Receptionist (Lodge Porter-Days)

Further Particulars

RECEPTIONIST - DAYS

(Internally referred to as LODGE PORTER – Days) Job Title: Lodge Porter – Days Department: The Lodge Location: Merton College, Merton Street, Oxford, OX1 4JD Lodges at Merton Street and Holywell Street Shift Pattern: Day shift Contract Type: Permanent Reporting to: Head Porter The Lodge at Merton Merton College was founded in 1264 by the former Bishop of Rochester, Walter de Merton. Located in central Oxford, the College now has over 70 Fellows, approximately 600 students and 115 support staff. Having gained a world-wide reputation for outstanding academic excellence and its research accomplishments, Merton is an inclusive international community in which great importance is placed upon equality and diversity. Merton has 2 lodges; the Main Lodge on the College site and a smaller lodge on the site of student accommodation, a short distance away in Holywell Street. Both Lodges play a vital role within the College community; they provide a “first port of call” for College members and are a reception point for visitors. This role will be required to work at Holywell Lodge as well as Merton Lodge. Main Purpose of the Role The Lodge is very much the gateway to the College and on a daily basis our team of Porters welcome and assist a significant number of Fellows, students, staff and visitors from all over the world. The Porters therefore work in a very busy and public facing role and one in which they are required to provide the highest possible standards of service at all times. The Porters are a small team who play a large and essential role in the day to day life of the college. In addition to public facing duties, the Lodge team will routinely work closely with colleagues in other departments, helping to facilitate numerous events and activities that take place. Importantly, the Porters also provide first aid support and indirect assistance to the welfare team. This role will involve working at both Lodges.2 Main Duties of the Role Reception Duties  Act as the first point of contact and use initiative to solve day-to-day problems within the College in a calm and efficient way, utilising good oral and written communication skills, including email.  Issue room keys and fobs to guests and staff and issue keys, fobs and badges to contractors as part of the security procedure.  Use KX booking system to check students and guests in and out of college rooms.  Receive any visitor who comes to the College in an efficient and courteous manner, including conference delegates, candidates for interview and prospective students.  Have a reasonable knowledge of the College history in order to be able to answer questions that visitors may ask.  Collect and accurately record all monies paid by visitors or tour parties.  Dealing with incoming and outgoing post and deliveries.  Dealing with incoming telephone enquiries to the college, identifying and transferring each call to the correct college recipient. Fire & Security  Responsible for the physical security of College members and premises when on duty.  Monitoring and responding to CCTV systems, fire and security alarms as required.  Checking and responding to any incidents of unauthorised entry to the College.  Carry out regular security patrols to check windows, external gates and buildings are secure.  Conduct weekly fire alarm testing and assist with periodic fire drills.  Record and report accident, security and fire safety incidents.  Record and report any faults or defects found via the Service Desk System.  Liaise with Thames Valley Police in emergency security situations as well as Oxford University Security Services staff in non-emergency situations where applicable.  Working closely with the College Discipline and Welfare teams to assist in the implementation of College Rules, including challenging noisy or unruly behaviour within the College.  As a trained fire marshal, assist in responding to fire alarm activations Incidents  Deal with any emergency in a swift and prompt manner, following the College Fire Plan and other emergency plans.  Provide first aid promptly should an occasion arise. Training will be provided and you will be required to pass relevant training courses.3  Provide written incident reports to a good standard of written English. Other  Put up and take down flags as instructed, in accordance with procedure.  Comply with any other reasonable request when required by the Head Porter.  Responsible as part of the Lodge team to ensure an efficient handover between shifts and effective communication within the Lodge and wider College community.  Support the Maintenance team in making initial assessments out-of-hours in resolving maintenance problems, referring as necessary. Salary and Benefits The starting salary for this role is £29,833.44 per annum increasing to £30,117.36 per annum after satisfactory completion of a 6-month probationary period. Overtime is also applicable to this role and additional hours are paid at basic rate, with the exception the rate of time and one half for Saturday, Sunday and public holidays and also Monday to Friday where less than 24 hours’ notice has been given. Premium rates are offered for working the Christmas public holidays. Working an average of 42 hours per week on a ‘3 days on and 3 days off’ on a 6 week cycle, the successful applicant will be required to work 12 hour shifts, from 06:00-18:00, 06:30-18:30 or 07:00-19:00 which will include some weekends and bank holidays. Shifts will be a mixture of all of the above dependant on the needs of the business. An example shift pattern is shown below. You will be expected to be flexible, and overtime will be required at certain times to cover absence and holidays or other operational requirements. You will be required to cover for the opposite shift pattern on an occasional basis. Including the normal English bank and public holidays you will be entitled to 27 days holiday, which is the equivalent of 7.6 weeks’ holiday. Benefits include membership of the University of Oxford Staff Pension Scheme (OSPS), uniform, use of the onsite fitness room and meals in College when on duty. Private medical insurance is also provided for those who wish to take it up. Free car parking, a cycle to work scheme and a travel loan scheme. A meal allowance is paid when working at Holywell Lodge. We are an Oxford Living Wage Accredited Employer.4 Indicative Day Shift Pattern Mon Tues Weds Thurs Fri Sat Sun Week 1 R R D D D R R Week 2 R D D D R R R Week 3 D D D R R R D Week 4 D D R R R D D Week 5 D R R R D D D Week 6 R R R D D D R D = 12 hour shift starting at either 0600-1800, 06-30-1830 or 0700-1900. There will be a mixture of these shifts across the working days. R = Rest Day Experience Required Essential  Excellent oral and written English communication skills.  Experience of working in a customer service role and public facing role.  Approachable and able to deal with a wide-ranging customer base.  Able to work effectively as part of a team or alone.  Punctual and reliable and of professional appearance.  Confident to challenge individuals whilst maintaining good relationships.  Able to remain calm and polite when under pressure, including in emergency situations.  Able to be flexible in working hours and duties undertaken.  Ability to maintain confidentiality when dealing with sensitive situations and personal data of college members.  Willingness to contribute to improvement activities.  IT skills. Able to use Microsoft Windows applications and other systems e.g. key fob programming. Desirable  Experience of working in an Educational environment.  Experience of working shifts.  Previous training and or certification in First Aid and Fire Marshalling. Application Process Those wishing to apply for this post should complete the online application at and e mail the following documents to5 [email protected] as a single PDF document in the named format ‘Last Name First Name Application’. Please put your last name and ‘Lodge Porter (Days)’ in the subject line of the e mail.  A detailed covering letter outlining your motivation for applying and how your skills and experience equip you to undertake the role.  A CV. Closing date: The vacancy will only remain open until a suitable candidate is appointed. Early application is encouraged. Candidates are encouraged to complete an Equal Opportunities Recruitment Monitoring form at the end of the Application form. The information collected on the equal opportunities recruitment monitoring form does not form part of the selection process and will not be circulated to the selection panel. It will be used solely to monitor the effectiveness of the College’s Single Equality Scheme which is published at For an informal discussion about the role before application please contact Huw James, Head Porter at email: [email protected] This appointment will be determined only by personal merit and the application of criteria related to the duties of the post. No applicant will be treated less favourably than another because of sex, gender reassignment, marital status or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, racial group, disability, age, religion and beliefs or sexual orientation. Merton College is an equal opportunities employer. Merton College is a registered charity (1139022)