Job Description
Position Details
College of Medicine and Health
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 September 2026
Closing date: 11th September 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 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 post holder is responsible for overseeing the co-ordination and administrative management of studentship programmes co-ordinating research studentship activity across the College and maintaining records for UKRI-funded postgraduate researchers. The post also supports international PGR community-building activity. The post will involve liaison between external funding organisations (primarily the UKRI and major charities), College’s academic community and other Professional Service teams, to ensure that a high quality, efficient service is provided and that students have the best possible experience.
Main Duties
Operational and strategic responsibilities:
Doctoral Training Programmes
- Oversee the co-ordination and administrative management, including budget management, of relevant core, externally-funded College studentship programmes (including, but not limited to, UKRI and International Training Programmes);
- Responsibility for the organisation of all pre-award and post-award requirements of externally-funded College studentship programmes (including award set-up, recruitment and marketing, support for DTP Directors, liaison with funders, annual reporting, entry of scholarship payments into the University Funding Administration System);
- Responsibility for recruitment and marketing of studentships including overseeing the recruitment process for MRC DTP. Promotion of DTPs/iDTP via Twitter and LinkedIn, sharing student success stories and promoting of events;
- Programme management of MRes course(s) associated with the College’s strategic DTPs, including timetabling, organising induction events, arranging interviews, marks entry, Exam Board, maintaining Canvas and handbooks;
- Collation and management of student information relating to Doctoral Training Programmes;
- Ensuring Je-S Student records for UKRI Studentships are created and maintained on an annual basis;
- Provision of dedicated support to the DTPs and student cohorts, including communications and organisation of student cohort-specific events;
- Providing advice and guidance for supervisors and students on funder T&Cs and regulations;
- Oversight and management of distribution of College’s allocated MRC Supplementary funds;
- To co-ordinate, where appropriate with the University Research Finance Office, the preparation of financial reports and other regular progress reports, to internal management and to external funders. This will include liaising with any funders to ensure that the DTPs have delivered any formal reporting and ensure contract compliance, and that they are on track with any agreed deliverables against timelines associated with these. The Post Holder will be crucial in preparing documentation for these Centres and ensuring that any reports are satisfactorily completed and submitted in time.
- Providing secretarial support for appropriate Working Groups and, when the DTPs have been awarded, Management Boards. This includes having the ability to work with colleagues at all levels of authority, competence and status to achieve the required operational goals of these committees. This will be through the provision of significant and high level project management support to the Programme Leads, and will involve the co-ordination of Programme Management Committees, including the co-ordination of agendas, briefing stakeholders and efficient formatting and distributing of minutes and reports.
- Develop and implement communications strategies for externally-funded PhD programmes to help develop their internal and external profiles, including public engagement approaches and newsletters. This will involve a heavy focus on our web presence, including overhauling, updating and managing the websites relating to these programmes and providing a clear coordinated point of contact and driving force for continued delivery of relevant content.
- Coordinate the organisation of conferences/meetings/workshops and any training programmes in relation to externally funded PhD programmes
- Oversee the workload of the administrator in relation to DTP activities.
- Facilitating organisational knowledge sharing with regard to the DTPs. This includes disseminating information from funders to colleagues in the College and partner Institutes, and where appropriate feeding back queries and information from the College/partner Institutes to DTP funder contacts.
- Producing any metrics and data on DTP/UKRI funded students required as part of these recognition processes or by the College’s various studentship governance committees.
- Establishing credibility and the confidence of a wide range of College colleagues with regard to DTP knowledge and studentship procedures. For instance, providing advice to administrators and to academics on external sponsors’ terms and conditions.
- Acting as the first point of contact for prospective and current DTP students in the College, troubleshooting and problem solving for any general issues that arise, escalating as necessary to the relevant section or colleague. This may involve interacting with colleagues across the University who are involved in supporting the postgraduate research student journey, in Admissions, Registry, and Student Services.
- Proactively engage with/contribute to process improvement and the development of service delivery capability.
- Provide assistance to other ongoing activity within the College Graduate School as required.
- Duties and responsibilities within the post and the obligations placed upon post holders may vary and develop over time. Any resulting changes will be subject to consultation with the post holder and the Operations Manager (PGR), through the agreed annual review process.
- Promote equality and values diversity, acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
- Support the University’s sustainability agenda through resource efficient working.
Essential
Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience
- A good honours degree or relevant experience such that the tasks detailed in the job description can be carried out effectively.
- Experience of working in a customer focused office environment.
- Excellent analytical and presentational skills including the ability to formulate clear and balanced proposals/outcomes on the basis of sound analysis.
- An ability to develop and maintain systematic and timely procedures.
- Excellent IT skills, particularly in spreadsheets and database management, and the ability to develop and implement sophisticated output and outcome monitoring and reporting systems.
- Good attention to detail and methodical approach to work with an ability prioritise workloads in order to meet deadlines, and have demonstrable problem solving skills.
- Excellent interpersonal, organisational, negotiation and multi-tasking skills to deal effectively with wide-ranging academic and industrial partners and external organisations.
- Excellent writing skills.
- An ability to deal with people and organisations at all levels.
- Ability to work under pressure and to deadlines, determining priorities and managing conflicting demands.
Desirable
- Relevant higher degree or professional training.
- A broad experience of academic administration in higher education, in particular an understanding of postgraduate research policy and studentship matters
- Demonstrable project management skills.
- Experience of web content design and publication.
Dimensions
- Financial:
- Customer:
- Operational support/oversight for activity/posts employed on programme award students.
- Key contact for UoB academic staff and award partners.
Planning and organising
- Plan and manage tasks as agreed by the line management through the College Operations Manager (PGR).
- Plan and manage administrative tasks (including reporting and financial management ) as agreed by programme management and funding bodies.
- Manage administrative tasks related to own work.
Problem solving and decision making
without reference to others
Maintain and develop databases and spreadsheets
- To use own judgement to resolve problems that arise on a day-to-day basis that may be of a sensitive nature.
- Producing project documentation including necessary reporting requirements of projects.
- To be able to comment and respond to quality improvements within the areas of responsibility as appropriate.
- Answer correspondence i.e. reply to memos, email or letters.
- Arranging facilities and invitations for meetings and events.
- Communications with external parties regarding basic contractual or financial issues.
after consulting others
- Contractual decisions.
- Planning and delivery of new activity such as workshops and seminar series.
- To handle higher profile internal and external contacts, on own initiative.
or that would be referred to someone else.
- Responding to queries relating to new potential collaborations or opportunities for programme staff
- Policy and strategy decisions for both individual programmes
Internal and external relationships
- College PGR students
- Notification and co-ordination of training opportunities, notification of relevant funding initiatives, support for applications etc.
- Academic and clinical staff in the College; via e-mail, mail, fax, telephone and face-to-face contact.
notification of funding initiatives, support for applications.
- Staff in other Colleges, University Centre, NHS Trusts, other Universities and industry; via e-mail, mail, fax and telephone. Requests for information relating to specific applications; either to request for College/School.
- Funding body (Research Councils, Charities, Industry etc) administrative staff; via e-mail, mail, fax and telephone. Discussions with regard to specific funding schemes and requirements for submission.
- College administrative staff; via e-mail, telephone and face-to-face contact.
- Day to day working environment.
Further particulars can be found here
Informal enquiries to Karen Carter, 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 . 
