Senior Business Intelligence Developer in Birmingham

Department Planning and Performance

Location: Birmingham, England

Salary: £44,131 to £51,182 per annum

Post Type: Full Time

Release Date: 10 December 2025

Closing Date: 23.59 hours GMT on Friday 16 January 2026

Reference: F125010

The full-time starting salary is normally £44,131 per annum, with progression available in post to £51,182 per annum. Grade: G Full-time Permanent.

About us

Join us as a senior business intelligence developer and help shape the future of data-driven decision making at our University. This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in developing and delivering high-quality data solutions that inform strategy, support performance monitoring, and shape the future of performance reporting in the University.

We have an exciting opening for a senior business intelligence developer within the central Planning and Performance Department. The department is a small, expert department delivering business insights, forecasting, HE policy research and business intelligence to the University Executive Team, as well as to all academic areas of the University. We inform decision making and help the University thrive in the strongly data-driven policy environment of English Higher Education. Our remit includes policy research and impact assessment, regulatory compliance work, student data reporting and insight, planning and forecasting, statutory reporting, performance monitoring, trend analysis, survey analysis, and academic workload allocation.

Role information

The role will report to the Head of Performance and Intelligence who leads a small team within the department that have the responsibility to help design and deliver BI solutions. We manage the sourcing, development, creation and maintenance of data assets and client facing data solutions. These revolve around student data, forming part of a suite of data models that drive performance reporting and data investigations. We deliver these both in support and to service data to our departmental team of analysts and the wider organisation. The role will serve as a technical hands‑on expert and be instrumental in optimising the value of data collected. The role will play a leading part in guiding BI best practices and collaborating with cross‑functional teams to support strategic business objectives.

Main activities and responsibilities:

• Help build and optimise data models and semantic layers for reporting and analytics.
• Help lead on the design and delivery of advanced intelligence reports.
• Support the design, development, optimisation and maintenance of high-quality dashboards, reports, and data visualisations.
• Help develop a governance across the data assets and BI products.
• Collaborate closely with business stakeholders to deliver insights and recommendations.
• Mentor/support developers/analysts in the team, troubleshoot issues and contribute to the continuous improvement of reporting systems and processes.

Person requirements:

• 5+ years of experience in business intelligence, data modelling or data analysis roles.
• Strong SQL skills, including query tuning and data modelling expertise.
• Knowledge of BI tools.
• Solid understanding of data warehousing concepts (star/snowflake schemas).
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving abilities.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to work with non‑technical stakeholders.
• An understanding of and experience of working with HE student data is desirable but not essential.

The appointed candidate will normally be employed through our subsidiary company BCU Support Services Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Birmingham City University. Appointees with prior LGPS membership who wish to enter the LGPS scheme will be able to do so and will be employed by Birmingham City University directly.

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and to an environment that supports lawful free speech and academic freedom. We will continuously review and improve our policies, practices, and procedures to ensure that we are promoting these in all aspects of our operations. We believe that by working together, combining our many different backgrounds and life experiences, we will empower each other to reach our full potential.

Birmingham City University is growing in quality and standing, with an academic STEAM agenda at the heart of our ambitions. We are transforming the lives of students and their communities, and want outstanding people to join us in taking us on the next stage of our exciting journey. Our students learn through doing. They are empowered throughout their educational journey, achieving significant educational gain and personal transformation. There has never been a better time to join us. Come and be part of the next exciting stage of our journey.

ABOUT BIRMINGHAM CITY UNIVERSITY

At the heart of our 2025 Strategy is our mission is to enable our students to transform their lives and to achieve their potential. Through our education and research, and the roles our graduates go on to play in the world, we not only support individuals to transform their lives, but we also play a part in transforming society. Located in the centre of the UK’s second city, we are a university with a long heritage of innovation and of making, dating back to our origins in 1843 when we were founded as the Birmingham Government School of Design. Our heritage of making through innovation and its application through knowledge exchange, and of creative research and practice, today finds it expression in our STEAM agenda, in our research and enterprise, and in our commitment to challenge-based learning. Working across disciplines, and delivering impactful research and enterprise, interdisciplinarity is at the heart of the continuing transformation of our academic portfolio.

OUR STAFF COMMUNITY

Birmingham is home to a rich and diverse range of communities. Our students reflect this rich cultural mix, and we are continuing to work to make sure that this is also reflected in our broader university community. Birmingham City University values the quality and diversity of our staff. Our staff and student community is defined by our core values, which outline who we are as a University and how we work with each other. Our core values are we create opportunity, we think differently, and we build community. We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, continuously reviewing and improving our policies, practices, and procedures to ensure that we are promoting these in all aspects of our operations. We believe that by working together, combining our many different backgrounds and life experiences, we will empower each other to reach our full potential. We hold an Athena SWAN Bronze award in recognition of our commitment to improving employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.

Our University is located in one of the most culturally rich and diverse Cities in the UK, and it is our ambition to be the University for Birmingham and the surrounding region. The events of 2020 have highlighted the stark inequalities that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Communities face and we are committed to removing the institutional barriers that our staff and students face and improve the representation, progression and success of staff and students from all backgrounds within higher education. To demonstrate this, we have signed up to the Race Equality Charter to show our commitment. Birmingham City University has been recognised for its progress on LGBT+ equality with a Gold award in the Stonewall Index and have entered the Top 100 Employers 2023 for LGBT+ inclusion. Meanwhile, we are Disability Confident (Committed) and are on an exciting journey to advance our University to progress through the Disability Confident scheme. We are also a Mindful Employer, which means we are committed to supporting the mental health and well‑being of our staff, and we have also signed up to the Mental Health Charter led by student mental health charity Student Minds. Furthermore, we are signed up to The Technician Commitment - a university and research institution initiative supported by the Science Council and Gatsby Foundation – aiming to ensure visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for technicians working in higher education and research.

WORKING AND LIVING IN BIRMINGHAM

The youngest city in Europe with under-25s accounting for nearly 40% of the population, Birmingham is a city full of energy and enthusiasm and is a great place to live and work. Based in the heart of England, the city is easily accessible by road, rail and air. Birmingham New Street station has recently undergone major redevelopment, while the city is at the heart of the high-speed rail network, HS2. HS2 will provide new rapid rail travel connecting Birmingham City Centre to London and the rest of the network from the new Curzon Street Station – adjacent to Birmingham City University’s City Centre Campus – and will be one of the most environmentally friendly stations in the world.

The city’s appetite for progression is boundless, and it has been championing innovation since the earliest days of the Industrial Revolution, reflected in Birmingham City University’s new STEAMhouse building which opened in October 2022 and is home to an inter-disciplinary community of entrepreneurs, businesses, academic researchers, and students offering a wealth of support to companies of all sizes to boost growth through innovation to address commercial and societal challenges.

Birmingham is brimming with great theatres, museums, the world-famous Birmingham City University Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, as well as beautiful historical buildings and the iconic Library of Birmingham. It also has amazing concert and sporting venues including Edgbaston Cricket ground, which Birmingham City University has a long-standing partnership with. It is also home to the Alexander Stadium, which is the stunning new home for Birmingham City University’s sport courses. The Stadium was one of the main event spaces for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022, which saw the eyes of the world on the city, and Birmingham City University staff and students played pivotal roles - including designing the official medals for winning athletes.

Birmingham’s vibrant dining scene offers something for all tastes, including Michelin star restaurants, Spiceal Street at the Bullring, the Chinese Quarter, and the famous Balti Triangle. The city also provides a great place to shop, being home the Bullring and Grand Central, the luxurious Mailbox Birmingham and the world-famous home of British bling - the Jewellery Quarter, which is home to Birmingham City University’s School of Jewellery. From Harvey Nichols, Selfridges and the beautiful arcades and independents, to the city’s historic markets in Digbeth, the shops in Birmingham offer a plethora of choice.

BCU Values underpin how we work in achieving the ambitions set out in our Strategy and Priorities, and are the principles that unite the way we work together and for our students.