Job Description
Position Details
College of Social Sciences
Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
Full time starting salary is normally in the range £33,002 to £35,608 with potential progression once in post to £39,906
Grade: 6
Full Time, Permanent
Closing date: 20th August 2025
Interviews scheduled: 9th September 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 role will work closely across the UoB colleges and with external funding partners. However, the post holder will primarily be based in the College of Social Sciences which brings together expertise from across the physical, environmental and social sciences to advance understanding of the planet and its people - past, present, and future.
At the University of Birmingham, students are at the heart of all we do. You will join a friendly professional services team which is passionate about providing excellent administration support for students and staff. You will work closely with a diverse group of people including managers, academic staff and students, both internally and externally. Duties may vary between teams, but you will have the opportunity to contribute or take a lead in all aspects of administration relating to the funding of postgraduate researchers.
Role Summary
The College of Social Sciences is seeking a confident, self-motivated individual with excellent communication skills and the ability to work effectively with a wide range of stakeholders. The ideal candidate will have experience in line management or demonstrate strong supervisory and leadership capabilities. A commitment to continuous improvement and a proactive approach to embedding innovative practices are essential.
The post holder will play a key role in managing the administration of postgraduate researchers (PGRs) and postgraduate research programmes within the College. They will be responsible for delivering a high-quality, efficient, and student-centred administrative service that supports the College’s academic mission and enhances the PGR student experience.
Working closely with the College PGR Manager—and acting as their deputy when required—the post holder will support both strategic planning and operational delivery. They will collaborate with School PGR Directors, academic staff, and Professional Services colleagues within the College and across the wider University.
A core responsibility of the role is the direct line management of the PGR administration team. The post holder will provide day-to-day management, guidance, and mentorship, setting clear expectations and supporting staff development through feedback, training, and performance reviews. They will foster a positive, inclusive, and service-focused team culture, empowering staff to deliver an outstanding student experience.
Main Duties
- Manage, maintain, and oversee the day-to-day operations of postgraduate research related activity in accordance with University/ Regulatory Body regulations/Codes of Practice across the academic cycle.
- Work closely with key members of academic and professional services staff to provide an effective administrative service in response to changing needs and priorities; advising ket stakeholders and colleagues on matters relating to postgraduate research administration.
- Administration of College scholarships including the accurate entry of College scholarship payments into the University Funding Administration System.
- Maintain a focus on the quality of the postgraduate research student experience, including operational delivery of induction, training and PGR development activities under the direction of the College PGR Manager and College Director of Postgraduate Research.
- The post holder will help with identifying opportunities for student engagement and contribute to the delivery and implementation of action plans to respond to those opportunities, working in collaboration with relevant student experience staff in the College and across the University.
- Maintain effective communications with supervisors and postgraduate researchers, including the development of appropriate materials to support postgraduate researchers such as online resources.
- Ensure accuracy and establish sufficient quality control/data checking methodologies.
- Support the development of plans within the College and, at times, within the University, e.g. as a member of University working groups or committees as and when required either as Secretary or as your area’s representative.
- Prepare and deliver management and institutional reporting within set deadlines analysing and interpreting complex data sets where required.
- Acting as a point of contact for prospective and current postgraduate researchers, 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.
- Act as a key contact and link between Schools, the College and University, ensuring that the appropriate academic and professional services staff are kept fully informed regarding changes and updates in practice and policy.
- Proactively engage with/contribute to process improvement and the development of service delivery capability.
- Manage and support postgraduate research related projects.
- 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.
- The post holder will be required to undertake any other duties as may reasonably be required commensurate with the grade.
Staff Management and Recruitment:
- Individually or through intermediary managers, provide leadership to and manage a team responsible for delivering administrative services to support the College postgraduate research strategy.
- Recruit and line manage staff, providing continuous support, development, mentoring and training for a specified team.
- Plan and make recommendations on team structures and recruitment strategies that ensure sufficient resources are available to deliver service. This includes maintaining documentation of processes, planning efficient workload allocations and ensuring essential work is covered in the event of absences.
- Manage staff performance and address areas of concern confidentially and sensitively.
- Build relationships and manage expectations of the team.
Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience
- Demonstrated relevant work experience, showing progression and development, along with transferable skills and the ability to perform effectively at this level.
- Strong understanding of programme administration within a higher education context.
- Proven line-management or substantial supervisory experience, or strong examples of effective leadership in practice.
- Experience delivering responsive, customer-focused support, advice, and guidance in a professional environment.
- High-level IT proficiency, especially in spreadsheet and database management, with experience developing and implementing advanced monitoring and reporting systems.
- Exceptional attention to detail and a methodical approach to work, with proven ability to prioritise tasks, meet deadlines, and solve problems efficiently.
- Strong interpersonal, organisational, negotiation, and multitasking skills, enabling effective engagement with a wide range of academic, industrial, and external partners.
- Extensive experience in communicating and collaborating confidently across all staff levels, with a track record of setting and maintaining high service standards and conveying expectations clearly.
- Highly organised personally, with strong team management skills and the ability to prioritise workloads for yourself and others to ensure deadlines are consistently met.
- Outstanding attention to detail, discretion, and the ability to work with sensitive information using sound judgement and confidentiality.
- Ability to adapt to and manage change in a fast-paced, dynamic environment, including navigating evolving university processes and making them understandable for team members.
Role context
Roles at this level will require expertise and a detailed understanding of methods, systems and procedures in an administrative or professional area. You will either use specialist knowledge or have more of a planning/co-ordination/project role or a role which is supervisory in nature where you may manage a team doing similar kinds of work. You will have the opportunity to exercise a high degree of personal responsibility and initiative which you will use to resolve queries; you will use your judgement to deal with unforeseen problems and circumstances, all with limited guidance/supervision.
Core Competencies/transferable Skills
Working at this level you will be able to develop and successfully use the core competencies/transferable skills outlined in each of the areas shown below. As appropriate for the level, our Birmingham Professionals will take ownership for getting things done. You will be expected to be flexible as required in supporting your department and wider University.
Planning and organising
- prioritise and schedule work and resources to ensure on time and (where applicable) on budget delivery;
- set priorities and quality standards for a wide range of tasks and duties;
- contribute to written documents, for example guidelines internal to the area, taking account of audience;
- operate with limited supervision as they will have considerable scope for initiative, within established work procedures.
Problem solving and decision making
- anticipate and identify issues in own area based on experience;
- make appropriate suggestions for improvements and implement these when agreed in own area;
- facilitate change, and articulate the implications and benefits of change to others;
- focus on determining short-term priorities of work area, and how to maximise quality, efficiency and continuity.
Organisational understanding
- quickly develop an understanding of their working area and how it contributes to the success of the University;
- display an interest in how the University operates beyond own working area; develop and share this knowledge with others.
Relationships and communication
- develop and maintain excellent working relationships in own area, and more widely as required for collaborative working opportunities;
- communicate clearly and openly with others both within and external to the University, and use a range of communication skills and strategies to gain commitment to a course of action;
- demonstrate collaborative working at all times, including with others outside the immediate work area.
Informal enquiries to Marlene Cullen, 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 . 
