School Office Manager

Location: Southwark

School Type: Secondary School & Sixth Form (Co-educational)

An ambitious, vibrant, and forward-thinking secondary school in the heart of Southwark is seeking an organized, proactive, and articulate School Office Manager to lead their busy administrative hub. This is a crucial leadership support role for a seasoned administrator, operational lead, or senior school receptionist looking to step up and drive administrative excellence in a thriving educational community.

About the Role

As the School Office Manager, you will serve as the central operational engine of the school, ensuring administrative processes, front-of-house services, and daily communications run smoothly and professionally. Managing a dedicated team of administrative staff, receptionists, and attendance officers, you will work closely with the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) to maintain high standards of efficiency, compliance, and customer service for parents, visitors, and staff alike.

• Start Date: Immediate or upcoming term

• Environment: A modern, fast-paced community secondary school focused on high standards, warm hospitality, and streamlined operations

• Culture: A collaborative, high-trust, and welcoming workplace supported by an approachable leadership team and a hard-working administrative group

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee and streamline daily office operations, front-desk reception, and administrative workflow across the school.

• Line-manage, train, and deploy administrative and receptionist staff, ensuring a polite, professional, and welcoming service for all stakeholders.

• Manage central communication channels, including parent correspondence, incoming queries, newsletters, and management information system (MIS) communications (e.g., SIMS, Arbor).

• Support school leadership with key administrative tasks, governor reporting, event coordination (open evenings, parent-teacher conferences), and admissions administration.

• Maintain rigorous office records, GDPR compliance, safeguarding sign-in procedures, single central record (SCR) upkeep, and basic reprographics management.

• Oversee office stock ordering, stationery budgets, and petty cash administration in liaison with the Finance & Business Manager.

Requirements

• Proven background in office management, senior administration, or team supervision, ideally within a secondary school, college, or fast-paced public sector environment.

• Strong proficiency with Management Information Systems (e.g., SIMS, Arbor, Bromcom) alongside Advanced Microsoft Office / Google Workspace capabilities.

• Exceptional interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills, with a welcoming yet firm professional boundary.

• Outstanding organizational abilities, with a calm, resourceful approach to managing competing priorities in a busy environment.

• Thorough knowledge of safeguarding protocols, child protection, and data privacy (GDPR) standards within a school context.

Salary & Benefits

• Pay Scale: Inner London support staff pay scale (commensurate with management experience and qualifications).

• Continuous professional development (CPD), line-management training, access to local government pension schemes, and a generous term-time-plus working schedule.

How to Apply

If you are an organized, warm, and efficiency-driven administrative professional ready to lead the engine room of a top Southwark school, we would love to hear from you. Please submit your application as soon as possible for consideration.