JOB DESCRIPTION
JOB TITLE
Helpdesk Assistant
FACULTY &
IT Services (ITS)
SCHOOL/DEPARTMENT
REPORTS TO
ITS User Support Manager
POST REFERENCE
10221
GRADE
5
DATE May 2009
Birkbeck is a world-class institution, a vibrant centre of academic engagement and
excellence and the UK’s leading provider of part-time, evening education for mature
students. There are nearly 19,000 students studying short courses, certificates,
diplomas, first degrees, postgraduate taught and postgraduate research degrees.
Birkbeck provides Londoners with the unique opportunity to fit study around their
busy lives. Founded in 1823 as the London Mechanics’ Institute, Birkbeck was
incorporated in the University of London in 1920.
Central Computing Services (ITS)
ITS provide general IT and telecommunication facilities in support of the College’s
teaching, research and administrative activities.
ITS facilities and services include:
 An extensive campus network to all departments providing high speed
networking connections to SuperJANET (Joint Academic NETwork) and the
Internet;
 Maintenance and development of the College telecommunications
infrastructure;
 Remote access to College computing facilities (Virtual Private Network);
 Electronic Mail (Exchange/Outlook and Webmail) and World Wide Web services;
 Networked data storage and backup facilities;
 Scanning and network laser printing;
 Centrally provided teaching facilities: 180 high-spec PCs located in eight
‘workstation' rooms providing a range of application software under MS
Windows XP (including word-processing, spreadsheet, database management,
statistical analysis, graphics, and programming languages).
 Promotion and support of learning technology (including central support for the
Blackboard learning management system);
 A help-desk with extended opening hours for general computing queries;
 Specialist advice and consultancy to departments and individual users;
 Training workshops on core software packages;
 Computer-based training packages, technical documentation and newsletters;
 Software purchases at discounted rates (inc site licences for Microsoft and
Oracle);
 Maintenance and development of College MIS Applications;
 Managed IT support service for some Schools;
 Technical support of staff desktops, administrative servers and office software
in use within the Central Administration Departments.
The organisational structure of ITS consists of five support teams covering the
following areas: Systems & Networking, Management Information Systems, Web
Services, User Support (Reception & Helpdesk and Learning Technology). There is
close liaison between staff from the various teams.
For further information about ITS services and facilities, please refer to:
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/its
ITS Reception / Helpdesk
This is currently staffed from 10 am to 8 p.m. during term time and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
during vacations by a complement of three staff. The team provide users with a
primary point of contact for enquiries regarding ITS staff and services. They are able
to answer most user queries and provide first-line technical support or direct users to
appropriate specialist ITS staff. Their responsibilities include registering users,
dealing with workstation room bookings, maintaining and supplying up-to-date ITS
documentation, selling consumables, and maintaining centralised records for
equipment, ITS finances and software licenses. The team also provides general
administrative support to all ITS staff.
The ITS Helpdesk service is available for use by all College staff and students. During
peak-demand times (e.g. term-time evenings) and at other times of the day when
Reception Staff are not available due to leave or sickness, the Helpdesk is additionally
staffed by technical support staff from the Learning Technology team. The ITS
Helpdesk works closely with other student support services such as the Library. The
location of the ITS Helpdesk is planned to move to the Ground Floor of the Malet
Street Building to join the other student facing support services. As a consequence of
this move, the opening hours and operational procedures are being reviewed.
The Helpdesk Assistant (now being recruited) will complement the duties of the
existing two members of the Reception Team. This is a permanent (replacement)
post and the hours of work will normally be 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. during vacations. During
term-time there are two shifts, 10 am – 6pm and 12 a.m. - 8 p.m, these shifts are
shared and the post holder would alternate the shift each week. Teamwork and
flexibility (e.g. regarding annual leave and lunch breaks) among the members of the
Reception Team is essential to ensure the advertised opening times of the Reception
can be maintained.
Main Duties of the Jobholder
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Act as the first point of contact for enquires to the ITS Reception (these could be in
person, by telephone, fax or email).
Provide first-line support, help and advice to users on general computing facilities
maintained by ITS. Where necessary, direct queries to the appropriate ITS technical
support staff.
Become familiar and utilise various administration systems, including user
registration, query logging, and printer-recharging.
Sell consumables (e.g. CDs and USB memory keys) and deal with requests for use
of site-licensed software.
Provide general administrative support for ITS staff (dealing with telephone
messages, collecting and distributing post, photocopying, maintaining distribution
lists, distributing / updating notices, documentation of procedures, etc).
Update ITS web pages.
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Undertake daily cashier duties for the ITS till.
Maintain ITS User Accounts, including account registration for starting staff, account
suspension of leaving staff and general management of ITS Temporary Accounts
Maintain and provide up-to-date copies of ITS documentation.
Keep up-to-date with developments in IT within ITS.
Undertake administration of bookings for Workstation Rooms and ITS workshops.
Responsible for the administration of ITS purchase orders (normally processed
through the bluQube Financial System).
Undertake internal recharging of ITS expenditure to appropriate cost centres.
Recording and banking into Finance Office of all money directly paid to ITS.
Dealing with queries relating to ITS purchase orders and payment of supplier
invoices.
Undertake any other appropriate duties as directed by the User Support manager or
other members of the ITS management team.
General Responsibilities
These are standard to all Birkbeck Job Descriptions
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To adhere to the College’s Equal Opportunities policy in all activities, and to
actively promote equality of opportunity wherever possible.
To be responsible for your own health and safety and that of your colleagues, in
accordance with the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) and relevant EC
directives.
To work in accordance with the Data Protection Act and to ensure that all new
systems are reported to your Data Protection Controller.
To undertake such other duties as may be reasonably expected.
To provide a healthy and comfortable working environment, smoking is prohibited
throughout the College, except in specially designated areas.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Job Title: Helpdesk Assistant
Post No: 10221
Faculty and Dept/School: IT Services
ATTRIBUTES
Knowledge
Technical/Work-based
Skills
ESSENTIAL
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General
Skills/Attributes
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Experience
An understanding of general office administration.
An understanding of first line IT support within a Service
Environment.
An understanding of financial order processing
Good general ICT skills, including MS Office applications,
electronic mail (Outlook preferred), Windows desktop
(2007 preferred), web browsers.
Experience of PC based finance systems (bluQube
preferred)
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An awareness of IT support issues and
applications in use within Higher Education
institutions.
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Web authoring
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Webmail
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PC hardware and networking
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Desktop computing troubleshooting
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Experience of Virtual Learning Environments
(Blackboard preferred)
Good organisational and problem solving skills.
Punctuality and reliability.
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (written
and verbal) with a patient and calm manner in dealing
with user enquiries.
Ability to communicate effectively with staff and students
whose IT knowledge ranges from that of a novice to the
expert
Willingness to work in a flexible team environment.
Customer focussed.
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Ability to recognise potential deficiencies with
administrative procedures and suggest
improvements.
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Ability to document administrative
procedures.
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Experience of working in a
helpdesk/computer support role, preferably in
a diverse organisation.
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Enthusiastic and proactive attitude to meeting user IT
support requirements.
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Ability to handle a constantly changing volume of work,
to be able to prioritise and multitask effectively during
busy times and to remain productive during slower times.
Interest and willingness to develop knowledge of IT.
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DESIRABLE
Significant experience of undertaking general
administrative work.
Qualifications
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Some experience of processing orders
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Experience of a call-logging/helpdesk system.
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Experience of working in a customer services
environment.
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Experience of working to Service Levels.
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Experience of working in Higher Education.
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Degree or equivalent.
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Any customer service or computing
qualifications (e.g. ECDL).
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Cashier experience.
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5 GCSE / O level or equivalent passes (including English
and Mathematics).
Further Particulars and Information on the post
POST TITLE
Helpdesk Assistant
POST REFERENCE
10221
SALARY:
Salary range £22,765 to £26,391 plus £2,907 London
Allowance on Grade 5 Scale, depending on
qualifications and experience.
DURATION OF POST:
Permanent.
HOURS:
35 hours per week:
10 am to 6 pm (inclusive of lunch breaks) Mondays Fridays during vacations (under review)
Shift work Mondays - Fridays during term-time
(alternating):
 10 am to 6 pm (inclusive of lunch breaks)
 12 to 8 pm (inclusive of lunch breaks)
LEAVE ENTITLEMENT:
25 days per year, plus an additional 6 days when the
College is closed over Christmas and Easter. This is in
addition to public holidays. Annual leave is taken with
the agreement of the line manager.
SUPERANNUATION:
The normal retirement age for administrative staff is 65.
The post is superannuable under the SAUL
(Superannuation Arrangements for the University of
London). This is a final salary scheme, and is often
substantially more beneficial to the employee than a
“money-purchase” scheme.
START DATE:
June 2009
CLOSING DATE:
26 May 2009
INTERVIEW DATE:
11 June 2009