Job Description
Position Details
Campus Services
Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
Full time starting salary is normally in the range £27,166 to £28,768, with potential progression once in post to £32,145
Grade: 4
Full Time (Annualised hours)
Permanent
Closing date: 12th October 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
Background
The University of Birmingham Safety & Security Team is in a period of transformation and service improvement, so this is an exciting time to join a diverse and skilled new element of the department.
The Community Safety Team is a new concept, which puts the safety and experience of our students, staff and community first.
The purpose of this role is to deliver an excellent customer focused security service to University staff, students, visitors and other external services. As a Community Safety Officer, you will be empowered to support engagement campaigns, create social media content to profile work being delivered by the Safety & Security Team, and provide intelligence led, reassurance patrols of the University grounds and local areas.
You will also be required to provide first response to incidents which may require initiative and an independent risk assessment, whilst also applying the relevant escalation processes. A large part of the role entails interacting with students, listening to their concerns and improving engagement within the community. As such, you will need to have first class communication and interpersonal skills.
Role Summary
We are looking for someone who can deliver a customer focused service who can support the Team Manager in delivering campaign activity and engagement. The role requires someone with strong communication skills who can also quickly make decisions. If you want variety, a great team to work with and the ability to contribute to the student experience, this is the role for you.
As a team, we go beyond the traditional security boundaries and as an individual you must have the personal fortitude and flexibility to deal with this challenging and varied role. We are prepared to invest in and train the right candidate, helping you to develop skill sets required to carry out your duties.
The role will involve working variable shift patterns, which may include unsociable working hours and flexibility.
Main Duties
Campaigns, marketing and social media
- Take ownership of allocated safety campaigns, working to agreed plans to maximise the engagement and reach, whilst monitoring budget and resource, escalating concerns where finances are not in line with the budget.
- You will write routine content for the CST social media platforms using the University‘s branding with the purpose of increasing awareness of CST activities.
- Aid in delivery and implementation of Safe Zone App and supporting the role out across campus, including promoting awareness and knowledge of the application.
- Help to organise and run drop-in sessions for the community from our new Safety Hub meeting room to ensure positive engagement and gain valuable intelligence through open discussions relating to campus activity.
- This role will collaborate with our safety contacts, including those in local government and the police, to share information and best practice.
- Establish strong working relationships with other members of the University community, providing support and advice where necessary.
Safety Intelligence and Patrolling
- Understand and act upon the daily team briefing, formulating a patrol strategy and prioritising workload.
- Report and collate information and intelligence gained during engagement and patrol activity, contributing in a meaningful way to the intelligence cycle.
- Patrol and be a high-visibility presence in key areas, as and when directed to by the Team Manager or patrol strategy.
- Support students and the University community, when they are reporting incidents. Understanding the wider support network within the University and signposting as appropriate.
- Provide mental health and physical first aid as and when required.
- Compiling data and statistics, provided via reporting or intelligence, subsequently compiling this information into reports or articles for review by the Team Manager.
- Provide day to day co-ordination to student workers and volunteers, ensuring that they are given adequate guidance.
- Monitor and respond to any alert from the SafeZone application.
- Collaborate, support and liaise with the core Security Team ensuring that a strong working relationship is maintained.
Procedures and compliance
- Comply with the requirements of all Health and Safety Regulations, to assess and report on risks and to take appropriate action to avert those risks.
- Apply the University Policy in relation to Security issues, to be familiar with the various guidance notes on procedures and to advise others accordingly.
- Perform other such security duties and undertake further training as directed by the management team.
- Deal with challenging and at times distressing situations and be able to make good decisions in critical situations, to be impartial, objective and professional whilst remaining polite and courteous even in the face of provocation.
- Participate in a culture of continuous improvement and undertake such training and development as may be requested to ensure that you are fully competent to perform the duties expected.
- Treat everyone with dignity and respect, supporting equality and valuing diversity.
- Always maintain discretion and confidentiality.
Training
- Complete initial training package on commencement of role and implement the knowledge acquired.
- Attend and be open to training opportunities and courses offered. A good attitude towards embarking on new training courses, and an adaptable and flexible approach to new methods of working is required.
Essential Skills
Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience
- GCSE English and Maths at grade A*-C/4-9 or other equivalent level 2 qualification. Where no equivalent qualification is held, relevant work experience evidencing the skills and ability to undertake the role will normally be required.
- Ability to work as part of a team and on your own initiative within guidelines and procedure.
- Excellent communication skills and the ability to react calmly and effectively in emergencies.
- Ability to handle and control complaints and escalate where appropriate.
- An attention to detail and the ability to accurately report facts is essential.
- The highest level of personal integrity is required and must be always maintained.
- Good standard of IT literacy, with an understanding of security systems to deal with alarm activations, other alert states and system malfunctions.
Desirable Skills
- To have First Aid experience.
- Experience using different IT software packages.
- Ability to develop promotional materials and marketing plans.
- Contributing to social media accounts.
- Exposure to organisation of events.
- Knowledge of website content and internal intranet pages.
The is a physical role and so an acceptable level of physical fitness must be demonstrated along with a willingness to work unsociable hours and to work outdoors in extreme weather conditions.
Dimensions
You will be expected to work effectively with internal and external customers as well within the department management structure. Security services impact on many areas, sometimes critically, and a Community Safety Officer will play a key role in coordinating activity and gathering information in a variety of directions with an expectation of effective outcome.
Planning and Organising
Activities follow a prescribed pattern.
Internal and External relationships
Will develop and maintain close working relationship with colleagues on your team and other teams within the security department. Will be able to represent the University professionally when dealing with outside agencies such as the emergency services or other Government agencies.
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 Tanya Kalsi, 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 . 
