We're Hiring!

The Residence Life Team is looking for dedicated, caring and enthusiastic individuals to join our team. Are you interested in developing your leadership skills, providing guidance and support to students while they transition to university life, and having a positive impact on the residence community? Then become a Residence Life Assistant!

Residence Life Assistants are full-time students whose role is to ensure the needs of their students are being met. Residence Life Assistants build community, and provide frontline support to students living in residence. They create a safe and positive environment for students by building relationships, promoting responsible behaviour, and providing guidance and support to students. Residence Life Assistant act as a responsible presence in residence overnight and on weekends. Students can speak to their Residence Life Assistant on any issues affecting their wellbeing – homesickness, a noisy neighbour, and problems with their flatmates or any other concerns.

There is a Residence Life Assistant on duty every weekday evening and 24 hours at weekends/University closed days during term-time, so there's always someone students in the residence can call on for support or advice.

Learn a bit about Residence Life Here

Applications are now open!

Applications to be a Residence Life Assistant for the 2024/25 academic year open on November 25 2024. If you’d like to apply to become a Residence Life Assistant please complete this application form .

Our Hiring Timeline

• Applications open on November 25 2024 and close on January 31 2025
• Interview offer will be sent out by 07 February 025
• Interviews will take place in person on 15 FEBRUARY 2025
• Offers & Placements will be sent out to successful candidates on 21 February 2025
• Meet your RLA team in March
• Onboarding training sessions in April

What's involved

You'll work as part of a team with three or four other Residence Life Assistants in your residence. You take it in turns to provide a responsible student presence during evenings and weekends.

You act as a link between the Residence Life Warden(s), residence office staff and students.

Some of the role responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• responding to any calls received from the RLA duty mobile
• welcoming students at intake weekend and running freshers events
• helping new residents settle in
• offering help and advice to residents, in some cases signposting them to professional support services
• dealing with noise complaints
• admitting locked-out students or new arrivals to their rooms
• visiting flats on a regular basis
• conducting welfare checks on students
• attending and providing support at social events organized by the Residence Life Social Committee

A full copy of the role description can be downloaded here:

Working Hours

Each residence operates a rota and you’d be on duty for at least one day in every four. A weekday rota starts at 6pm and finishes at 8am the following morning. A weekend rota starts at 8am and finishes at 8am the following morning.

Each day/night involves periods of being “on duty” -when you are carrying out designated tasks, and periods of being “on call” - when you are available to respond to any calls you receive.When you’re on call you are free to carry on with your studies or sleep as normal until you receive a call. You should stay on site or not more than 10 minutes’ walk away. You need to keep the duty mobile phone with you at all times so you can deal with any issues.

Skills and experience

The Residence Life Assistant position is open to any full time registered undergraduate or postgraduate students at the University of Leeds with a mature outlook, who have:

at least 6 months’ experience of living in halls type accommodation (not necessarily in the UK)

• at least 6 months experience of living in halls type accommodation (not necessarily in the UK)
• a willingness to participate in the community life of the residence
• excellent communication skills
• the ability to handle disciplinary or welfare issues responsibly
• good problem solving skills
• the ability to work well independently and as part of a team
• the ability to use your own judgement and initiative to make decisions
• a willingness to reside in your allocated accommodation until the end of the appointment period (except for limited unavoidable absences)
• an understanding of the needs of student residents in University accommodation

Training

All Residence Life Assistants recruited before September receive a comprehensive training package, including fire safety training, first aid training, student mental health issues, typical Residence Life Assistant scenarios, and more.

Training is a compulsory requirement of the Residence Life Assistant role and will  take place from Monday 1 September 2025 to Friday 5 September 2025. If you are not able to make these dates, we would recommend that you do not apply for this role as due to the intensity of training we are unable to reschedule this.

Residence Life Assistant accommodation

To be an effective Residence Life Assistant you must live in the residence. This is why we provide you with free accommodation while you are an RLA.

We can’t tell you exactly what kind of accommodation you will get, as all of our residences are different and you may be placed at any of our Residence sites. Residence Life Assistants do not live together in a single flat but are instead spread around the residence, living amongst other, typically first year, residents. All rooms are single occupancy, meaning that we cannot offer RLA accommodation to couples or families.