Education Support Administrator - College of Arts and Law - 7102 - Grade 4 in Birmingham

Position Details

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £27,166 to £28,768, with potential progression once in post to £32,145

Grade: 4

2 positions available: 1 full-time permanent; 1 full-time fixed-term contract (until March 2028)

Closing date: 23 February 2026

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

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.

Job context

In the College of Arts and Law we explore what it means to be human. We champion the vital role of culture, history, ethics and law in tackling the world’s biggest problems through our interdisciplinary courses, research, industry partnerships and global collaborations.

At the University of Birmingham, students are at the heart of everything we do. As part of our team, you will develop a wide range of technical and administrative skills and may also have the opportunity to take the lead on specific tasks.

You will join a professional services team that is passionate about delivering excellent administrative support to both students and staff. While duties may vary between teams, you will have the chance to be involved in all aspects of the administrative work that supports the delivery of our taught and research programmes. This may include providing timely and accurate support for activities such as student recruitment and admissions, welcome and induction events, timetabling, examinations, student progression, placements, and graduation.

Role Summary

To provide proactive administrative support in the relevant department, working as part of a team or on own initiative. You will have the ability to manage your work without needing to refer to others for most of your time. In order to flexibly use resources you may be given the opportunity to work in different areas of the department or wider University.

Main Duties

• Act as the first point of contact providing relevant and timely information to students, staff and external providers, answering queries promptly and handling any issues from initial contact to resolution.
• Provide administrative support for a wide range of activities in delivering the annual cycle of teaching and learning.
• Regularly communicate relevant information to students, staff and external providers.
• Provide administrative support for event planning and delivery which enhances the curriculum and student experience.
• Use a variety of complex University systems and processes to collate, manipulate and interpret sets of data, and produce routine reports.
• Contribute to the annual programme/module review and evaluation processes.
• Contribute to periodic reviews of administrative processes and procedures with the objective of making improvements and sharing best practice across other areas within the wider University.
• Provide a professional secretarial service to relevant committees and meetings where required.
• Support equality and values diversity, moderating own behaviour to avoid unfair discriminatory impact or bias on others.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

You will need to evidence:

• Some professional experience in similar roles; and GCSEs to a minimum of grade C/4 in English and Mathematics (or equivalent qualifications).

You will be:

• Comfortable in a role where you take responsibility for specific tasks, where you can carry out duties without needing to refer to others, and where you have some scope for choice and using your own judgment.
• Comfortable with working largely on your own initiative, although supervision is available.
• Encouraged to contribute to improving processes and to propose new ways of working.
• Able to communicate clearly and effectively with others, and delegate straightforward duties where appropriate.
• Well organised with the ability to prioritise work proactively, independently and as part of a team.

In addition to the above, you should be able to demonstrate and/or evidence the following:

• The ability to work to tight deadlines in a collaborative team environment.
• The ability to support other team members.
• A good understanding of how to deliver excellent customer service.
• The ability to interact with individuals at all levels of internal and external organisations.
• Experience of using and maintaining complex work systems e.g. student databases/record systems or equivalent, and an aptitude for learning new IT packages and systems.
• Exemplary attention to detail and the ability to work confidentially, use judgement and make appropriate decisions within the constraints of the role.
• Experience of supporting committees in a secretarial capacity.
• The ability to cope with change in a fast moving, dynamic environment where change is often required immediately.
• An understanding of the importance of equality and diversity in the workplace.
• The ability to identify and respond to equality and diversity issues in line with relevant policies and procedures.

Dimensions

You will not be required to line manage anyone in this role or manage a budget.

Planning and Organising

You will be required to manage and prioritise a varied workload to deliver within required time frames.

Problem Solving and decision making

You will be working under the direction of a senior manager, but with some autonomy to deliver the outputs required. You will be working within the framework of existing policies, processes and procedures for the University and the College.

Internal and External relationships

This role will be liaising with internal colleagues and stakeholders, and possibly external stakeholders as well with an expectation on maintaining good working relationships with all.

Informal enquiries to Joshua Nash, email: j.v.nash@bham.ac.uk