Contract type:       Permanent (Subject to a probationary period of 6 months)

Hours:                             22.5 hours p/week (Must be able to work Thursday 9am – 5pm, but remaining 15 hours are flexible, to be agreed with your line manager), including very occasional evening work and weekend work

Salary:                           £25,000 p/annum (pro rata £15,000 p/annum)

Location:                     SIP’s central Bristol office during term time, with flexibility to work from home out of term time

ROLE CONTEXT  

SIP offers a number of courses in psychoanalytic thinking and applications as standalone courses and British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC) accredited clinical trainings in Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Psychotherapy.

At any one time there are between 45 - 60 individuals from a variety of professional backgrounds following our training programmes. Our seminars are led by a wide variety of up to 25 experienced Psychoanalytical and Psychodynamic Psychotherapists who are all members of SIP (or other BPC Member Institutes) delivering the programmes on a freelance basis around their clinical commitments. This gives our student body the opportunity to interact with a wide range of experienced therapists during their training.

Although our student numbers are small, their individual learning pathways are specific to them and, as a result, the role of the Training Administrator needs to support a reasonable amount of complexity in assisting the curriculum to be delivered each year to a student body who may spend several years working with us as part of their overall experience and training to qualify as a psychotherapist, whilst many of them manage a ‘day-job’ too.

Training is delivered at SIP in three ten-week blocks each year, which are split into five- week segments either side of the Bristol schools’ three designated half-term holidays, and delivered on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoon/evenings. The period between February and July is the busiest time of the year in this role as one academic year comes to an end and recruitment starts for the next one. The Training Administrator will have many ‘open loops’ during this part of their working year, where they will need to manage different priorities and effective task switching between different activities, students, and members of SIP during one working day. In essence, this is a post done in non-standard working hours supporting others also working non- standard hours following an academic calendar.

Purpose of the Post:   

• To provide overall administrative support for SIP's training programmes and trainees, students, and participants.
• To work with other staff members to ensure the smooth running of the organisation.
• The Training Administrator is managed by the Head of Training, and may also be tasked by the Training sub-Committee Leads (in agreement with HoTE) on aspects of training delivery and assessment.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Supporting SIP’s trainees, student, and participants

• Preparing and distributing information to new and existing trainees, students, and participants
• Assisting with the induction of new trainees, students, and participants
• Receiving and filing written work from trainees, supervisors’, and examiners reports
• Ensuring trainee and student files are kept up to date
• Requesting forms and reports from supervisors, seminar leaders, and personal tutors for mid-term and annual reviews
• Ensuring relevant training personnel have access to written work and reports received
• Being a point of contact for trainees, students, and participants with questions about submission of written work, seminar timings, and reading lists
• Working with the Head of Training & Education to ensure SIP’s Training Handbooks are accurate and up to date
• Working with SIP’s Office & Operations Manager to ensure trainee and student journal subscriptions are set up and maintained
• Working with SIP’s librarians to ensure SIP’s library is able to make core texts available to students and trainees

Supporting seminar leaders

• Administering all aspects of the timetable and ensuring suitable space is booked for seminars and meetings
• Communicating term dates and venues to seminar leaders, trainees, students, and participants
• Assisting seminar leaders in communicating teaching programmes and reading lists to trainees, students, and participants
• Making core texts available to trainees and students where possible, and maintaining copyright licensing records for annual submissions
• Ensuring seminar leader reports and attendance forms are submitted and filed
• Processing seminar leader and personal tutor contracts
• Acting as a point of contact for seminar leaders and personal tutors, directing queries to the Head of Training & Education as required

Processing enquiries and applications for potential clinical trainees, pre-clinical students, and introductory course participants

• Working with the Head of Training & Education to organise SIP’s Open Morning events (usually held in-person each year on Saturday morning in March, with another held online on a weeknight evening in mid-May)
• Liaising with SIP’s Office & Operations Manager, with direction from the Head of Training & Education and sub-Committee and Course Leads, to publicise SIP’s Open Morning events and SIP’s various trainings and courses
• Ensuring all training enquiries received are recorded in SIP’s CRM
• Processing training and course applications, including overseeing the production and accessibility of application forms, requesting references, organising interviews with external interviewers, communicating with applicants on the outcome of applications with the guidance from the Head of Training & Education, and the Training sub-Committee leads
• Working with SIP’s Head of Training & Education and Training sub-Committee Leads to improve application and admissions processes
• As and when present offerings are consolidated, assisting with research into demand for, and development, and delivery of additional non-clinical courses to offer psychoanalytic thinking across a broader programme, to a wider demographic, in line with SIP’s strategic plan and aims and values

Supporting SIP’s Head of Training & Education and Training Committees

• Providing secretarial and general administrative support to the Head of Training & Education, the Training Committee and the Training Sub-committee Leads as required
• Attending and minuting the Training Committee meetings (there are usually 6 meetings per year, held every 7 to 8 weeks on Friday evenings from 5 - 7 PM)
• Assisting the Head of Training & Education and the Finance Manager in developing and monitoring all training budgets

Across SIP

• To hold knowledge of and work within SIP’s Data Protection (including GDPR), Safeguarding, and Equal Opportunities policies
• To undertake any other tasks and responsibilities as may be commensurate with the post
• To act as an alternative point of contact for colleagues whilst on Annual or Sick Leave

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential

• Good communication skills, both written and verbal
• Experience of dealing with students and/or customers
• Good command of Microsoft 365 tools, videoconferencing software (preferably Zoom), and the ability to adapt to new software tools
• Organised and systematic, with an ability to prioritise and to meet deadlines
• Self-motivated, and able to work in a self-reliant manner
• Preparedness to work to SIP’s mission, aims and values
• Awareness of confidentiality and data protection issues in line with GDPR

Desirable

• Experience in working with and supporting working groups such as committees (or similar)
• Experience of working as part of a small team and with those who work in unpaid volunteer roles
• Experience of working in a training-focused organisation
• Understanding of psychotherapy work and terminology
• Some experience of small event management