Student Manager: Student Housing and Residence Life

In brief

**Overview** This role is for a Senior Manager of Student Housing and Residence Life at the University of Fort Hare. Reporting to the Executive Director: Student Affairs, the Senior Manager provides institution-wide leadership for student accommodation and residence life across the university's campuses. The position involves overseeing various aspects including fair admissions and allocations, occupancy, residence operations, student development and discipline, private accommodation accreditation and contract management, and the coordination of essential services like maintenance, safety, emergency, and wellbeing. A key focus is ensuring compliance with University policies and DHET Minimum Norms and Standards to provide safe, inclusive, and academically supportive living environments through reliable data and financial controls. **What you will do** * Assure compliance for all university-owned, leased, and accredited private accommodation, covering accessibility, health, hygiene, fire, building, security, and occupational-safety requirements. * Manage the accreditation, contracting, monitoring, and enforcement of service standards for private and off-campus accommodation providers. * Coordinate maintenance and facilities using defined emergency, urgent, and routine response standards and service-level agreements. * Implement fair, transparent, and data-controlled admissions, allocations, and waiting-list processes, ensuring access for specific student groups (first-year, rural, low-income, and disabled students). * Develop and manage risk registers, incident and occupancy dashboards, conduct compliance audits, and produce regular performance, financial, and governance reports. * Oversee student wellbeing, inclusion, emergency support, and referral arrangements within residences. * Develop and implement living-learning, co-curricular, and residence-development programmes to support academic success and graduate attributes. * Engage with various stakeholders including students, residence governance bodies, faculties, service units, private providers, communities, and external agencies. * Provide strategic leadership, governance, policy implementation, and performance management for Student Housing and Residence Life. * Handle financial planning, manage separate residence management accounts, procurement, contract and lease management, and ensure responsible use of housing resources. * Lead, staff, supervise, develop performance, and train residence personnel and student residence leaders. **Requirements (from the original advert)** * **Minimum Requirements:** * Post Graduate qualification in Business Administration or any related field * At least eight years’ working experience * Three years managerial experience in the higher education sector * Full knowledge of ITS and Budgeting * Knowledge of student development theory and best practices in residential life * **Added Advantages:** * A relevant Master's degree at NQF Level 9 in Student Affairs, Higher Education Studies, Business or Public Administration, Facilities or Property Management, Human Settlement, or a closely related field. * Demonstrated knowledge of the DHET Minimum Norms and Standards for Student Housing, relevant health and safety requirements, residence governance and private-accommodation accreditation. * Demonstrated experience using housing, occupancy, financial, contract and incident data for operational control and governance reporting. * At least eight years' relevant experience in student housing, residence life, accommodation operations or a comparable large residential-services environment, including substantial higher-education experience. * At least four years' management experience with responsibility for staff, budgets, accommodation operations, contracts, facilities coordination, student services and risk. * **Competencies as per the University Competency Framework:** * Business Acumen * Change Leadership * Critical Thinking * Partnering * Clear communication, negotiation and stakeholder management **Who should apply** This role is suited for a candidate holding a post-graduate qualification, with a Master's degree in fields such as Student Affairs, Higher Education Studies, Business/Public Administration, or Property Management being an advantage. Applicants should possess at least eight years of working experience, including a minimum of three years in a managerial role within the higher education sector, with four years of management experience preferred, covering staff, budgets, and accommodation operations. Key knowledge areas include ITS, budgeting, student development theory, and best practices in residential life, with a preference for demonstrated knowledge of DHET Minimum Norms and Standards for Student Housing and experience using data for operational control and governance. The ideal candidate will also exhibit competencies in Business Acumen, Change Leadership, Critical Thinking, Partnering, Clear communication, negotiation, and stakeholder management. **Deadline** 11th October, 2026 **Reference** Original posting: https://www.myjobmag.co.za/job/student-manager-student-housing-and-residence-life-university-of-fort-hare Source: myjobmag

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• At least 8 years of experience.

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