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Interview date: 14 or 15 September 2023

Both roles require working on site at our Milton Keynes Library, the part-time role will require a minimum of 1-2 days a week and the full-time role will require a minimum of 2-3 days a week on site. There will be a requirement for additional days where necessary and in response to business needs.

We have two opportunities:

• 21083 - 1 x Part-time (0.5FTE), FTC (up to 31/7/2024)
• 21084 - 1 x Full-time, Permanent

Please state your preference at the top of your statement, when applying.

Change your career, change lives

The Open University is the UK’s largest university, a world leader in flexible part-time education combining a mission to widen access to higher education with research excellence, transforming lives through education.

The multi-award-winning Open University Library underpins the University mission to be open to people, places, methods, and ideas. Our vision is to connect the whole OU Community with world class information, technology and award-winning expertise to facilitate knowledge creation.

The role

Open University Library Assistants play a key role in supporting the Library across a range of business activities. You will be providing frontline Library enquiry services, supporting OU students, staff and visitors in their use of the Library services, content and resources.

The post-holder will provide proactive and efficient administration to support the services delivered by various Library Services teams including the Library’s Student and Academic Services Team, Research Support Team and associated colleagues.

We work in partnership with the whole OU community to support learning, teaching and research, by providing advice and guidance on the access to and use of Library content, resources and services.

Library Assistants are required to be flexible in their role and will often support other areas of Library operation depending upon the needs of the business.

Skills and experience

• Educated to A level standard or equivalent,
• English and Maths at GCSE grade C level or equivalent,
• A proven track record of working in an administrative capacity with a requirement for policy and procedure adherence, demonstrating a high level of accuracy and attention to detail,
• Excellent IT skills, especially Outlook, Excel, Word and PowerPoint
• Confident, professional, and articulate, able to deal with a wide range of internal and external customers,
• Demonstrable experience of providing excellent customer service
• Evidence of strong team working with the ability to work co-operatively, building good relationships and contributing to the team through constructive feedback.

The full summary of duties and skills required for the role can be found within the Job Description.

If you would like to discuss the application or recruitment process before making an application, please contact Jo Beach at Resourcing Hub on 01908 655544 or [email protected] quoting the reference VRF 21083/21084.

What you get in return

We have a strong commitment to providing training and development in and beyond your current role. This includes thorough induction into the organisation and regular reviews of your training and development needs.

We also offer a great range of benefits that support our employees and their families for the long term. Staff Benefits include an attractive pension proposition and 30 days holiday per annum pro rata, plus Bank Holidays and Christmas closure days.

How to apply

Unless otherwise stated in the advert, all applications are completed online via the instructions on The OU Job’s page. Applications submitted via 3rd party websites will not be received.

Access details for disabled applicants are available from the Resourcing Hub, telephone: 01908 655544, quoting the vacancy reference above.

To apply for this role please submit the following as one document:

• CV
• Personal statement, up to 1,000 words, you should set out in your statement why you’re interested in this role and provide examples of where your skills and experience meet the required competencies for this role as detailed in the job and person specification.
• Please state your preference of which role at the top of your Personal Statement.

Please save your document with the following file name as appropriate to the vacancy you are applying for: reference, surname, forename.

You will need to have your documents ready ahead of submitting the electronic application. Please click on the APPLY NOW button below to be redirected to our application page.

for Fixed Term part-time position 21083

for Permanent full-time position 21084

You will receive updates regarding your application from [email protected]. Please ensure this email address is added to your list of trusted senders so it does not go to your junk folder.

You can view your application communications on the Candidate portal.

Find out more about us and our mission by watching this short video (you will be taken to YouTube by clicking this link).

The Open University is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion which is reflected in our mission to be open to people, places, methods and ideas. We aim to foster a diverse and inclusive environment so that all in our OU community can reach their potential. We recognise that different people bring different perspectives, ideas, knowledge, and culture, and that this difference brings great strength. We strive to recruit, retain and develop the careers of a diverse pool of students and staff, and particularly encourage applications from all underrepresented groups. We also aspire to make The Open University a supportive workplace for all through our policies, services and staff networks.