Senior Student Retention Coordinator in Birmingham

Department: Student Advice and Community

Location: City Centre Campus/City South Campus

Salary: £32,006 to £35,331 minimum per annum

Post Type: Permanent, Full Time

Release Date: 06 August 2026

Closing Date: 23.59 hours BST on Sunday 23 August 2026

Reference: S126041

About Birmingham City University:

At Birmingham City University, we are a diverse and inclusive learning community of over 31,400 students from more than 120 countries. We aim to become an exemplar anchor institution, creating and sharing knowledge for a better and more inclusive society. We are committed to providing a transformational educational experience, supporting world-class research, and fostering a collaborative and supportive working environment for our staff.

Recognised as one of the UK’s Top 250 employers (Financial Times & Statista), we pride ourselves on being a place where colleagues feel valued, supported, and able to grow their careers while contributing to the success of our students and communities.

Our student demographic reflects the rich cultural and ethnic diversity of Birmingham itself, with a significant proportion of students from minoritised ethnic backgrounds and the majority of our home students coming from the West Midlands. This diversity is a strength, and it calls for a workforce that is equipped to challenge deficit narratives and thinking — those assumptions that position students from under-represented groups as lacking rather than recognising their assets, strengths and potential.

By embracing this perspective, we aim to create an environment where all students and colleagues can thrive, and where our work contributes positively to the social, cultural and economic life of Birmingham and beyond.

Role Summary:

We are seeking two Senior Student Retention Coordinators to join our centralised Student Retention team. These newly created roles offer an exciting opportunity to contribute to the University’s commitment to student experience and success, supporting both Home and International students.

In this role, you will play a key part in supporting student continuation, progression and success through the management of student engagement and retention casework. You will provide specialist case management for students experiencing barriers to engagement, attendance, continuation and progression, using professional judgement to coordinate appropriate interventions and support. Working closely with academic colleagues, professional services teams and specialist support services, you will contribute to effective retention activity, promote consistent practice and support the continuous improvement of student engagement processes.

Key Responsibilities:

• Manage a specialist caseload of complex or high-risk student retention cases including students with persistent non-engagement, repeated absence concerns, withdrawal requests, acting as an escalation point for complex matters.
• Deliver targeted retention activity for identified priority student groups.
• Work collaboratively with academic and professional services colleagues to coordinate student support.
• Provide operational guidance and support to Retention Coordinators, promoting consistent practice across the team.
• Identify emerging trends through data and insight, contributing to the continuous improvement of student retention processes.

We welcome applications from candidates both within and outside of Higher Education. Whether your experience has been gained in a university or another student or customer-facing environment, you’ll bring the ability to manage sensitive casework, exercise sound professional judgement and work collaboratively to achieve positive outcomes.

Essential Requirements:

• Experience of managing sensitive, complex or high-risk casework requiring professional judgement, discretion and confidentiality.
• Experience of supporting students experiencing barriers to engagement, continuation or progression.
• Experience of using data, systems or records to monitor and track student activity.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and a complex caseload effectively within a busy operational environment.
• Knowledge of student support services and the ability to provide appropriate guidance and signposting.
• Ability to work collaboratively with academic and professional service colleagues to support positive student outcomes.
• Understanding of the importance of student engagement, continuation and progression within the student journey.

Desirable Requirements:

• Experience of using student records systems or attendance monitoring systems.
• Knowledge and understanding of the Higher Education landscape, including TEF, Access and Participation Plans or widening participation priorities.
• Experience of providing guidance, support or operational advice to colleagues within a team environment.
• Understanding of the barriers that can impact student engagement and success in higher education.

If you are excited by the opportunity to help shape the future of student retention and contribute to improving student success at Birmingham City University, we would love to hear from you.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Gurpri Bains at gurpri.bains@bcu.ac.uk.

Why work for us:

• Work-life balance - Generous leave and hybrid working (role dependent).
• Career development - Opportunities to grow, develop and progress your career.
• Reward and wellbeing - Competitive pay, pension, wellbeing support and staff benefits.
• Inclusive culture - A supportive, diverse environment where everyone belongs.

Visa Sponsorship: This role does not meet the minimum salary requirements for Skilled Worker visa sponsorship. We are therefore unable to consider applicants who require sponsorship to work in the UK.

Use of AI in applications: At BCU, we welcome applications that clearly demonstrate how your skills and experience meet the requirements of the role. AI tools may be used to support you in preparing your application, but the information you provide must be accurate, authentic and based on your own experience. Applications that rely too heavily on AI, appear generic or do not provide specific evidence against the role criteria are less likely to progress to the next stage of the recruitment process.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion: 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.

Disability Confident Employer: Birmingham City University is proud to be a Disability Confident Committed Employer. We are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. Disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role will be guaranteed an interview.

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 re-enter the scheme may do so and will be employed directly by the University.