Executive Officer - College of Engineering and Physical Sciences - 99641 - Grade 7

Position Details

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,636 to £46,049 with potential progression once in post to £48,822

Grade: 7

Full Time, Permanent

Closing date: 25th June 2026

Our offer to you

We offer generous benefits including 40 days paid holiday per year, one paid day per year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, a pension scheme and three subsidised day nurseries.

Background

We are recruiting for an Executive Officer to join the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences Hub. This is a challenging but exciting role that would suit a highly motivated individual seeking to develop a successful career in Higher Education management.

Role Summary

The Executive Officer is an important role within the EPS College Hub, line‑managed by the Deputy Director of Operations (Administration). The post involves undertaking a varied range of projects and tasks including leading on College Governance, coordinating support for committee work, preparing briefings, papers and presentations, undertaking research activity, policy development and support, and project management. The successful candidate will be driven, ambitious, highly professional and proactive with excellent communication skills.

Main Duties

• Executive Support
  • Coordination of executive support for the College Academic and Professional Services Senior Leadership Team.
  • Provide general support to College Senior Officers, including research and information gathering, and planning, coordinating and supporting College activity.
  • Support coordination of the annual cycle of business planning activity across the College (e.g., School Planning meetings).
  • Line management of the College Hub Team.
  • Coordinate the College Secretariat to ensure appropriate support to committees, including agenda, report and minute preparation and follow‑up actions arising from meetings.
  • The Executive Officer is responsible for College Board meetings.
• Governance Support
  • Support delivery of projects including planning activity, coordination of actions, managing communications, organising events and workshops, and secretarial support for meetings.
  • Support coordination and maintenance of College / School Business Continuity Plans.
  • Support College processes liaising with Legal Services around Information Security, Freedom of Information requests and compliance with GDPR.
  • Monitor College compliance with mandatory training activity and liaise with Schools on any resulting actions.
  • Support Professional Services People & Culture‑related activity.
• Communications
  • Take a lead role in steering and delivering College internal communications, including events and bulletins.
  • Coordinate College‑level forums and meetings (e.g., Professional Services Town Hall).
  • Write papers, reports, briefings and management information for internal and external audiences.
  • Work with College Senior Officers to write presentations for various internal and potentially external meetings.
• Operational Processes
  • Work with School Operations Leads on streamlining processes, including use of automation where appropriate.
  • Coordinate with School Operations Leads to ensure efficiency of processes where work spans Schools and the College.

Person Specification

Skills and Experience

• Educated to degree level or equivalent relevant work experience.
• Evidence of outstanding writing skills, with the ability to produce high quality papers, reports, briefings and presentations to a senior management level.
• Excellent organisational and administrative skills, with demonstrable experience of managing complex projects.
• Evidence of strong IT proficiency, including effective use of automation tools, AI technologies and Microsoft 365 cloud‑based applications.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including tact and diplomacy, and an ability to work at all levels of the organisation.
• Evidence of commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion issues in an institutional setting.
• Demonstrates ability to work collaboratively, persuade others, build open, trusting and effective networks, and bring people together to work towards a common goal.
• Demonstrable experience of researching and analysing complex source material, information and data, and turning these into purposeful reports that influence policy and assist decision making.
• Sensitivity to the constraints of working in a confidential environment and confidence working within formal information governance and statutory compliance frameworks (e.g., Information Security, Data Protection, Freedom of Information requests).
• Demonstrable experience of servicing committees and working groups.
• Proactive and flexible approach and attitude, effective time management, and a willingness to respond to changing priorities.
• Evidence of working with a high degree of initiative, personal judgement and a self‑motivating approach.
• The ability to bring personal ideas and creativity to projects, and complete tasks based on broad direction and with minimum supervision.
• High standard of presentation, accuracy and attention to detail.
• Strong interest in and understanding of key policy issues in Higher Education and management, and the ability to consider potential impacts on own work and in advising others.

Informal enquiries to Mark Jeffery, email: m.c.jeffery@bham.ac.uk