Administrative Assistant

Job Description:

Tumu Tuarua Akoranga | Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic

Located in Ōtautahi | Christchurch, Aotearoa | New Zealand

• Permanent position, 37.5 hours per week

Kia hiwa rā, kia hiwa rā!
He hiahia, he pūkenga nōu ki te mahi a te Administrative Assistant? Nāia te pōwhiri nā Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha kia tono mai i te tūranga nei.

Āu Mahi | What You Will Do
Join a close-knit and highly collaborative Professional and Community Engagement (PACE) team, where your organisational and administrative skills will make a real difference. This role is central to supporting and helping students connect with community partners and ensuring placements run smoothly.

You’ll be involved in:

• maintaining and updating the UC Placements database with accurate student, partner, and placement information
• generating reports to support programme evaluation, planning, and decision-making
• processing and managing partnership agreements, memoranda of understanding, and placement contracts
• coordinating placement documentation including learning agreements, work plans, and evaluation forms
• tracking outstanding paperwork and following up to ensure everything is accurate and complete
• responding to enquiries and coordinating communication between students, academic staff, and placement supervisors
• supporting PACE events, partner orientations, student briefings, and promotional activities.

We are looking for someone who is collaborative, adaptable, and thrives in a busy, high-pressure environment. This is a close-knit team, so being a strong team player is essential. The role is perfect for recent university graduates, people returning to the workforce, or anyone with strong administrative and organisational skills.

Mōu | Who You Are
You are a capable and detail-focused administrator who brings a thoughtful and organised approach to your work.

You bring demonstrated experience in:

• Providing administrative support within a team or service environment, ideally in a tertiary, education, or large organisation
• Maintaining accurate records and working confidently with databases or systems, including updating information and producing reports
• Coordinating documentation such as forms, agreements, contracts, or other compliance-related paperwork with a high level of accuracy
• Managing competing priorities and deadlines, with strong organisational skills and the ability to track multiple workstreams
• Communicating clearly and professionally in writing, including responding to enquiries and coordinating information between stakeholders
• Acting as a first point of contact for students, customers, clients, or external partners, with a strong service-oriented mindset
• Experience in the tertiary sector
• An alignment with our organisation's values and culture, promoting a positive and inclusive work environment.

Mahi Ngātahi | Who You Will Work With
You will work within a dynamic Centre for Employability and Career Development team who advocate for successful ākonga | student outcomes, especially preparing students for their future working lives. The Centre’s goal is to put employability at the heart of every student’s experience.

Ngā Painga o UC | Why UC
At UC, being part of our team means more than just a job. We are committed to supporting our kaimahi | staff’s career and wellbeing with benefits designed to help our kaimahi grow and feel connected, supported and valued.

We offer a range of benefits, for more information, please visit us: https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/about-uc/work-at-uc/benefits-working-uc . (For more information about Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury, please visit https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/ )

The closing date for this position is: Friday 14^th 2026 (midnight, NZ time)
Please note applications will be reviewed after the close date.

Pēhea te tono mai | How You Apply

Applications for this position must be submitted via our careers website and should include a cover letter and resume.

Please note, we do not accept applications by email, however we are happy to answer your queries in relation to the application process, please forward these to [email protected]

You must have Aotearoa New Zealand or Australian citizenship/permanent residency to be considered for this role.

Please note, this is an onsite position.

#LI-DNI