Homestay Coordinator

Oxford (EF Oxford Brookes Summer School)

Full Time /Fixed Term

EF Education First is seeking a passionate Homestay Coordinator to connect international students with welcoming host families in the Oxford area. In this role, you’ll play a key part in fostering cultural exchange, ensuring a seamless and memorable homestay experience for our students. If you’re eager to create meaningful connections between students and the local community, we’d love to hear from you!

EF’s mission is opening the world through education.

A career with EF combines the support and opportunity of a large international organisation, with the spirit and energy of a small business. We look for thinkers and doers – creative, collaborative, and motivated people who are excited by education, communication, and travel.

When you join EF, you join a multicultural and diverse community working across more than 600 schools and offices in 50 countries. In the UK and Ireland, our core presence is felt at our international language campuses and summer schools, where we welcome students from around the world to participate in language learning and cultural exchange.

Your Role

EF Oxford Summer School has an exciting opportunity to join our Homestay Team, ensuring our international students are well cared for and that a safe and comfortable living environment is provided by our wide range of homestay providers and host families at all times. This is an ideal role for anyone who is passionate about customer service, working with international students and with a strong ability to work independently and take ownership of situations.

Roles run from June/July – August 2025 on a full-time, fixed term basis, with potential for permanent employment post summer.

Responsibilities

• Processing & maintaining homestay accommodation records using the EF’s own accommodation database
• Assigning accommodation to students using internal allocation system and keeping accurate records of rooming allocations
• Ownership of the Summer School (based at Oxford Brookes University) homestay programme during peak season from June until August
• Closing complaints in a timely manner either from students or their hosts and escalating to Homestay Manager where appropriate
• Preparing verbal and written information (mainly via phone call/text/email) to be given to prospective and current hosts, ensuring it is kept up to date
• Providing pre-departure accommodation information to hosts about arriving students
• Reporting to Homestay Manager to ensure there are sufficient homestay beds to accommodate the peak season and helping out with recruitment of new hosts where necessary
• Ensuring student details are provided accurately each week for arriving and departing students
• Providing a high level of customer service to our students and hosts
• Supporting students and host families with move and transfer requests when necessary
• Striving to improve the quality of our homestay provision
• Sharing emergency phone duty on a rota basis

Requirements

• Given the on-call nature of the position, a flexible, hands-on approach to nature & hours of work undertaken is essential
• Familiarity with Microsoft Office and CRMs (desirable)
• Highly motivated, energetic, positive
• Customer service orientated, friendly & approachable manner
• Able to remain calm under pressure & to diffuse potentially difficult situations
• Sensitive to needs of international students living away from home
• Excellent communicator with students, colleagues, and external clients
• Attention to detail, organised & thorough
• All offers are subject to a clear enhanced DBS check and two references
• Legally able to work in the UK at commencement of employment

Why you will love working with EF

• Work in a truly international environment
• Ambition is nurtured and fast-tracked career enhancement opportunities are provided
• Staff are encouraged to innovate, take ownership of their ideas and bring them to fruition
• Global career opportunities
• Pre-summer training
• Access to EF Hello language learning
• This has the option to be a live-in position where accommodation and board is provided in return for residential duties (conditions apply)

EF is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. References will be followed up and will ask specifically whether there is any reason that the applicant should not be engaged in situations where they have responsibility for, or substantial access to, persons under 18. Upon interview all gaps in CVs must be explained satisfactorily and proof of identity and, where applicable, qualifications will be required. Appropriate suitability checks will be required prior to confirmation of appointment.

EF is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and we are committed to inclusion and belonging across race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, identity, parental status, experience, and everything else that makes you unique.