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 £36,130 to £45,413 with potential progression once in post to £48,149
Grade: 7
Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to May 2028
Closing date: 6th August 2025
UK travel may be required for this role
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
Background
The Central England NERC Training Alliance (CENTA) is a consortium of six research intensive universities and three research centres, led by the University of Birmingham, which work together to deliver excellence in doctoral research training in the earth and environmental sciences. We receive funding from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) for the current CENTA2 Doctoral Training Partnership and the CENTA3 Doctoral Landscape Award, which will commence in autumn 2025. At the heart of our studentship offer is our innovative, high quality and comprehensive training programme, designed to equip our Doctoral Researchers (DRs) with knowledge, skills, and expertise to identify and address complex environmental challenges and cut across traditional disciplinary boundaries.
Role Summary
The CENTA Training Fellow will be responsible for the planning, management, co-coordination and delivery of CENTA’s training programme , as well as higher-level Project Management tasks such as EDI monitoring and UKRI funder regulation compliance. This post will be managed by the Deputy Director of Operations (Research and Knowledge Transfer) (Dr Victoria Sharp) and will involve collaborative working with the CENTA Director (Dr Sarah Greene), the CENTA Manager (Ms Jennifer Thomson), and the CENTA Executive Board, who will provide strategic oversight and guidance to the key elements of the role are the development, advertising, delivery and evaluation of training provided to CENTA’s PhD students (including self-delivered training sessions, training sessions delivered in conjunction with other CENTA academics and experts from within the CENTA network, and/or externally-sourced trainer), the fostering of collaboration between CENTA’s stakeholders, and the monitoring and analysis of KPI data for the CENTA programme. The role involves travel on occasion, including overnight stays.
Main Duties
- Responsible for the planning, preparation and delivery of training sessions for CENTA students and designing a holistic curriculum related to a) environmental science b) wider research competencies and c) cross-sector transferrable skills, in line with the objectives of the CENTA3 training strategy. This will include some or all the following:
- developing plans for the content, pedagogy and format of training related events, including residential training events
- coordinating the development, design and delivery of training content in collaboration with trainers from the CENTA network and beyond, including sourcing trainers from within the network and beyond and planning and preparing own delivery including guidance notes, flyers/handouts and pre-course materials in accordance with CENTA’s training objectives.
- identifying (as appropriate) key performance indicators and milestones and recording and analysing KPI data related to the programme (e.g. PGR outputs, careers destinations etc)
- reviewing and auditing progress on CENTA’s training strategy and training provision to identify and act on improvements to effectiveness, efficiency and delivery. This includes evaluation, horizon scanning and providing specialist advice and guidance on methods to improve CENTA’s training effectiveness and ensuring programme compliance with UKRI regulations and reporting requirements.
- reporting on progress, including the development of reporting mechanisms, writing reports (e.g. on CENTA’s training strategy and provision), and presenting to appropriate meetings such as the CENTA Executive Board or to other key stakeholders
- assessing and escalating as you deem appropriate issues and risks, including monitoring risk registers
- Stakeholder management, ensuring effective liaison with CENTA’s institutional, research centre and external partners; its funding body; and the CENTA Executive Board. This includes building and maintaining networks, cohort building and promoting alumni relations, and communicating with a wide range of stakeholders (potential students, CENTA Executive Board etc)
- representing CENTA by participating in relevant meetings, committees, networking events, and/or professional groups, and encouraging collaborative working between these groups
- managing CENTA’s training resources and training budgets efficiently and effectively to achieve maximum impact and value for money, and ensuring project documentation is maintained
- contributing to training events. This will involve occasional travel and overnight stays.
- planning and administering CENTA’s placement scheme.
- Develop and deliver a communication strategy for the advertising of the training programme, which may include developing, for example, briefings for stakeholders, updates to the website and other social media.
- Ensure that priorities are balanced, taking action to deliver agreed deliverables against timelines.
- Maintain an up-to-date knowledge of own specialism and methodologies to contribute to knowledge transfer that is of manifest benefit to the College and the University.
- Source, analyse and develop insights from the data to inform evaluation and review of the CENTA training strategy and training programme. Evaluate doctoral training needs (via Training Needs Analysis and the Research passport) and obtain insight into the skills demands of a wide range of cross-sector stakeholders (e.g. PhD employers): provide feedback on training provision.
- Promote equality and values diversity through acting as a role model, fostering an inclusive working culture, and upholding EDI initiatives on the programme, including data analysis of annual EDI surveys for student selection and recruitment.
- Support the University’s sustainability agenda through resource efficient working.
- Any other duties commensurate with the grade.
Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience
- Qualified to PhD level (or near to completion) in the Environmental Sciences or a related subject or significant relevant experience, demonstrated through increasingly more demanding roles evidencing the experience necessary for this role
- A good understanding of the PhD system in UK Higher Education.
- An interest in cross-sectoral skills development.
- Proven track record of successful project management./
- Evidence of literacy and numeracy, with the ability to write clearly, and to produce and analyse information and data.
- Highly proficient IT skills, including the MS Office and website editing software. You should be confident and able to quickly learn new IT skills and software packages as required.
- Excellent interpersonal, communication, relationship building and influencing skills with the ability to deal confidently with a range of internal and external stakeholders/contacts.
- Excellent organisational and multi-tasking skills with a methodical approach to work and the ability to prioritise workloads to meet deadlines.
- 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
Roles at this level will require a broad understanding and practical experience of an administrative or professional field which will be used to plan the running and development of services and/or lead shorter term projects or contribute to larger projects. You will work with information which needs interpretation and analysis; you will use your judgement to identify the best solution to differing problems and issues, offering recommendations for managing more complex situations. You are likely to be responsible for managing a team of staff (often through matrix management), being accountable for recruiting and developing them and for managing performance. You may also need to liaise and/or co-ordinate activities across a number of different sections within the department or possibly with wider department or external bodies as appropriate.
Planning and Organising
- plan the running and development of service(s), overseeing resources and inputting into resource planning as appropriate;
- develop, agree and implement standards for delivery for own area;
- manage a team of staff and review, develop and motivate them;
- plan relevant training and development;
- provide professional advice, guidance and support to others within and outside their immediate work area;
- oversee resources and make recommendations about future resource requirements.
Problem Solving and decision making
- review, develop and propose solutions for problems with (for example) staff, budgets, services and/or systems;
- deal effectively with unexpected issues, such as changing priorities;
- deal with sensitive people matters/issues;
- provide specialist advice and recommendations to support decision–making of others.
Internal and External relationships
- understand their own and closely-related working areas and how they contribute to the success of the University.
- has an understanding of how the University operates; actively seeks to share this knowledge with others.
- developing empathy with the academic endeavour.
- influence decision makers and win support for proposals.
- develop excellent working relationships within and outside of own area and potentially with external stakeholders.
- co-ordinate activities across a number of areas.
Informal enquiries to Victoria Sharp, 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 . 
