Head of the Accommodation Office

Trinity College, founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, is the largest College in the University of Cambridge, steeped in centuries of history and innovation. The beauty and size of Trinity’s historic buildings and courts attract visitors from all over the world, but, with some 730 undergraduates, 340 graduate students, 190 Fellows and 350 non-academic staff the College is also a thriving, modern community.

The College’s buildings exist to give its members a rewarding, richly resourced, and intellectually inspiring place in which to pursue their education and research. Provision and administration of accommodation for members of the College community, and of teaching, office, meeting and social spaces, is crucial to the College as a residential educational institution. At Trinity, this is the principal function of the Accommodation Office.

Owing to the retirement of the current postholder the College seeks to appoint an outstanding leader to develop and manage the Accommodation Office.

The Head of Accommodation will coordinate the on-site residential accommodation and professional and communal spaces that are essential to the College and deliver a customer-focused service that ensures a safe, well-maintained environment in order, ensuring excellent modern amenity whilst respecting the heritage of the College.

The Accommodation Office is often the first port of call for diverse enquiries from a variety of stakeholders, who often have differing needs and priorities. It is essential therefore, that the Head of Accommodation have proven experience in leading a customer-focused team in a busy environment, is able to build strong working relationships across a diverse organisation, and can work and adapt flexibly in any given situation.

Trinity College’s Accommodation Office offers a dynamic environment for professionals to make a tangible impact, where each decision can impact the working and living environment for the different parts of the unique community of a Cambridge college.

The key responsibilities of the role are to:

• lead, develop and manage the Accommodation Office’s administrative processes in relation to the allocation and best use of accommodation for Fellows, students, staff, alumni, guests and external conferences ;
• liaise and work collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders and bodies to ensure that accommodation is maintained to a high standard, at full occupancy and that appropriate fees are collected;
• lead and manage the Accommodation budget; and
• manage and develop IT systems to ensure relevant and up-to-date accommodation data are maintained and are accessible as appropriate.

The successful candidate must have exceptional written and verbal communication skills. The candidate will be educated to degree level or have appropriate experience and be able to influence a range of senior stakeholders (some with differing requirements) whilst also building relationships. The candidate may have experience of facilities management or property management, or may have worked in the hospitality sector; experience could have been gained within an academic or institutional setting. The candidate must have strong organisational skills, experience of line-management and managing risks and budgets.  A strong proficiency in Microsoft Office/other relevant software applications is highly desirable.

Trinity College prides itself on being a friendly employer which offers competitive rates of pay and terms and conditions. In addition to offering 25 days of holiday (plus 8 public holidays) a year, the College offers free lunch when working on site, a generous pension scheme, private family health care, a cycle-to-work scheme (tax-free benefit) and a variety of health and social activities.

Salary: £59,000 per annum, plus additional benefits.

For further details and application form, please click on the links below.

Applicants should complete the College application form setting out why they have applied for this role, with specific examples of how they meet the requirements of the post, and must submit a curriculum vitae.

If you are interested in this role and wish to discuss further, please call Monika Frackiewicz – PA to the Junior Bursar on 01223 338489.

Completed application forms should be returned by Wednesday 25 September 2024 to jobvacancies@trin.cam.ac.uk.