Senior Administrator/PA - College of Medicine and HealthGrade 5

Position Details

Executive Office College of Medicine and Health

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range of 29647 to 31460 with potential progression once in post to 35388.

Grade 5 Permanent Part Time (17.5 hours / 0.5 FTE, 28 hours / 0.8 FTE)

Closing date: 11th May 2025

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 institution. 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.

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 collaboration. 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 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.

Background:

The University of Birmingham is a global institution working within a diverse and vibrant City offering an inspiring education to our students and undertaking critically important research. We are a place of open critical thinking and the creation, sharing and dissemination of knowledge. Professional Services put students at the heart of all they do and enable an exceptional educational experience. They provide outstanding support to our researchers and help the University to grow its influence regionally, nationally and globally.

Role Summary:

As a senior administrator and personal assistant within the College Executive Office, you will provide support for a broad range of administrative duties. You will use your excellent organisational skills and attention to detail to ensure the people you support are well prepared and that the tasks you carry out are completed to a high quality in a timely manner.

Main Duties:

• Undertake complex diary management and meeting planning usually 6-12 months ahead, making decisions on the best use of time.
• Proactive inbox management with confidence to make decisions on behalf of others where appropriate.
• Dealing with a wide range of more complex enquiries and correspondence independently or exercising judgement to redirect them to senior colleagues or other departments within the University.
• If in a supervisory role, you will line manage all staff and take responsibility for coordinating and prioritising the work of others.
• Maintain high profile working relationships with key stakeholders, fielding enquiries and ensuring that appropriate information is disseminated to stakeholders as appropriate.
• Proactive preparation and collation of meeting-related papers, working collaboratively to determine what information might be required in advance of a meeting.
• Arranging complex UK and overseas travel including booking flights, hotels, transfers and organisation and planning of itineraries.
• Organisation of events including booking a venue, sending invitations, arranging refreshments, liaising with speakers, managing bookings, coordination of colleagues, advertising, collating feedback and reporting back.
• Collate, analyse and interpret data, identifying and resolving issues with the data.
• Support the management, development and implementation of operational processes and systems.

Person Specification:

• Educated to A Level standard or equivalent level 3 qualification such as a Level 3 NVQ or level 3 national diploma or relevant experience evidencing the skills and ability to undertake the role.
• Minimum of grade C/4 in Mathematics and English at GCSE or equivalent level 2 qualification.
• Proven ability to plan ahead and anticipate requirements, proactively planning own (and sometimes others) workloads to manage time effectively.
• Highly proficient IT skills, particularly in handling complex electronic diaries and emails, the wider MS Office suite of programmes including Excel and PowerPoint.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills including the ability to write for different audiences and to required deadlines.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and a high degree of professionalism, tact and diplomacy.
• Ability to work effectively in a large complex organisation and to develop a good understanding of how the University and higher education institutions work.

This role will require you to exercise personal initiative within and beyond the department. You may manage a team or budgets. You will deal with the more complex queries and be expected to resolve any problems in your area of responsibility.