The University of Sheffield
Student Wellbeing Adviser
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The University of Sheffield is a remarkable place to work. Our people are at the heart of everything we do. Their diverse backgrounds, abilities and beliefs make Sheffield a world-class university.
We offer a fantastic range of benefits including a highly competitive annual leave entitlement (with the ability to purchase more), a generous pensions scheme, flexible working opportunities, a commitment to your development and wellbeing, a wide range of retail discounts, and much more. Find out more about our benefits (opens in a new window) and join us to become part of something special.
Overview
Join our team as a Wellbeing Adviser to positively impact students' lives through promoting healthy university engagement.
Working within Faculties and reporting into a central team you will provide a key link between faculties and central Student Health, Wellbeing and Support Service.
As a Wellbeing Adviser, You Will
- Proactively identify students or groups of students who may be struggling with university life and studies.
- Offer timely support to ensure students with wellbeing needs gain access to the most appropriate support pathways.
- Refer students to wider student support services where appropriate, enabling students to achieve their academic potential.
- Provide one to one student appointments assessing and supporting wellbeing
- Plan and deliver wellbeing groups, initiatives and activities.
- Offer input to staff on wellbeing matters and contribute to embedding wellbeing into teaching.
- Support mental health promotion activities to proactively support student wellbeing.
To be successful in this role, you will have
- Relevant and significant experience in wellbeing or mental health work.
- Excellent interpersonal skills, empathy and pragmatism you will maintain boundaries and act with discretion and diplomacy.
- A good knowledge of student welfare and wellbeing issues and how these may affect students.
- Experience in dealing with risk and understanding when to raise risk concerns and the ability to work collaboratively and cooperatively with colleagues across faculties and central teams.
The role represents the opportunity for a motivated wellbeing practitioner to have a significant positive impact on the wellbeing of our students.
Main Duties And Responsibilities
- Provide support for student wellbeing, promoting healthy and positive engagement with university life and supporting student retention and attainment. Offering initial appointments and signposting with follow up appointments as needed.
- Use a range of techniques to support students with wellbeing needs to self-manage and encourage positive lifestyle change
- Plan, develop and deliver psychoeducational groups and wellbeing programmes for students, designed to promote positive mental health and wellbeing.
- Design and deliver wellbeing initiatives and activities and support mental health promotion events to proactively support student wellbeing.
- Work in collaboration with the mental health and counselling team to triage new referrals
- Proactively identify students or groups of students who may be struggling with University life and studies, using data for example exam results, attendance records, extenuating circumstances forms, offering timely support to ensure students with wellbeing needs gain access to the most appropriate support pathway.
- Signpost students to wider student support services where appropriate, thus enabling students to achieve their academic potential.
- Provide advice and support to staff on wellbeing matters and contribute to embedding wellbeing into teaching.
- Identify and escalate cases where some complexity and/or severity is present for example suicidal thoughts, including signposting to appropriate university services and the mental health guidance and liaison desk where needed.
- Work alongside Faculties and report into the central Mental Health Development Officers
- Provide a key link between faculties and central Student Health, Wellbeing and Support Services.
- Keep records of all activity in line with service protocols using agreed electronic systems and any paper-based systems as appropriate.
- Monitor student experience using a qualitative evaluation questionnaire.
- Use agreed electronic systems to input and retrieve information appropriate to the care of individuals and to develop a basic competency in the use of it to an acceptable standard.
- Ensure that student confidentiality is protected at all times, in line with the university policies.
- Deliver relevant training or information sessions to staff or student audiences, covering wellbeing advice and self-care skills.
- Build strong working relationships with colleagues in academic departments/faculties.
- Carry out other duties, commensurate with the grade and remit of the post
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Person Specification
Our diverse community of staff and students recognises the unique abilities, backgrounds, and beliefs of all. We foster a culture where everyone feels they belong and is respected. Even if your past experience doesn't match perfectly with this role's criteria, your contribution is valuable, and we encourage you to apply. Please ensure that you reference the application criteria in the application statement when you apply.
Criteria
Essential Or Desirable
Stage(s) assessed at
- Relevant experience in mental health or Wellbeing work
- Good knowledge of student wellbeing issues and how these may affect students
- Experience of planning/facilitating groups
- Excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to demonstrate empathy and pragmatism while maintaining boundaries and confidentiality and acting with discretion.
- Experience of working with risk and knowing when to escalate risk
- Effective communication skills, both written and verbal, including report writing skills; email and telephone; and the ability to communicate to staff at all levels
- Excellent team working skills with the ability to build effective working relationships and work collaboratively and cooperatively with colleagues across faculties and central teams (assessed at: application/interview)
- Knowledge of Data Protection and an ability to deal with confidential issues in a sensitive manner
- Excellent note keeping and IT skills, including Microsoft Office packages and Google applications
- Confident at presenting to different audiences and delivering training or presentations to develop student and staff knowledge on how to maintain wellbeing
- Self-motivated, with ability to work on own initiative, manage own workload effectively, recognising when to seek guidance and support
- Ability to be self-reflective whilst working with service users and in own personal and professional development
- Experience of planning/facilitating groups e.g. self help groups/managing stress
- Experience of working with a student population and knowledge of external and University support services available to students to enable appropriate and timely signposting
Essential
Essential
Desirable
Desirable
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Further Information
Grade
6
Salary
£32,080 - £36,636, with potential to progress to £39,906 per annum through sustained exceptional contribution.
Work arrangement
Full time, 9am- 5pm, Mon-Fri
Duration
12 months contract
Line manager
Wellbeing Manager
Direct reports
N/A
Right to work in the UK
If you do not currently hold the right to work in the UK, you can find more information here to help determine your visa eligibility. Additional guidance is also available on the UK Visa & Immigration website.
Our website
About the Student Mental Health, Counselling, Therapies & Wellbeing Service | Mental health and wellbeing support | Student hub
For informal enquiries about this job contact Matthew Howard-Jones, Wellbeing Manager: m.howard-jones@sheffield.ac.uk
Next steps in the recruitment process
It is anticipated that the selection process will take place week commencing 14th September 2026. This will consist of an interview and a task. We plan to let candidates know if they have progressed to the selection stage on the week commencing 7th September 2026t. If you need any support, equipment or adjustments to enable you to participate in any element of the recruitment process you can contact Andre Nunn, Office Manager a.nunn@sheffield.ac.uk
Our vision and strategic plan
We are the University of Sheffield. This is our vision: sheffield.ac.uk/vision (opens in new window).
What We Offer
- A minimum of 38 days annual leave including bank holiday and closure days (pro rata) with the ability to purchase more.
- Flexible working opportunities, including hybrid working for some roles.
- Generous pension scheme.
- A wide range of discounts and rewards on shopping, eating out and travel.
- A variety of staff networks, providing opportunities for social interaction, peer support and personal development (for example, Race Equality, LGBT+, Women’s and Parent’s networks).
- Recognition Awards to reward staff who go above and beyond in their role.
- A commitment to your development access to learning and mentoring schemes; integrated with our Professional Services Shared Skills Framework
- A range of generous family-friendly policies
- paid time off for parenting and caring emergencies
- access to menopause support in the workplace
- paid time off and support for fertility treatment
- and more
More details can be found on our benefits page: sheffield.ac.uk/jobs/benefits (opens in a new window).
We are a Disability Confident Leader (opens in a new window). If you have a disability and meet the essential criteria for this job you will be invited to take part in the next stage of the selection process.
Criminal record
An enhanced with barred lists DBS check will be needed for this role. More details on the checks can be found on the Government website: gov.uk/criminal-record-checks-apply-role (opens in a new window).
Possession of a criminal record is not an automatic bar to employment at the University of Sheffield. We recognise the value of steady employment in the rehabilitation process and examine each case in its own right. More information can be found on our Information for candidates page:- sheffield.ac.uk/jobs/
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