Senior Administrator and Personal Assistant - Academic Services - 53820 - Grade 5

Position Details

Academic Services

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £28,397 to £30,210, with potential progression once in post to £33,938

Grade: 5

Part Time (28.8 hours per week)

Permanent

Closing date: 9th March 2025

Please note the interviews will take place on Friday 28th March 2025 on the University of Birmingham campus.

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

This post is an exciting opportunity to join the Academic Registrar’s Office (ARO), a friendly team responsible for a diverse range of activities which support the work of the Academic Registrar and their Senior Leadership Team within Academic Services. The team is led by the Head of Operations and sits within the division of Innovation & Development – one of the six constituent parts of Academic Services.

Collectively, the team provides executive support to the Academic Registrar and a number of Academic Services Directors through co-ordination of initiatives and projects, preparation of briefings across the breadth of Academic Services activity, secretarial support to committees and groups, organisation of events, management of a range of business planning activities (including finance and HR processes), and through Personal/Executive Assistants.

The post holder will contribute towards these efforts by providing exemplary administrative, organisational, and PA support to members of the Academic Services Senior Management Team and will be encouraged to get involved with other activities at the University with opportunities for learning and development.

Role Summary

We are looking for a highly-organised, proactive, and enthusiastic individual who enjoys using their initiative and creativity in their work to meet challenges and deliver to a deadline. The successful candidate will take a flexible approach and will have an ability to problem solve.

As Senior Administrator and PA you will provide high-quality and timely administrative and organisational support through a broad range of duties, including: complex email and diary management, organising meetings and events, undertaking complex travel arrangements, liaising with a range of internal and external stakeholders on behalf of the senior team and providing project support to members of the Academic Registrar’s Office and beyond.

You will use your excellent organisational skills and attention to detail to ensure members of the senior team are well prepared, your outstanding communication skills to represent the senior team, and you will enjoy networking and navigating a large complex organisation in order to get things done.

The post is line managed by the Executive Officer within the Academic Registrar’s Office and the post holder will join a well-established, encouraging team with opportunities for training and development, including the opportunity to work with a mentor.

Main Duties

• Proactive management of complex electronic diaries and inboxes, managing the senior team’s time effectively.
• Proactive preparation and collation of meeting-related papers, working collaboratively to determine what information might be required in advance of a meeting, articulating clear deadlines for submission and proactively chasing where necessary.
• Provision of high-quality meeting and committee support, taking minutes and ensuring that any action points are followed up in a timely manner.
• Arranging complex UK and overseas travel, including booking flights, hotels, transfers, and organisation and planning of itineraries, ensuring best use of time and considering budgetary constraints.
• Organisation of events, including: booking venues, sending invitations, arranging refreshments, liaising with speakers, managing bookings, co-ordinating colleagues, advertising, collating feedback and reporting back.
• Providing project support to members of the Academic Registrar’s Office and/or members of the senior team.
• Providing support to the Executive Assistant and Academic Registrar as required and the provision of flexible cover for colleagues in the Academic Registrar’s Office as necessary.
• Take a role as part of a sub-team steering and delivering Academic Services internal communications, including relevant events and bulletins.
• Processing payments, monitoring spend, procuring goods and services through the University system, and processing financial information in accordance with the University’s policies.
• Production of documents, presentations and briefings in relation to the work undertaken by the senior team, including undertaking desk research and sourcing information from internal and external stakeholders.
• Provision of outstanding customer service at all times, including ensuring that all visitors, both internal and external, are welcomed in an appropriate manner.
• Dealing with a wide range of enquiries independently, or exercising judgement to redirect them to senior colleagues or other departments within the University.
• Assisting with specific project work where this is delegated from the senior team.
• Supports equality and values diversity, moderates own behaviour to avoid unfair discriminatory impact or bias on others.
• The post holder is required to be flexible in developing their role and will from time to time be required to undertake any other duties commensurate with the grading of the post.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• 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, progress tasks concurrently and work to deadlines.
• Understands the importance of equality and diversity in the workplace.
• Ability to identify and respond to equality and diversity issues in line with relevant policies and procedures.
• Highly proficient IT skills, in particular the ability to handle complex electronic diaries and emails and the wider MS Office suite of programmes including Excel and PowerPoint. The post holder should also be confident and able to quickly learn new IT skills and software packages as required.
• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to write for different audiences, and to required deadlines.
• Excellent interpersonal skills. The post holder must inspire confidence and command authority with a range of colleagues and provide excellent customer service at all times.
• A high degree of professionalism, tact, and diplomacy, and the ability to exercise discretion regarding the handling and management of sensitive information/issues.
• A high degree of initiative, personal judgement, resourcefulness, flexibility, and a self-motivating approach.
• Ability to work effectively in a large, complex organisation, and to develop a good understanding of how the University and higher education institutions work.
• Ability to understand policy and procedures and how to apply these.

Informal enquiries to Azaria Gilder, email: a.e.j.gilder@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.