Heriot-Watt University
Executive Assistant - Chaplaincy
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Role Title: Executive Assistant - Chaplaincy
Grade and Salary
Grade 5, £26,707 - £31,236 per annum
FTE and Working Pattern
Full-time (35hrs per week) Fixed Term (9 Months)
Reward and Benefits
28 days annual leave, plus 9 buildings closed days for all full-time staff. Use our total rewards calculator: https://www.hw.ac.uk/about/work/total-rewards-calculator.htm to see the value of benefits provided by Heriot-Watt University.
About Our Team
The Chaplaincy is a place of welcome and hospitality, a cultural meeting place, and a place for prayer and worship. It is essential that the Executive Assistant has a warm, welcoming personality and will easily interact with groups of students, visitors, and with individuals.
Part of the Student Wellbeing Service, the Chaplaincy is based in its own premises at the Edinburgh campus where there are approximately 9000 students. The purpose of the Chaplaincy is to enhance the student experience by promoting spiritual and social wellbeing to people of all faiths and no religious faith, and by providing a multi-cultural meeting place for mutual support and interaction. It has a key place in the University’s Strategy of Building Flourishing Communities. It plays a key role in delivering events that form part of the student experience and in particular for our international students.
The Chaplaincy building is used for a wide variety of spiritual and social activities and events and is run by a team of staff and volunteers. Some of the key activities taking place in the building or organised by the Chaplaincy are as follows:
- A soup lunch on Tuesday and a weekly meal on Wednesday evenings caters for 70+ students
- Worship provision – a Sunday service is held each week
- Social and cultural events (some run by the Chaplaincy and others by student or staff groups)
- Regular weekly groups e.g. Discussion Group
- Trips to the Scottish countryside for international students
- Distribution of kitchen equipment at beginning of semesters
Major university events such as the Anniversary Church Service, Annual Public Lecture, and Christmas Carol Celebration
Purpose of Role
This post plays a key role in delivering a front-line service to students and staff.
You will work in a team consisting of the Chaplain, Executive Assistant, Chaplaincy International Worker, part-time Muslim Chaplain, part-time cook, plus two student residents who reside in the building and several volunteers. You will contribute to the hospitality offered throughout the week, including catering activities, ensuring compliance with food hygiene regulations and kitchen cleanliness. You will be responsible for the administrative work of the Chaplaincy – e.g. databases, diaries, publicity, purchasing, bookings, website and social media, preparing items for print, and the operational side of events and the Chaplaincy itself.
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Key Duties and Responsibilities
- Shared responsibility for the day-to-day organization of the Chaplaincy, responding to enquiries from students, staff, residents, or the general public regarding the use of the facilities.
- Assist with planning, organizing, and publicising the Welcome Week programmes, Pots and Pans Recycling, and major annual events such as the Christmas Carol celebration, Anniversary Church Service, and Annual Public Lecture.
- Publicity: prepare and ensure accurate information about Chaplaincy activities and events is published on all digital platforms including HWU website, Facebook, and Instagram.
- Hospitality: contribute to student support initiatives including cake and coffee sessions and other outreach events as may be organised.
- Responsible for kitchen hygiene for Chaplaincy events (excluding when the Chaplaincy Cook is on site).
- General administrative duties: Scanning, filing, photocopying, maintaining Chaplaincy noticeboards, preparation for Sunday services, Chaplaincy trips, and other general clerical duties.
- Financial reporting: prepare simple income/expenditure reports on Chaplaincy trips and meals.
- Volunteers: recruiting and equipping volunteers for various events run by Chaplaincy.
- Undertake continuing professional development as appropriate.
- Undertake other tasks and responsibilities as requested by the Chaplain or nominee.
Person Specification
These are the criteria on which the short-listing and recruitment selection will be made.
Education & Qualifications
- Good educational standard with excellent spoken and written English.
Experience
- Experience in working in front-line services, assessing the appropriate response and providing advice, information, and guidance on a range of issues.
- Experience in handling confidential/sensitive information.
- Experience in carrying out a wide range of administrative tasks and implementing new processes.
- Experience of working co-operatively and effectively within a team.
Competencies, Skills & Knowledge
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
- Skills in responding to distressed or challenging customers.
- Ability to handle data and written text with accuracy and attention to detail.
- Excellent working knowledge of Microsoft Office, Publisher and/or Canva, and skills in using social media and updating web pages.
- Excellent organisational, communication, inter-personal, and networking skills.
- Outstanding customer service skills, dealing with a broad range of students and staff.
- Excellent cultural awareness and a commitment to ensuring a sensitive and flexible service.
- Respectful of different religious beliefs.
- Ability to co-ordinate volunteers and supervise preparation of catered events.
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How to Apply
Please submit via the Heriot-Watt online recruitment system:
- Cover letter describing your interest and suitability for the post.
- Full CV.
Applications can be submitted until 23:55 on Sunday 4th October 2026.
Interviews are expected to be held on Friday 9th October 2026.
About Heriot-Watt University
At Heriot Watt, we are passionate about our values and look to them to connect our people globally and to help us collaborate and celebrate our success through working together. Our research programmes can deliver real-world impact which is achieved through the diversity of our international community and the recognition of creative talent that connects our global team.
Our flourishing community will give you the freedom to challenge and to bring your enterprising mind and to help our partners with solutions that can be applied now and in the future. Join us and Heriot Watt will provide you with a platform to thrive and work in a way that also helps you live your life in balance with well-being and inclusiveness at the heart of our global community.
Heriot-Watt University is committed to securing equality of opportunity in employment and to the creation of an environment in which individuals are selected, trained, promoted, appraised, and otherwise treated on the sole basis of their relevant merits and abilities. Equality and diversity are all about maximising potential and creating a culture of inclusion for all.
Heriot-Watt University values diversity across our University community and welcomes applications from all sectors of society, particularly from underrepresented groups. For more information, please see our website https://www.hw.ac.uk/uk/services/equality-diversity.htm and also our award-winning work in Disability Inclusive Science Careers https://disc.hw.ac.uk/.
We welcome and will consider flexible working patterns e.g. part-time working and job share options.
Use our total rewards calculator: https://www.hw.ac.uk/about/work/total-rewards-calculator.htm to see the value of benefits provided by Heriot-Watt University.
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