EF (Education First) Bournemouth International Language Campus is seeking a student-focused Homestay Coordinator to support our international students throughout their homestay experience. This role sits at the heart of the student journey and is heavily focused on customer service, welfare, communication and quality assurance.
Position Details
- September start date
- Full time, fixed-term contract
- 40 hours per week
- Schedule; Monday to Friday
If you are passionate about customer service, student wellbeing, and working with young people from around the world, we encourage you to apply.
Careers at EF | Open the world with us
At EF Education First, we believe the world is better when people strive to understand one another. With 600+ schools and offices in 50 countries, we offer immersive programs in language, travel, cultural exchange, and academics, turning dreams into global opportunities. Join us in our shared mission of opening the world through education.
Working at EF
Career Progression at EF Language
Your Role
You will play a key role in building and managing EF Bournemouth’s homestay community, from recruiting and developing new host families through to supporting students throughout their accommodation experience. You will build strong relationships with hosts, manage student and host expectations, resolve accommodation concerns and coordinate moves where necessary, while ensuring a consistently high-quality homestay experience.
The role also includes quality monitoring through home visits, revisits and welfare checks for under-18 students, alongside ownership of host recruitment targets and KPIs.
Key Responsibilities
Student-Facing Support & Customer Service
- Manage the Homestay customer service desk & act as a primary point of contact for students regarding homestay accommodation queries, concerns, and expectations
- Support students through homestay challenges, including expectation management, conflict resolution, and accommodation moves
- Coordinate student relocations when required, ensuring minimal disruption and clear communication
Host Family Recruitment
- Proactively contact prospective homestay providers by phone or at recruitment events to introduce EF, build relationships, and encourage them to join our homestay community·
- Attend local recruitment events or organize info sessions at community centres to present the benefits of hosting international students·
- Own and manage sales pipeline, from generating leads to following up and converting, hitting key KPIs
Host Family Communication & Support
- Handle inbound and outbound phone calls with host families, providing guidance, reassurance, and issue resolution
- Conduct regular check-in calls with host families to maintain strong relationships and address concerns early
- Support host families in understanding student needs, EF standards, and cultural expectations
Quality Assurance & Welfare
- Carry out new and revisits and quality checks to ensure ongoing compliance with EF requirements
- Conduct under-18 welfare checks in line with safeguarding standards
Administration & Coordination
- Process and maintain accurate accommodation records using EF’s internal systems
- Work closely with the Homestay Manager to ensure sufficient capacity and smooth arrivals and departures, particularly during peak periods
- Respond quickly to urgent or emergency accommodation situations
Requirements
- Strong customer service background, ideally in a student-facing or accommodation-based role
- Confident communicator, comfortable speaking with students and host families in-person, by phone and/or email
- Calm, empathetic, and solution-focused, particularly when managing complaints or sensitive situations
- Highly organised with strong attention to detail
- Culturally sensitive and understanding of the needs of international students living away from home
- Flexible and hands-on approach, including occasional out-of-hours support due to welfare needs
- Competent with Microsoft Office and CRM/database systems (desirable)
- All offers subject to an enhanced DBS check and two references
- Must have the legal right to work in the UK at the commencement of employment
Why you will love working with EF
- Continuous professional development
- Work in a truly international environment
- Regular social events
- 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
- Employee Assistance Program
- Access to EF Hello language learning
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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. #LI-PB1
About UsSkills Required
- Strong customer service background, ideally in a student-facing or accommodation-based role
- Confident in-person, telephone, and email communication with students and host families
- Calm, empathetic, and solution-focused approach to complaints and sensitive situations
- Highly organized with strong attention to detail
- Cultural sensitivity and understanding of international students living away from home
- Flexible and hands-on approach, including occasional out-of-hours support for welfare needs
- Competence with Microsoft Office and CRM/database systems
- Enhanced DBS check
- Two references
- Legal right to work in the UK at commencement of employment
What We Do
A career at EF is something different. You’ll think boldly, own your job, and create a career you are proud of—and have fun doing it. When you join EF, you will join a global community of creative minds, innovators, and change-makers. Since 1965, we've created programs that help people see new places, experience new cultures, and learn about the world and themselves. People are at the heart of everything we do, and it all begins with the talented and collaborative EFers who bring our mission-opening the world through education- to life across 55 countries and counting.
