Visitor Services Assistant - Reception - Campus Services - 107542S26 - Grade 3 in Birmingham

Winterbourne House and Garden, Campus Services

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £25,977 to £27,506

Grade: 3

Part Time, 0.9 FTE

Fixed Term contract up to December 2026

Closing date: 16th June 2026

This role is also open as an internal secondment opportunity which would need to be agreed by your current line manager.

Immediate start preferred, or ideally by 20th July

Our offer to you

People are at the heart of what we are and do. The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.

We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University.

We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.

Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working.

In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries.

The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.

Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham

Background

Winterbourne House and Garden is an Accredited Museum and Botanic Garden, open to the public 7 days a week, welcoming over 90,000 visitors a year.

Role Summary

Part of the Visitor Services team the post-holder runs the Visitor Reception at Winterbourne House and Garden on a daily basis and occasionally assists in the Shop, welcoming visitors, issuing tickets, selling Membership and providing excellent customer service. The key face on Reception, they are the first point of contact for a wide range of visitors, providing an informed welcome for an exceptional visit whilst also ensuring all internal KPIs are achieved.

Main Duties

• Working in Visitor reception, be familiar with and implement agreed Winterbourne House and Garden Service Standards, projecting a welcoming and friendly presence to all visitors to the site.
• Open the Reception and prepare the house daily for visitors.
• Welcome all visitors to the property, issuing tickets, checking Membership cards etc.
• Actively promote Gift Aid on Entry, Winterbourne Membership and Guidebook sales to achieve budgetary targets.
• Oversee the welcoming of Groups to the property and the facilitation of their planned visit.
• Promote and sell tickets to events.
• Oversee the daily delivery of the Visitor Survey to meet set quotas.
• Work with Visitor Survey and Fundraising volunteers to ensure Survey targets are met and Raffle sales promoted.
• Monitor visitor flow in order to efficiently minimise queues and prevent overcrowding.
• Ensure that the various constraints on visitors, which are essential to the safekeeping of the property and its exhibits, are applied in a sympathetic manner.
• Operate EPOS till/card transaction machines with the appropriate levels of skill and accuracy.
• Acquire a sound knowledge of the House and Garden so as to ensure all visitors receive appropriate welcome and are provided with accurate information.
• Be part of the property First Aid team, providing First Aid to staff and visitors as required.

Administration

• Process Membership and visitor data accurately in the required systems.
• Process the Winterbourne Contacts Mailbox and deal with messages within the appointed time frame.
• Maintain compliance with GDPR for all data by abiding by laid down procedures.
• Record visitor and membership data and compile monthly reports.
• Answering the telephone, transferring calls to the appropriate person in a professional and timely manner.
• Dealing with queries and taking details of the query to escalate where appropriate; this may include dealing with complaints where possible.
• Assist with the accurate daily banking returns to University of Birmingham Accounts.
• Carry out required Health and Safety checks for the Reception and house area and complete associated records, reporting any issues.

You will be expected to treat everyone with dignity and respect, supporting equality and valuing diversity.

Any other duties as may be reasonably required within the grade of role.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Literacy and numeracy skills which may be evidenced by GCSE Maths and English D-G/1-3 or similar level 1 equivalent qualification. Where no equivalent qualification is held, relevant work experience evidencing the skills and ability to undertake the role will normally be required.
• IT skills – Demonstrable competency in the use of Microsoft office programmes especially Excel and Outlook. Previous use of CRM systems would be advantageous. Training will be given on bespoke systems.
• Excellent face to face communication and interpersonal skills.
• Accuracy and attention to detail is essential.
• An ability to organise your own activities within a schedule.
• A customer focussed approach.
• Previous experience of working on a busy reception desk is desirable.
• Ability to learn and understand how diversity considerations affect own area (e.g. dietary requirements/dress code).

Informal enquiries to Tessa Lovell, email: e.t.lovell@bham.ac.uk

View our staff values and behaviours here

Use of AI in applications: We want to understand your genuine interest in the role and for the written elements of your application to accurately reflect your own communication style. Applications that rely too heavily on AI tools can appear generic and lack the detail we need to assess your skills and experience. Such applications will unlikely be progressed to interview.

We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website.