extended hours due to business needs, or in response to incidents as required
• Flexibility to travel within region, but also on occasion, to travel outside region for team meetings

What You`ll Get in Return

• An annual bonus so you can share in the company`s success
• 25 days` paid holiday
• Pension - based on how much you save, we`ll contribute 1% more
• Flexible working opportunities
• Shared Parental Leave - 18 weeks full pay
• Other benefits include, ShareSave, Bike to Work, Charity Match, amazing discounts and more!

About Unite Students

Founded in 1991, Unite Students is a FTSE 250 business and the UK`s leading provider of purpose-built student accommodation. You can find us in 25 leading university towns and cities, with 74,000 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.