Education Support Team Manager (Employability/Placements) - College of Life and Environmental Scienc

Job Description

Position Details

College of Life and Environmental Sciences

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £32,296 to £34,866 with potential progression once in post to £39,105

Grade: 6

Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to March 2026

Closing date: 2nd March 2025

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.

Background

Located within the College of Life and Environmental Sciences and reporting to the College Alumni Relations and Industrial Placements Manager, the Education Support Team Manager (Employability/Placements) will be based across the College's four schools and have responsibility for the day-to-day management and team leadership of placement administration professional services staff based in the College. The Education Support Team Manager (Employability/Placements) will contribute as part of the wider Education Services management team in the College to the delivery of a student-engaged, integrated, effective and efficient programme administration function for the College, in conjunction as appropriate with colleagues in Corporate Services and other Colleges.

The Education Support Manager post is within the Education Services team which enables the efficient delivery of education through our academic colleagues across the College of Life & Environmental Sciences. Education Support Managers are required to promote a cross-functional working environment and establish strong working relationships with fellow Education Support Managers, the College Wellbeing Officers and College Student Engagement/Experience Officers.

Role Summary

You will lead and manage a professional services team which is passionate about providing excellent administrative support for students and staff. Duties may vary between teams, but you will be responsible for taking the lead in all aspects of administration supporting academic staff and the delivery of our teaching and research programmes for students.

You will oversee the delivery of all teaching and learning related activity within your designated service area. This will involve managing teams of Professional Services staff and working closely with key senior academic educational leads and the Professional Services network across your designated service area.

Main Duties

Staff Management and Recruitment:

1. Individually or through intermediary managers, provide leadership to and manage a team(s) responsible for delivering administrative services to support the educational strategy of your designated service area.
2. Recruit and line manage staff, providing continuous support, development, mentoring and training for a specified team.
3. Promote equality and values diversity, acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
4. Plan and make recommendations on team structures and recruitment strategies that ensure sufficient resources are available to deliver service. This includes maintaining documentation of processes, planning efficient workload allocations and ensuring essential work is covered in the event of absences.
5. Manage staff performance and address areas of concern confidentially and sensitively.
6. Build relationships and manage expectations of the team.

Administrative Service:

1. Ensure accuracy and establish sufficient quality control/data checking methodologies.
2. Support the development of plans within your designated service area and, at times, within the University, e.g. as a member of University working groups or committees across your designated service area as and when required either as Secretary or as your area's representative.
3. Prepare and deliver (either as an individual or through your team) management and institutional reporting within set deadlines analysing and interpreting complex data sets where required.
4. Troubleshooting and problem solving for any general issues that arise, escalating as necessary to the relevant section or colleague.
5. Act as a key contact and link between the designated area, College and University, ensuring that the appropriate academic and professional services staff are kept fully informed regarding changes and updates in practice and policy.
6. Proactively engage with/contribute to process improvement and the development of service delivery capability.

Education Support:

1. Manage, maintain, and oversee all teaching and learning related activity in accordance with University/ Regulatory Body regulations/Codes of Practice across the academic cycle. This includes supporting quality audits, preparing reports and delivering remedial action plans.
2. Working closely with key members of academic and professional services staff to provide an effective administrative service in response to changing needs and priorities; advising other managers and colleagues on matters relating to programme administration and academic administrative support.
3. Maintain a focus on the quality of the student experience in your service area, working collaboratively and creatively with colleagues to support student engagement and promote enhancement opportunities.
4. Manage and support Education related projects.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

You will need to evidence:

1. Educated to Degree level (or equivalent level qualifications) - where no equivalent qualification is held, relevant work experience evidencing progression and development together with evidence of the transferable skills and ability to work at this level will normally be required.
2. Significant practical experience in a similar role.
3. A levels or an equivalent level 3 qualification, such as a Level 3 NVQ, or level 3 national diploma.
4. GCSEs to a minimum of grade C in English and Mathematics (or equivalent qualifications).

You will be:

1. Experienced in a role where you are expected to provide staff support, development, and motivation.
2. Significantly experienced in communicating and collaborating with all levels of staff and able to demonstrate a proven ability to set and maintain standards for your designated service, communicating your own expectations and possibly the expectations of senior colleagues.
3. Able to influence change and decision making by evaluating work and analysing the benefits, costs and risks of alternative scenarios.
4. Personally well organised, with high levels of team organisation skills, including the ability to ensure deadlines are met by prioritising the work of yourself and your team.

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

1. Excellent communication skills with a proven ability to communicate effectively with staff, students, and external stakeholders at a variety of different levels and from different professional backgrounds.
2. Exemplary attention to detail and the ability to work confidentially, using judgement and making appropriate decisions within the constraints of the role.
3. The ability to act with tact and diplomacy when dealing with confidential matters concerning staff, colleagues, and students.
4. Proven IT literacy with demonstrable proficiency in the use of the Microsoft Office suite of programmes
5. The ability to work to tight deadlines in a collaborative team environment.
6. The ability to cope with change in a fast moving, dynamic environment and becoming comfortable with often changing University processes and regulations, making them accessible to the members of your team.
7. The ability to develop and manage service delivery capability to high standards.
8. Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day to day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly.

Dimensions

As a key team manager you will be expected to lead and motivate a team or teams with multiple members to provide an excellent service, often via intermediate line managers. You will have responsibility for managing the administration of a portfolio of study elements (likely to include a range of different assessments, modules and programmes of study) delivered by a range of academic staff. Your team's customers will number in the dozens of academic staff and other colleagues, and hundreds or thousands of students. Some role-holders will liaise regularly with external partners and regulators.

Planning and Organising

You will be required to develop initiatives and approaches proactively, identify and recommend improvements to the service, and work across the College and University as required.

Problem Solving and decision making

You will be expected to provide expert advice and proactively troubleshoot when issues arise.

Internal and External relationships

This role will be liaising with internal (and in some cases, external) colleagues and stakeholders, potentially across the University as you will contribute on working groups etc, as well as dealing with customers with more complex issues to solve. You will proactively lead and motivate your team, dealing with all team issues as appropriate.

Informal enquiries to Clare Tolley, email: c.l.tolley@bham.ac.uk

View our staff values and behaviours here

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.