Placement Administrator - Operations

Professional Services

Student Success

Ayr, Dumfries, Lanarkshire or Paisley

THE POST – REQ000635 - Placement Administrator - Operations (2 posts)

"Unfortunately, this role is not eligible for visa sponsorship in line with Home Office requirements. Applicants will therefore be unable to secure a Skilled Worker visa for this role and will require an alternative source of right to work in the UK."

Please note that the information provided in this advert is correct at the time of writing. The University cannot guarantee sponsorship, and we encourage you to keep up to date with any changes that the Home Office may introduce.

Join UWS at an exciting stage of development as we establish a University-wide Placement Team, underlining our commitment to delivering outstanding placement experiences and ensuring every student can benefit from meaningful opportunities that enhance learning, skills development, and future career prospects.

As the leading InPlace user in Scotland, and one of the most established in the UK, you will be joining UWS at an exciting stage of development as we establish a University-wide Placement Team, underlining our commitment to delivering outstanding placement experiences and ensuring every student can benefit from meaningful opportunities that enhance learning, skills development, and future career prospects.

The post holder will play a key role in supporting the effective administration and coordination of student placements across a range of programmes, working closely with Placement Officers, Placement Coordinators, academic colleagues, students and external partners to ensure high-quality practice learning experiences that meet regulatory, professional body and programme requirements. The role will provide comprehensive administrative support across all placement activities, including maintaining accurate student and placement information within the University’s InPlace system, supporting placement allocations, occupational health and PVG processes, managing student records, interruptions and recommencements, responding to placement-related enquiries, producing reports, and coordinating placement documentation, uniforms and student resources. The post holder will build and maintain positive relationships with health boards, local authorities and employer partners, while ensuring all processes comply with University regulations, quality assurance requirements, data protection legislation and established policies and procedures. This is an excellent opportunity for an organised, customer-focused administrator who enjoys working collaboratively in a fast-paced environment and contributing to a positive student experience and student success.

The successful candidate should have the following:

• HNC or equivalent experience.
• Experience of administrative work within an FE, HE or busy office environment.
• Intermediate IT skills, particularly in Word and Excel, email and internet use.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills are essential in order to pass on and receive accurate information to both staff and students.
• Good interpersonal skills, with strong customer focus.
• Ability to work in a busy output driven customer focused environment.
• Ability to deal with a wide range of people and communicate appropriately with a diverse range of service users.

ABOUT US

University of the West of Scotland is a placemaking institution that is proud to be an integral part of its local communities, with a national and international reach: the University has four campuses in Scotland in Ayr, Dumfries, Lanarkshire and Paisley, as well as a campus in London Docklands. UWS has almost 100 international partnerships and its student community comprises more than 100 nationalities.

UWS is committed to providing education opportunities for all, empowering individuals to reach their full potential. The University creates meaningful impact locally, nationally and globally through innovative learning and teaching, pioneering research, and transformative partnerships. UWS is committed to the UNSDGs and was ranked joint 1st in Scotland and joint 4th in the UK for quality education (SDG4); and 1st in the UK and 39th globally for our contribution to decent work and economic growth (SDG8) in the Times Higher Education Sustainability Impact Ratings 2026.

90% of UWS research was classed as world-leading, internationally excellent, or recognised internationally in the REF (Research Excellence Framework) 2021.

Our professional services teams are the backbone of UWS, providing robust and innovative solutions to support the vast range of work across learning and teaching, and research and innovation. You will join a supportive and dedicated team, playing a key role in a range of work that will help drive forward our ambition to deliver world-leading research, and graduates who will design, shape and build a new future.

We offer our staff a caring and supportive environment, across five campuses, and a competitive benefits package which includes:

• 24 days of annual leave, plus a further 12 days for public/university holidays
• An additional days leave on your birthday
• Defined benefit contribution pension scheme (including death in service benefits upon joining the scheme
• A flexible approach to working pattern and work-life balance
• Employee discount scheme across 3,500 retailers
• Fitness facilities across our campuses
• Access to a range of health and wellbeing resources, including occupational health, physiotherapy and access to our Employee Assistance Programme
• Professional, career and research development opportunities.

Closing Date: Monday 26th October 2026 Interview Date: Tuesday 10th November 2026

Please note that the appointment will be made on the first point of the salary scale (unless by exception, where evidence would need to be provided).