Senior Education Support Administrator – College of Arts and Law – 106752 – Grade 5

Position Details

School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full‑time starting salary: £29,647 – £31,460, potential progression to £35,388.

Grade: 5

Part Time: 21 hours per week

Permanent

Closing date: 24th May 2026

Benefits

• 40 days paid holiday a year
• 1 paid day a year for volunteering
• Occupational sick pay
• Pension scheme
• Subsidised day nurseries

Role Summary

The School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion offers a variety of forward‑thinking undergraduate and postgraduate study opportunities. We are home to a dynamic and friendly community of staff and students, pursuing original research on a wide range of topics.

At the University of Birmingham, students are at the heart of all we do. You will join a professional services team which is passionate about providing excellent administration support for students and staff.

Duties may vary between teams, but you will have the opportunity to contribute or take a lead in all aspects of administration supporting the delivery of our teaching and research programmes for students.

You will work closely with a diverse group of people including managers, academic staff and students to deliver the annual cycle of teaching and learning related activity.

Main Duties

• Act as primary contact for academic staff involved in the Schools’/Programmes’ learning and teaching, providing expert guidance, understanding and resolving queries, and identifying when to delegate or elevate queries.
• Deal with higher profile contacts on own initiative.
• Work with and support your team to plan, organise, maintain and deliver activities, enabling the successful delivery of programmes.
• Specifically take responsibility for the more complex tasks associated with welcome, induction/re‑induction, attendance monitoring and recording, examinations, progression, and graduation.
• Make a substantial contribution to the management, development and implementation of operational processes.
• Prepare and deliver management and institutional reports, including responding to complex data requests involving the need to pull information from various sources.
• Compile, manipulate, analyse and interpret large and complex data sets, drawing up reports and/or identifying required actions as appropriate.
• Support the development of systems and procedures to assist in the day‑to‑day running of School/Programme administration.
• Responsible for the regular review and update of key documentation.
• Support periodic quality assurance related audits, report on compliance, propose solutions and develop and deliver remedial action plans.
• Provide a professional secretarial service to relevant committees and meetings.
• Proactively identify ways of enhancing the curriculum and student experience, making recommendations as appropriate.
• Support equality and diversity, moderating own behaviour to avoid unfair discriminatory impact or bias on others.
• Manage all data in accordance with University policy and Data Protection Regulations.

Other Duties

• The post‑holder will undertake any other duties that may be assigned by the relevant management team in support of more complex activities.
• If in a supervisory role, you will line‑manage all staff and take responsibility for coordinating and prioritising the work of others, normally as the head of a small team or sub‑unit. If not in a supervisory role you will still be expected to act as a role model and coach members of the team.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Substantial professional experience in a variety of similar roles.
• GCSEs to a minimum grade C/4 in English and Mathematics (or equivalent qualifications).
• A levels or an equivalent level 3 qualification, such as a Level 3 NVQ or Level 3 national diploma.

You will be

• Comfortable in a role where you take significant responsibility and are expected to proactively propose new ways of working.
• Comfortable working on your own initiative to complete tasks and projects without close supervision.
• Able to become authoritative quickly on complex systems and advise colleagues accordingly.
• Able to set the standard for other colleagues, acting as a role model and coaching staff as appropriate.
• Communicate and delegate effectively as required.
• Well‑organised with the ability to prioritise work proactively and independently, both for yourself and the team.

In addition to the above

• Work to tight deadlines in a collaborative team environment.
• Supervise and support the work of other team members.
• Deliver excellent customer service and influence others to do the same.
• Interact with individuals at all levels of internal and external organisations.
• Experience of using and maintaining complex work systems, e.g. student databases and record systems.
• Exemplary attention to detail and an ability to work confidentially, use judgement and make appropriate decisions within the constraints of the role.
• Cope with change in a fast‑moving, dynamic environment.
• Understand the importance of equality and diversity in the workplace.
• Identify and respond to equality and diversity issues in line with relevant policies and procedures.

Dimensions

You may directly manage others in this role, but even if you do not, you will still be expected to act as a role model and coach members of the team. You will not normally manage a budget.

Planning and Organising

You will be required to manage and prioritise a varied and complex workload to deliver within required time frames, and make a substantial contribution to the management, development and implementation of operational processes.

Problem Solving and decision making

You will work under the direction of a senior manager, with considerable autonomy to deliver required outputs. Working within the framework of existing policies, processes and procedures, you will have scope to review and shape processes. You will take day‑to‑day decisions on some of the more complex tasks in the team’s remit, including identifying next steps as appropriate.

Internal and External relationships

This role will involve liaising with internal colleagues and stakeholders, external stakeholders as well, sometimes with customers who have issues with the service, maintaining good working relationships with all.

Contact

Informal enquiries to Ruth Johnson, email: r.johnson@bham.ac.uk

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

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 we are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. A Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Centre 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. Find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website.

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