Student Support Specialist (SSO)

About The Role

Student Support Specialist

Location: Cheltenham or London

Please note that all the applicants for this role must be willing to go through SC Clearance.

Your Role

The Student Support Officer (SSO) plays a critical role in delivering an outstanding student experience across funded programmes. Acting as a key point of contact for students, the SSO provides pastoral and administrative support, ensuring students remain engaged, supported, and compliant with programme requirements.

The role requires a strong balance between student centred care and adherence to client contractual frameworks, ensuring that all interactions, interventions, and reporting align with defined standards, policies, and service levels.

The SSO operates within a highly collaborative team environment and supports delivery in a growing and evolving service model.

Key Responsibilities Student Support & Pastoral Care

• Provide proactive and responsive pastoral support in line with agreed frameworks
• Build trusted relationships and provide guidance and reassurance
• Identify students at risk of attrition and apply defined intervention processes
• Handle wellbeing concerns sensitively and professionally

Student Engagement & Community Management

• Engage students via community and digital platforms
• Support cohort engagement using defined approaches
• Monitor engagement and apply established processes to improve retention
• Encourage peer collaboration within structured activities

Programme Compliance & Administration

• Adhere to client rules, funding requirements, and regulatory frameworks
• Maintain accurate records aligned to required processes
• Support audit readiness through compliant documentation
• Contribute to achieving KPIs and SLAs

Stakeholder & Team Collaboration

• Work within a collaborative and supportive team
• Liaise with internal stakeholders to ensure consistency
• Support delivery of student engagement and support activities
• Participate in team meetings and improvement initiatives

Project & Change Contribution

• Support delivery of projects and cyclical events, assisting with coordination and administration rather than leading delivery
• Demonstrate adaptability to changes in tools, processes, and delivery models
• Support rollout of systems, processes, and engagement approaches
• Provide feedback to support ongoing improvements

Events & Travel Requirements

• Support the delivery of programme events, including logistical and administrative preparation
• Contribute to cyclical event delivery throughout the academic or programme calendar
• Willingness to travel up to approximately five times per year
• Travel may include both local attendance and occasional overnight stays
• Role is primarily home-based or Gloucestershire-based with periodic travel requirements

Your Experience

• Experience in student support or customer success roles
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to balance pastoral care with compliance
• Organisation and attention to detail

Desirable

• Experience in regulated or funded environments
• Familiarity with engagement platforms or LMS tools
• Experience in online or blended delivery environments
• Experience supporting events or event administration
• Experience using reporting tools and dashboards, such as Power BI

What We Offer

• 27 days Annual Leave (4 days used for the festive closure) plus Bank Holidays
• Holiday Buying scheme
• Medicash plan, Wellhub, Cycle to Work scheme
• Private Medical Insurance at corporate rates
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Employee Discounts Benefit Hub
• 3 Development days
• 2 Charity days per year
• Pension Scheme
• Early Friday Finish at 4pm

Personal growth

Learning and opportunity is at the core of what we do - and that applies to you too! You'll have the unique opportunity to develop your skills on our QA authored courses in the latest tech (you'll get 3 training days/year to do this). You can also delve deep into our world class digital learning content on a variety of tech and business topics. Or perhaps you'd like to enrol on a degree or masters programme to enhance your skillset or learn new things.

Our people

We are an equal opportunity employer, focused on promoting a welcoming and inclusive environment. We embrace diversity, welcome applications from all candidates and aim to support the career growth of everyone. This means no matter what your gender, age, ethnicity, beliefs, or sexual orientation, or if you are disabled or a carer, we welcome you and the different perspectives you bring to our diverse family. We're proud of the progress we've achieved over the last few years to build an inclusive culture and celebrate our diversity.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we guarantee that all applicants with a disability who meet the role criteria will progress to the next stage of the process. Please let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments.