Job Description
Estates Support Assistant
Application Deadline: 30 June 2026
Department: Estates
Employment Type: Full Time
Location: Wigan & Leigh College
Compensation: £26,070 - £26,997 / year
37 Hours per Week, Permanent
Keep requests moving. Keep people informed. Help the college work every day.
When something needs repairing, arranging or following up, people need to know that their request has reached the right place.
As our Estates Support Assistant, you’ll be one of the first points of contact for the Estates service. You’ll receive requests from staff and students, record the right information and help make sure work is allocated, tracked and followed through.
You’ll support a service that keeps buildings, facilities and college activity running across our sites. Some requests will be routine. Others will be urgent or affect teaching, safety or the student experience. You’ll ask the right questions, recognise when something needs escalating and give customers clear updates about what is happening next.
The role is much broader than answering the phone. You’ll arrange contractor visits and maintenance appointments, maintain records, raise purchase orders and help prepare reports showing demand, performance and overdue work.
This role suits someone who enjoys organisation, customer service and keeping hold of the detail. You’ll need to stay calm when several requests arrive at once, communicate clearly and take satisfaction from turning an unclear problem into a well-managed response.
What you’ll do
- Receive estates requests by telephone, email and the help-desk system.
- Ask the right questions and record clear, accurate information.
- Identify urgency and allocate or escalate requests in line with agreed priorities.
- Keep customers informed and follow work through to completion and closure.
- Support effective help-desk cover during busy periods.
- Arrange contractor visits, maintenance appointments and access to college sites.
- Maintain accurate contractor, compliance, maintenance, vehicle and service records.
- Raise purchase orders and support routine invoice and budget administration.
- Update trackers and check records for missing, inaccurate or overdue information.
- Produce routine reports and management information from estates and help-desk systems.
- Help prepare service updates, performance information and key measures.
- Support meetings by preparing papers, recording actions or taking minutes where required.
- Work with the wider estates team and contractors to make sure information reaches the right people.
- Support college events, enrolment, examinations and other activity when needed.
What you’ll bring
- Recent experience in administration, customer service, help-desk support or service coordination.
- Level 2 English and maths, or willingness to achieve these within an agreed timeframe.
- Good working knowledge of Microsoft 365, including Outlook, Word and Excel.
- Experience maintaining electronic records and producing routine information or reports.
- Accurate data-entry, record-keeping and written communication skills.
- The ability to organise competing requests and meet deadlines.
- Confidence speaking with customers by telephone, email and face to face.
- The judgement to recognise urgent issues and escalate them appropriately.
- The confidence to learn estates, finance and workflow systems.
- A Level 2 or Level 3 qualification in administration, customer service or IT would be helpful.
What you’re like
- Helpful. You make it easy for people to explain what they need and understand what happens next.
- Accurate. You enter information carefully and keep records dependable.
- Organised. You manage several requests without losing track of actions or deadlines.
- Calm. You remain professional when customers are frustrated or work is urgent.
- Proactive. You chase missing information and prevent avoidable delays.
- Clear. You communicate updates in a straightforward and useful way.
- Team-minded. You share information and help the wider Estates service succeed.
Essentials
- You’ll need an enhanced DBS check. If you get the job, we’ll do this for you.
- You’re committed to safeguarding and inclusion.
- You can travel across our college sites when required.
- You’re flexible and happy to work beyond standard office hours when college activity requires it.
- You’re willing to complete first-aid, fire-safety or other role-related training.
Why work with us
The Estates service touches almost every part of college life.
A classroom needs attention before the next lesson. A contractor needs access to complete essential work. A colleague needs an update before they can plan what happens next. Good administration helps all of that move smoothly.
At Wigan & Leigh College, you’ll be part of the team that keeps those connections working. You’ll help colleagues understand what is happening with their request, give the operational team reliable information and make sure important actions remain visible.
You’ll work across a varied service, so no two days will feel exactly the same. You’ll build experience in help-desk coordination, customer service, estates administration, finance processes and performance reporting.
Most importantly, you’ll see the practical impact of your work. Every accurate record, useful update and well-managed request helps create a safe, welcoming and effective environment for students and staff.
T ime to recharge
- Generous annual leave entitlement, including bank holidays, depending on your role
- Family-friendly leave policies
Wellbeing as well as work
- 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme
- Medicash healthcare plan
- Occupational health support
- Confidential counselling
- Specsavers eye test vouchers
- A culture where people look out for each other
Financial peace of mind
- Local Government Pension Scheme
- Salary sacrifice schemes, including Cycle to Work and buy tech
- Railcard and Tusker Green Car Scheme
- Local and national discount schemes
Clear progression routes
- Ongoing professional development
- Opportunities to build experience across estates, compliance and service coordination
- Opportunities to step up, specialise or move across college services
- Leadership pathways
Please complete our application form in full. We can’t accept CVs.
Estates Support Assistant. Apply now.
