Student Communications Manager - Academic Services - 100253Z25 - Grade 7

University of Birmingham; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 36,000 - 46,000; Full time

Job description

Position Details

Academic Services

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,130 to £45,413 with potential progression once in post to £48,149

Grade: 7

Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to July 2026

Closing date: 23rd April 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 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.

Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham.

Role Summary

This is an exciting opportunity for an exceptional communications professional to be at the heart of developing and delivering the Student Communications Framework for the University of Birmingham. The role of the Student Communications Manager will also have line management responsibility for a Student Communications Intern and a cohort of student content shapers reporting into the Head of Student Communications in Student Services to deliver innovative and effective communications to our student audience, within a co-ordinated communications community of practice.

You will need to have considerable experience in a communications-based role in a large and complex organisation. Ideally within an educational setting, but most importantly you will have a demonstrable background in successfully building relationships to create great results with people at all levels.

You will have led innovative communications campaigns you are proud of and must be able to demonstrate experience of effectively developing and delivering a range of information across multiple channels including face-to-face and virtual events, digital, print, and social media. You will be expected to be across the latest developments in social media and have experience in content creation. You will be expected to be proficient in a range of associated skills such as copywriting and proofreading along with possessing the ability to translate complicated information to communicate it in a clear and concise way. You will have new and exciting ideas about how to develop the right content for our students.

You will be required to lead on the implementation of new initiatives, as well as considering and delivering quality improvements to existing practices. You must have excellent communication skills, able to confidently deal with a wide range of internal stakeholders, some of whom will be high profile individuals or teams. An ability to segment audiences and target communications appropriately and use a CRM system and CMS platform is essential. You must have the practical and technical skills to support your creative approach.

This role is based in the Student Services Division, part of Academic Services, which is at the heart of education and research endeavour at the University. The remit of this role is across the whole organisation - you will play a key role in the University’s student communications community and will collaborate closely with colleagues in External Relations, IT Services, and other key teams.

Main Duties

• Leading the development and delivery of multi-channel communication activities to key stakeholders (e.g. current students and targeted staff).
• Supporting the ongoing development and delivery of a communications framework for students and other key stakeholder communications.
• Championing relevant and targeted Student Services activities to students and key stakeholders across the organisation, ensuring its role, services and achievements are well understood.
• Evaluating the effectiveness of current communication techniques.
• Working collaboratively across professional services and Colleges to bring together ideas and best practice around student communications and engagement.
• Providing leadership and accountability for relevant Academic Services webpages both internally and externally, including working with appropriate CMS.
• Playing a lead role in the MyUoB app project team and associated communications.
• Proactively identifying creative communications opportunities that are relevant to the brief and to lead on the implementation of these initiatives working with the wider marketing and communications colleagues as needed.
• Line managing the Student Communications Intern and other staff as required, including temporary student staff.
• Prioritising your workload; balancing the competing demands of a range of “business as usual” activities against strategic projects.
• Translating creative initiatives into tangible plans.
• Leading on campaigns full of innovative content creation.
• Negotiating with internal and external stakeholders and where appropriate engaging with third party suppliers.
• Working with internal and external contacts on critical communications that impact upon the University’s reputation.
• Interpreting project briefs and providing recommendations on the most appropriate methods of delivery of communication support required for the project.
• Leading on the development of social media content for campaign messaging to target key audiences.
• Work on the development and delivery of an annual communications plan and content calendar for student communications; including key milestones, dates, and interdependencies.
• Working with IT Services and Student Services colleagues on the development of web-based content and functionality.
• Identifying opportunities to segment audiences to improve communications and engagement, including the use of CRM technology.
• Presenting at communications-based workshops and training sessions for colleagues within the University.
• Building a network of relationships / contacts across the organisation that can assist in delivery of projects and initiatives.
• Ensure appropriate legal and contractual arrangements are in place when engaging any external suppliers.
• Comply with all relevant University of Birmingham procedures and guidelines.

Person Specification

• A degree or equivalent experience, ideally with a qualification in communications.
• A communications professional with proven experience in a comparable role in a large, complex organisation, operating in a multi-channel, mixed media environment (ideally with experience of Higher Education or student communications).
• Experience of planning, implementing, and managing a multi-channel communications strategy.
• Line management experience.
• Advanced communications skills with the ability to engage stakeholders at all levels – to include effective presentation skills.
• Ability to translate complex messages into engaging forms of communication.
• Knowledge of emerging social media trends and a wide range of experience of using these channels within a communications or marketing role.
• Extensive experience of working with Customer Relationships Management (CRM) systems and Content Management System (CMS) platforms.
• Experience of copywriting, proofreading and content editing.
• Experience of commissioning design, video, and other content creation assets.
• Experience in applying appropriate technology and approach to service delivery.
• Ability to think strategically and translate strategy into operational plans.
• Ability to work collaboratively with stakeholders and partners to achieve common goals.
• An innovative and creative approach to stakeholder engagement, capable of developing exciting new initiatives.
• Ability to write persuasively and produce concise copy within short timescales.
• Excellent IT skills (including experience of web-based packages) ideally with experience with graphical design packages (e.g. Photoshop, Canva).
• Ability to prioritise and schedule workloads in the face of conflicting demands while maintaining a high degree of accuracy.
• Ability to work on own initiative, taking a flexible, proactive, and creative approach to work.
• Good knowledge and understanding of Higher Education and its environment, or a commitment to learn quickly about the sector.
• An understanding of the University’s aims and objectives.
• Flexibility to work out of hours, on occasion, as required.
• Commitment to continuing professional development and training.

Informal enquiries to Rebecca Vowles, Head of Student Communications, email: [e-mail]

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.