Compliance Administrator
- Job title: Compliance Administrator
- Job Type: Full time
- Salary: Circa £30,000 p.a. depending on qualifications, skills and experience
- Department: Compliance
- Reporting to: Compliance Director
- Location: Field House
- Start: As soon as possible
- Closing Date: 6 March 2023 at 12:00 pm
This is an excellent opportunity to join an award-winning charity; working closely with the Compliance Director to ensure that Highgate School policies and practices are in line with current legislation.
We are looking for someone with excellent administrative and attention to detail skills. Calm and organised, you will be a people-person with a flexible, pro-active and can-do approach. You will thrive in a busy environment and conduct yourself with professionalism, tact and diplomacy at all times.
If you are interested in working in a fast-paced environment at one of the country’s top independent schools where kindness is at the heart of what we do, then this is an ideal opportunity for you.
This is a new role to assist the Compliance Director with the administration duties to enable them to concentrate further on the overall compliance for the School.
The Department
The role of the compliance and operations team is to ensure that the School provides a safe environment for pupils to learn and for staff to work.
We are a small, dynamic team with a big reach – working across three schools and beyond to ensure that Highgate School policies and operations are in line with current legislation. The team focuses on building excellent relationships with internal stakeholders, providing expert advice, mentoring and support to staff at all levels. We deeply value professionalism and meaningful conversations, but also cultivate moments of joy and recognition. We deal with an immense variety of issues reflective of the full range of the School’s activities from transport to waste to emergency planning. We are at the frontline of responding to legislative changes and play a very active role in preparing the School for statutory inspections.
At present, the department consists of the Compliance Director, the Head of Health and Safety and the School Transport Manager. This is a unique and expanding team with a great sense of camaraderie.
Main Responsibilities
Compliance
- Assist the Compliance Director regarding internal and external audits to ensure Highgate is ‘inspection ready’.
- Complete inspection administration tasks as required.
- Work closely with the Compliance Director to develop an analysis of current policies and practices for potential risks and advise managers of necessary changes.
- Become an expert on all Highgate School policies and help advise relevant managers on best practice.
- Attend regular training or networking sessions regarding compliance within schools.
- Constantly update, review and proof read all documentation relating to compliance and ensure they are within Highgate style templates and that there are no potential areas of compliance risk.
- Keep accurate records of all changes to policies and ensure historic versions are available when required.
- Maintain an up-to-date knowledge of relevant changes regarding compliance within independent schools and make suggestions of necessary actions.
- Maintain SharePoint sites, website and any other platforms in the area of compliance.
- Update literature, posters and documents relating to compliance.
Health and Safety
- Assist with Health and Safety reviews and administration.
- Maintain all Health and Safety logs and records, e.g. staff training records.
- Confirm that the statutory inspections, checks and risk assessments are undertaken within required timeframes.
- Assist with documenting periodic site and equipment inspections.
Data Protection
- Assist the Compliance Director in ensuring the School complies with data protection legislation.
- Quickly respond and collate all information relating to Subject Access Requests.
- Assist in the management and administration of staff training relating to data protection.
- Meet with new starters to induct them on data protection.
Generalist Compliance Director Support
- Assist the Compliance Director with diary management and correspondence.
- Take minutes in meetings.
- Assist the Compliance Director with research for upcoming projects.
- Draft emails and letters as required to be sent to relevant stakeholders.
- Carry out routine office duties to assist the Compliance Director including dealing with telephone and other messages, e-mailing, copying and filing.
- Support in the organisation and delivery of induction and ongoing training.
- Criteria
- How will these be tested or verified?
- Qualifications and experience
Essential
- GCSE in Maths and English or equivalent.
- Experience of reviewing policies.
- Ability to research, analyse and interpret legislation and statutory guidance and help advise others.
Desirable
- Degree or equivalent.
- Experience working within a Law or School environment.
- Skills and abilities
Essential
- The ability to maintain in strictest confidence any information received concerning School matters.
- High level of IT skills including Microsoft Office, MS Teams and Zoom.
- Attention to detail with proof-reading and drafting experience.
- Experience of managing extensive and diverse workload within tight deadlines.
- Finisher/completer mindset with very high standards.
- Articulate, succinct, strong verbal and writing skills.
- Ability to work with senior members of staff.
- Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate effectively with pupils, parents/carers and staff and the wider school community. This requires an open, friendly approach in person and via telephone.
Desirable
- Understanding of the education sector and independent schools.
- Understanding of ISI, KCSIE or data protection legislation.
- Attitude and behaviours
Essential
- Organised with an ability to prioritise workloads.
- Emotional resilience and ability to work calmly under pressure.
- Show initiative to deal proactively with any situation that develops.
- Confident and personable with a positive ‘can-do’ attitude.
Benefits
Location | Highgate Village, adjacent to Hampstead Heath, with quaint shops and easy connections across London.
Pension | AVIVA workplace pension scheme offered with a generous 21% employer contribution.
Personal development | Comprehensive induction support for new staff. Focus on continued professional development for all employees.
Leisure facilities | Free access, at stipulated times, to our sports facilities, including a fitness suite and swimming pool (recently refurbished).
Holidays | Generous holiday allowance of 33 days (including bank holidays) for full-time staff. Most holidays will be taken during school holiday periods.
Lunch | A complimentary lunch.
Help with sustainable travel | Access to the Cycle to Work Scheme and a Season Ticket Loan scheme for public transport.
Family-friendly policies | Highgate appreciates that employees sometimes have family commitments so we try to be as supportive as possible, for example with enhanced maternity pay (8 weeks’ full pay, then 10 weeks’ half pay) and paid dependant leave.
Working at Highgate
A culture of community, kindness and belonging
Highgate is a caring, open-minded community, where we promote kindness, empathy and friendship. Everyone who works and studies with us deserves to feel they are part of a welcoming environment that enables them to be themselves and to thrive as individuals.
Our community extends beyond the school, through partnerships, charity work and our commitment to equality, inclusion and sustainability. All members of our school community are encouraged to look outwards and play an active role.
In a recent ISI inspection (Dec 2021), it was noted that “Pupils show exceptional respect for, and appreciate diversity within the school and wider community, and their own and other cultures, demonstrating sensitivity and tolerance to those from different backgrounds and traditions.”
Staff wellbeing
Highgate is committed to staff wellbeing, which we promote by encouraging a strong work-life balance; trying our best to support flexible working requests; providing a nutritious complimentary lunch in the dining hall; and offering access to sporting facilities including our recently renovated swimming pool.
The Staff Wellbeing Committee, with representatives across the School, meets regularly to drive forward initiatives, and a selection of staff have been trained as Mental-Health First Aiders.
We encourage an open culture throughout our school, with regular staff surveys, action committees and opportunities to feedback. We strive for continual learning and improvement, and staff training and development is paramount. There are opportunities to participate in the wider life of our school, such as taking part in trips or societies and getting involved in partnership projects.
More details about working at Highgate can be found here:
Charitable work and sustainability
As an independent school, we want to use our position as a charity effectively: to make high-quality education accessible to as many children as possible – through our bursary programme at Highgate and through our work with local state schools. We have partnerships with over 60 state schools across 7 London boroughs, and we are the principal educational sponsor for London Academy of Excellence, Tottenham – an academically-selective state sixth form in a community where such opportunities are lacking.
Alongside this, our staff and pupils undertake charitable activities throughout the year. These range from staff giving up their time to neighbourhood schools and charitable organisations, focused fundraising campaigns, to pupils undertaking community work in the local area or further afield.
As a school, we have a central role to play in educating our pupils, staff and parents about the importance of environmental sustainability. We are taking positive action to adapt our operational performance to tackle the negative effects of climate change. We encourage all our staff to reflect upon their personal and professional practices, to support our environmental agenda and to make positive changes wherever possible.
Application procedure
- Closing Date: 6th March 2023
- Timing of interviews: w/b 13 March 2023
Contact: Kasia Wojtkowiak, Compliance Director is happy to answer any questions about this post.
Early Application: Applications will be considered ‘as and when’ received and we may close the vacancy if we appoint before the closing date.
Apply hereInclusion
We know that more diverse teams are stronger teams, and that the more inclusive we are, the more our staff and pupils will feel a sense of belonging and will thrive. To enable us to make reasonable adjustments, please let us know of any disabilities (including neuro-divergence) when you submit your application.
Safeguarding
As this role will have regular unsupervised contact with children you must, if appointed, comply with Highgate’s Safeguarding Policy and Staff Code of Conduct. If in the course of carrying out the duties of the post the post holder becomes aware of any actual or potential risks to the safety and welfare of our pupils, these concerns must be reported immediately in accordance with the Safeguarding Policy. If whilst in the post, Highgate becomes aware of any safeguarding concerns to staff, pupils or the community; these will need to be followed up in line with the safeguarding policy and code of conduct which is underpinned by KCSE and other legislation. These concerns may need to be shared with other agencies. A copy of these policies will accompany all offers of employment. Training will also be provided to all staff to support Safeguarding practice.
Please read before you apply
Highgate is committed to the safeguarding and welfare of children and applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to this post, including checks with past employers, the Disclosure and Barring Service and overseas police check if necessary. Candidates from overseas must provide information about their past conduct, for example, by providing documents issued by overseas teaching authorities.
Please note that this role is ‘exempt’ from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore, you are required to declare any convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings that are not ‘protected’ (i.e. filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013). Shortlisted candidates will be asked to provide details of all unspent convictions and those that would not be filtered, prior to the date of the interview.
In accordance with the latest guidance from KCSIE, we shall be conducting online searches on any candidates who are shortlisted.