Senior Administrator

Job Description

Senior Administrator

Position Purpose: To provide comprehensive, high-quality general administration and
finance support to the College, enabling effective engagement with
external and internal stakeholders, strategic priorities and programmes of
work.

To engage in ongoing development of work request systems/processes and
new ways of performing general administrative work and support
awareness and uptake by managers and staff of self-service and work
request systems.

To provide technical guidance to Administrators on any aspect of the work.

Department: General Administration Team

Location: Wellington

Reports to: College Executive Manager or a Team Lead

Responsible for: Nil

Delegations: Band E

Job Title: Senior Administrator

Key relationships: Internal External
College staff Suppliers
Members of General and Academic External stakeholders
Administration teams Students
Executive Assistants
Service Lines staff

Massey University: We are a world-leading university in many academic disciplines and fields
of research. Our point of difference is research that is connected to
community and industry. Our researchers are developing expertise and
skills to advance human knowledge and understanding. Working together
across disciplines and locations, we solve national and global problems
through fundamental, applied and interdisciplinary research, while
culturally and artistically enriching our world.

We are deeply committed to being a Te Tiriti-led university, demonstrating
authentic leadership in contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand as we uphold
Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the founding document of our nation, and its principles
through our practice. We embrace this not just as an obligation but as a
real opportunity for the nation and its people.

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Our educators are preparing a new generation of global leaders. Our
students are diverse and are attracted to Massey because they want to
achieve their personal goals or make their mark in the world. They
experience world-class learning that recognises their intellectual and
cultural strengths, expands their horizons and prepares them to contribute
to a rapidly transforming world with skills, critical and creative thinking and
leadership.

We will be renowned for our passion and caring attitude. All Massey
campuses will be innovation ecosystems, acting as magnets for smart
enterprises. Wherever we are, we will operate in partnerships founded
on respect, trust and mutual benefit. Massey is not only defined by what
we do, but by how we do it.

About this area Toi Rauwhārangi (College of Creative Arts) has an international reputation
for innovation and creativity across the breath of the Creative Arts.
Disciplines include Design, Fine Art, Commercial Music, Screen and
Mātaranga Toi Māori. At Toi Rauwhārangi creativity isn’t just what we
teach—it’s who we are. As a leading institution for the creative arts,
we’re home to boundary-pushing artists, designers, performers, and
makers. Our community thrives on innovation, imagination, and
expression—and we want our social media to reflect that same energy.

Massey core capabilities

At Massey we are Tiriti-led, upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles through our practice, we:

• Demonstrate awareness of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its contribution to Aotearoa New Zealand

society

• Understand the relevance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in relation to the work of the University and

the people we serve

• Embrace Te Reo in relevant and practical ways in our workplace interactions and engagement

with external stakeholders, giving expression to Tikanga Māori and protocols that
demonstrates that we respect and value Māori conventions in appropriate settings

At Massey we work together with mutual respect and caring. We:

• Act with integrity and trustworthiness and give credit to others for the work they do
• Work cooperatively and inter-dependently to foster and promote the One University approach
• Share knowledge and communicate professionally with courtesy and mutual respect
• Are ethical in all transactions, working within the parameters of our policies and procedures
• Are direct, truthful and maintain confidentiality
• Seek to understand and appreciate our differences
• Are ethical in all transactions, working within the parameters of our policies and procedures
• Are direct, truthful and maintain confidentiality
• Seek to understand and appreciate our differences
• Keep ourselves and others safe; work together to embrace with the University's health, safety

and wellbeing policies, procedures and programmes; display commitment by actively
supporting all safety and wellbeing initiatives: and by actively engaging in health and safety
improvement opportunities

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At Massey we are future-focused, results- oriented and strive for excellence. We:

• Take ownership and responsibility for delivering results to support achievement of University

objectives

• Provide the best quality services to our customers (internal and external) ensuring our

students/ stakeholders are at the heart of everything we do

• Deliver or support world-class research, teaching and learning and citizenship
• Take personal responsibility for our performance, take pride in doing our job well, and commit

Accountabilities

Mix of duties may vary
A Senior Administrator may be required to undertake a range and mix of
administrative tasks to a high level of proficiency and without significant
supervision and may be highly specialised in one or few administrative areas,
commensurate with the needs of the college/service which may change from
time to time.
A Senior Administrator is required to provide technical and professional
guidance and advice to administrative colleagues on all facets of general
administrative work.
Building on the Administrator accountabilities, a Senior Administrator may
undertake a mix of accountability areas, or specialisation to a highly proficient
level, in one or more areas is expected and may be varied during the university
year to reflect work demands, staff changes, staff absences etc including:

A Senior Administrator may be engaged in one or few specific areas, with the
mutual expectation of gaining experience in additional areas over time.

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General • Provide administrative support for the College and its managers and staff
Administration to support them in achieving their objectives, as per agreed service

system for college/unit information and data, in conformance with
university standards

• Organise authorised business travel for staff, students and examiners,

which may include field trips.

• Demonstrate manaakitanga in hosting visitors and directing students to

services as required

• Support successful and compliant organisation of any area events
• Demonstrate excellent customer service through reliable, efficient and

its units and deliver to those standards

Administration • Establish and facilitate smooth process and information flow within the
Management area and with other units within the college

• Translate University/College/Unit processes, standards and ways of

working into operational practice within the assigned area

• Liaise with managers and staff at all levels, to establish and maintain

personal in-depth understanding of the university and area structures,
functions, priorities and practices

• Actively identify areas for process improvement and provide input to

College Executive Manager or Administration Team Lead on priorities for
pan-university development

• Develop comprehensive understandings of key university policies and

business systems and be the local expert on their operation and consistent
application to the area’s processes and procedures

• Co-ordinate area events and meetings in conjunction with leadership

teams

• Establish and manage record-keeping requirements in accordance with

university policies and standards

• Provide absence coverage within the College admin team as required by

the College Executive Manager or Administration Team Lead

• Assist with administration for accreditation and audit programmes and

processes

Relationship • Proactively liaise with assigned team and area to ensure current and future
Management support requirements are understood, raising any resourcing issues with

and networks with relevant staff at all levels of the organisation including

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fostering working relationships with academic and professional staff across
the University

• Maintain awareness of knowledge, skills and capability of administrators

and other general administration team colleagues and provide information
to the Senior Administrator – Team Leader or College Executive Manager
to enable planned capability development of the Administration team

• Proactively liaise with administrative colleagues in other Colleges as

necessary.

• Promote awareness and adoption of new and emergent University-

approved technologies, tools and processes for undertaking administrative
work

Technical Guidance • Maintain awareness, understanding and proficiency in all aspects of
general administration, establishing and maintaining effective relationships
with central service providers and external providers, and providing
technical and professional support to Administrators and other roles in the
administration team.

HR Processes • Proactively identify prospective hiring intentions within assigned work area
and liaise with HR Advisor and Recruitment team in People and Culture to
ensure appropriate approvals, and well planned and resourced recruitment
assignments for upcoming appointments

• Where appropriate, coordinate recruitment process and procedures

through the recruitment system

• Support staffing approval processes from time to time
• Ensure adherence by the area with all people-related processes and

bring-up system for management actions to support adherence to the plan
and engagement with university health and safety compliance practice
within the Office

• Support HSW incident reporting and investigation
• Support HSW Reps and HSW plans / action schedules
• Support and coordinate wellbeing initiatives
• Support input of academic workload data

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• Support and coordinate overseas travel applications; adjunct staff

appointment requests; arrangements for sabbatical or international visitor
appointments

college and articulate the benefits of conformance with university Policy
and Procedure. Be an advocate of new processes and system.

• Assist managers and staff with financial administration, processing

invoices, reconciliation of staff credit cards, electronic internal transfers –
corrections, interdepartmental charges, recoveries and adjustments,
follow-up monthly bad debtors as requested by Accounts Receivable

Project Administration • Support managers and staff with project-based initiatives. Develop project
and Management plans for projects not necessitating a project manager, defining work

Contract coordination • Establish and maintain familiarity with University Contract Management
and management Policy, Procedures, and practices

• For academic and commercial activities, maintain register(s) of contractual

documentation, scheduling bring-up for reviews, monitoring deadlines and
service standards, escalating sub-par contract performance for
intervention by contract owners

• Liaising with Governance and Assurance to maintain central register of

contracts

Research • Provide a consistent point of contact regarding awards and contracts for
Administration/Project college researchers
and Contract • Undertake administration for all aspects of pre and post-award
Management administration for all categories of research income, external, PBRF-

Tender Service) and other research funding opportunities (e.g. Health
Research Council; Marsden)

• Provide information and guidance on funding rules and regulations relating

to research funding awards, including contracts and agreements activities,
and contractual obligations related to Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and
provide College-specific detail for RFPs

• Work with academic staff to ensure understanding of all processes

involved in finding and securing external research income, support their
engagement with Research and Enterprise staff, their understanding of

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project budgets and monitor financial activity and assist with issues arising
in project budgets

• Work collaboratively with the R&E to contribute to the development,

implementation and maintenance of efficient and effective research award
management processes and procedures to ensure timely and detail-
oriented processing of post award administration and other tasks

• Coordinate the effective provision of sound advice, analysis, reports, and

recommendations in relation to grants and contracts management to the
R&E, CEM and other stakeholders

• Participate in internal and/or external audits of awards/contracts by

providing information and documentation as requested and take
appropriate action following audit reviews

• Maintain effective communication, relationships, and networks at an

operational level with external organisations, particularly research funding
organisations and collaborating organisations/partners/clients regarding
contracts, budgets and processes for research activities

• Support research project related activities including raising, approving and

receipting or purchases through TechOne; journals associated with
research projects; providing reports to researchers regarding their
research projects either through TechOne or RIMS; monitoring and
proactively managing the milestones within research projects

Communications • Support maintenance of area SharePoint site(s) within a university
framework and standards

• Plan and manage area events
• Assist with team/area communications and information dissemination; co-

ordinate and support college and area newsletters and communication to
communities as required

• Assist in preparing promotional collateral as required

Management Support • Acting as first point of contact for college senior team members which may
(as required) include (but is not limited to) scheduling, taking phone calls, monitoring,

members (for example respond to, and action work on behalf of, the
Heads of Units as appropriate)

• Handling confidential and sensitive information with discretion
• Manage and prioritise communications received, including scheduling

actions to be taken, replies without intervention when appropriate, drafts
responses and items for consideration and signature

• Identify matters that require urgent action and prepare the groundwork

ready for response. Ensuring matters of risk and important issues are

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effectively flagged and resolved and sensitive information appropriately
handled

• In a timely manner and in advance of commitments, prepare documents

and briefing materials required to enable thorough preparation for
meetings and appointments

• Liaise with appropriate staff for action in the event of a manager’s absence
• Provide pro-active support in meeting deadlines and achieving

the collection, analysis and presentation of key data or information;
leading or contributing to special projects/assignments; editing executive
level documents; preparing and/or drafting non-routine correspondence,
presentations, and papers

Secretariat to • Act as secretary to key formal committees as required. For each,
Committees manage the complex tasks such as:
(as required) o Provide guidance and advice to staff who seek to submit papers or

proposals for the committee meeting
o Prepare meeting agenda and associated paperwork on a timely

and accurate manner
o Set and distribute annual committee meeting timetable
o Undertake urgent actions on behalf of the committee/s as

requested by the Chair/s
o Communicate decisions taken from the meetings and follow up as

required
o Advise Chair/s and committee members on adherence to Terms of

requirements for accuracy, reliability, transparency, and
timeliness, including maintaining practice which reflects the policy
of the University Offices (including retrieval and archiving), privacy
law and the Local Government, Official Information and Meetings
Act

Qualifications and Experience

Qualifications: Higher education qualification (Bachelor’s degree preferred) or equivalent

Experience:  Significant administration experience and the ability to manage
multiple projects/initiatives at the same time

 Experience in servicing formal and complex committees (preferred)
 Experience in the University context (preferred)
 Familiarity with University systems and processes including enterprise

software systems such as TechOne, FlexiPurchase, SharePoint, Power
BI, Rapid, SMS and Orbit (preferred)

 Excellent IT skills using Microsoft Office 365 and Akari Curriculum
Management (as required)

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Experience in business services and process improvement

Capabilities - Behaviour

Communication • Conducts discussions in a respectful manner, that are sincere and fully
Essential expressed

• Develops a clear, complete understanding of needs and problems through

careful listening, probing, reflecting, and summarising

• Delivers written and oral communications that engage audience

participants, respond to their questions and concerns, and produce specific
outcomes and impact

• Communicates in a timely manner using the appropriate style and method
• Able to address broad audiences and stakeholder groups, working with

communication plans and a mix of communication methods
 Able to present information clearly, concisely and logically; varies content,

style and form to suit the subject

Working Together  Establishes and maintains productive working relationships with key

Essential stakeholders internally and externally
 Establishes and maintains credibility and appropriate confidentiality with

stakeholders
 Proactively identifies and addresses potential issues with stakeholders.
 Leverages partnerships to improve the performance of programme or

portfolios and works to resolves conflict and other obstacles to team
performance

Continuous  Implements new systems, procedures and tools efficiently when changes
Transformation occur in the work environment

Essential  Works with agility, adjusting current working processes or adopting new
approaches in response to changes in the organisation environment

 Seeks challenging opportunities or assignments to grow and develop one's
own knowledge, skills and abilities

 Uses digital tools to innovate programme, processes, systems or services.
 Communicates and analyses assumptions about a particular issue with

colleagues to gain new perspectives or more effective solutions

Delivering Results  Maintains focus on critical work and expectations

Essential  Able to track and complete agreed work in planned timeframes
 Takes responsibility for escalating issues that impact on planned work and

outcomes
 Documents how results were obtained to support knowledge transfer and

positives, and proactively seeking out opportunities to get involved

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Capabilities - Technical

Communication • Excellent written and oral communication skills, including strong command
Essential of professional presentation of written documents

• Skilled in minute taking
• Always communicate in a respectful manner

Accuracy and • Describes consequences of errors within own unit or function
Attention to • Processes large quantities of detailed information with high levels of
Detail • accuracy
Essential • Productively balances speed and accuracy

• Implements a variety of cross-checking approaches and mechanisms
• Evaluates and makes contributions to best practices

Digital Skills • Working knowledge and confidence in using core Massey systems
Essential • Demonstrates intermediate to advanced levels of knowledge andexperience in the use of Microsoft Office software

• Uses preferences and other tools to customise computer software /

hardware appropriate for function

• Intermediate experience in the use of SharePoint, can coach others in the

use SharePoint and Teams

• Identifies and resolves common software and usage problems

Office • Identifies common administrative activities and tasks
Administration • Performs all aspects of administrative support
Essential • Manages current equipment service agreements and support services

• Processes and documents requirements for equipment or staff requisitions
• Develops and maintains physical and electronic filing systems
• Coordinates preparation and distribution of standard
• Assists in developing administrative process flow to and from other

functions and units

Calendaring  Explains how to open and browse one's own schedule

Essential  Helps others understand the wide range of functions available with
calendaring software (MS Office)

 Creates multi-level and repeating tasks for self and others.
 Adds notes, attachments or reminders to tasks or appointments for self

and others
 Prints using varied and complex setup, designs and page combinations.
 Manages multiple calendars using features such as 'scheduling assistant’,

‘recurrence’ and adding rooms
 Compares and contrasts functionality among different releases

Document  Identifies major document management categories and functions
Management  Checks documents thoroughly according to standard processes and

Essential procedures
 Follows security and version management guidelines and practices

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Creates, stores, retrieves and archives electronic documents
 Uses software tools and technologies for document management
 Tracks document management's existing issues and best practices

Priority Setting  Describes team or unit priorities and how they relate to roles

Desirable  Demonstrates an expectation that there will be ongoing shifts in demands
and priorities

 Clarifies and handles multiple concurrent and diverse activities
 Addresses potential conflicts that impact current delivery commitments
 Works with or leads others to re-prioritise work and reschedule

commitments as necessary
 Responds to shifting priorities while maintaining progress of regularly

scheduled work

Problem Solving  Describes problem reporting and escalation practices

Desirable  Uses fact-finding techniques and diagnostic tools to identify problems
 Identifies and documents specific problems and resolution alternatives
 Uses initiative to develop alternative techniques for assessing accuracy

and relevance of information
 Helps to analyse risks and benefits of alternative approaches and obtain

decision on resolution
 Examines a specific problem and understands the perspective of each

involved stakeholder

Pre-employment checks

Pre-employment checks:  Requirement to pass a Criminal and Traffic Convictions (Security)

Essential Check performed by the Ministry of Justice

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