Job Description
Position Details
External Relations
Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
Full time starting salary is normally in the range £32,546 to £35,116 with potential progression once in post to £39,355
Grade: 6
Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to July 2026
Closing date: 13th August 2025
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.
Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham
Role Summary
The Student Recruitment and Outreach Office forms part of External Relations and our responsibilities cover a wide range of functions relating to admissions policy and students recruitment, international strategy and overseas links and collaboration of many kinds. This includes delivering the commitment of the University to widening participation in Higher Education, to ensure that able students from under–represented groups are encouraged to access a University education.
An important part of the ethos of our Office is that staff work co-operatively across all sections to provide an effective, efficient and friendly service to the University, its staff, students, applicants and all those with whom we come into contact.
This post will work as a member of the Aimhigher Team in the central coordination hub based at the University of Birmingham as part of the OfS funded Uni Connect Programme. The Aimhigher Assistant Officer will be the first point of contact for the Aimhigher Hub and will provide essential administrative, project and communication support across the team.
Main Duties
Project support and communications:
- To lead on providing marketing and communication provision for all Aimhigher programmes including but not limited to:
- Sending weekly Ebulletins;
- liaison with external agencies and maintenance of the Aimhigher website and social media channels;
- Leading and developing social media campaigns and developing print, audio and visual resources;
- The planning and production of outreach resources for young people, parents and practitioners.
- To manage and respond to enquiries in the Aimhigher mailbox from schools and colleges, liaising with other Aimhigher partner organisations to ensure best possible outcomes.
- To lead on the Aimhigher West Midlands programme focused on supporting learners in care and care experienced.
- To provide wider support of central Aimhigher activities including the regional Aimhigher Unifest programme and practitioners conference.
- To ensure that Aimhigher events and activities are visible and promoted through the Aimhigher channels, and that activities and engagement are appropriately recorded on the Aimhigher monitoring database.
Data and monitoring:
- Support statutory reporting and evaluation in terms of the partnership Access and Participation and UCP work, identifying and resolving any issues or escalating as appropriate.
- Communicating with schools and HEIs to support the collection learner data used for targeting and monitoring purposes.
- Inputting large datasets on databases.
- Supporting the collection of evaluation data from learners and schools to evidence the impact of UCP and APP interventions.
Office administration:
- Servicing various Aimhigher meetings including but not limited to booking rooms, catering, circulating papers in advance of meetings and taking minutes.
- Managing the office diary.
Person Specification
- University degree or relevant work experience
- Knowledge and understanding of UK education system
- Understanding of widening participation policy and partnership working
- Experience of working within the HE / education sector
- Experience of project coordination
- Experience of working with young people
Skills/Attributes Required
- Excellent interpersonal skills whether dealing with students, academic staff, external organisations or other members of the office team
- Ability to build relationships at all levels
- Ability to work as part of a team but also without direction
- The ability to empathise with young people and prospective students
- Ability to interpret and present data in a wide range of formats
- Proven IT skills (Microsoft Office) including use of databases
- Ability to maintain web-based and social media content, following training as required.
- High standard of communication with an ability to present with confidence
- Ability to prioritise workload and manage time effectively
- Flexibility, tact and diplomacy
- Attention to detail and ability to work under pressure
- Awareness of Child Protection issues. Prepared to undergo enhanced CRB / DBS check.
Level Of Previous Experience Required
- Prior work experience in a Higher Education or other educational environment
- Experience of coordinating projects
- Experience of working with young people
DBS Required
The University is committed to safeguarding and we promote safe recruitment practice, therefore all associated pre-employment checks will be undertaken before any appointment is confirmed. Due to the nature of the work undertaken in this role all successful applicants will be subject to a satisfactory DBS clearance prior to appointment.
Informal enquiries to Baljinder Rana, email:
[email protected]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 . 
