Job Description
Position Details
Executive Office
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: 2nd 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
Role Summary
This is an exciting opportunity to join the Executive Office, playing a critical role in supporting the work of the leadership of the University.
We are currently recruiting to an Executive Assistant and Project Support Officer post to provide exemplary professional administrative and project support to members of the University’s senior management team.
The Executive Office is part of the wider Executive Support Division that is led by the Chief of Staff and includes four other teams: Strategic Planning, Strategic Change, and Governance Support and Legal Services – this post may support the work of all of these teams. The Executive Office provides support to the University’s senior leadership team through dedicated EA, PA and office support, provision of secretarial support to committees and groups, as well as through ownership and co-ordination of University-wide initiatives and projects, preparation of speeches and briefings, and organisation of institutional events.
This is a busy, dynamic, and challenging post working at the heart of the University. We are looking for a highly motivated individual with a “can-do” attitude and outstanding interpersonal and organisational skills. In exchange, the right candidate will join over 8,000 staff at the University, with opportunities to join staff networks such as the Rainbow Network, Parents and Carers’ Network, Women’s Network, Race Equality Network, and Enabling Staff Network. They will benefit from good holidays and a pension scheme, flexibility – the post-holder will work to a pattern of four days from campus – and lots of opportunities for learning and development.
Administrative and diary support
As Executive Assistant you will provide high-quality and timely administrative and organisational support through a broad range of duties including complex email and diary management, organising meetings and events, undertaking complex travel arrangements, liaising with a range of internal and external stakeholders, and leading and supporting projects. You will also compile reports, papers, briefings and analyse management information for a range of internal and external audiences.
You will use your excellent organisational skills and attention to detail to ensure the colleagues you support are well prepared; your outstanding communication skills to represent the senior team; and you will enjoy navigating a large complex organisation in order to get things done.
Projects
You will support University-wide initiatives and projects that will be defined on a continuing basis and may include priorities such as sustainability, change initiatives, staff engagement, development and talent management, and student engagement. You will arrange and support high profile events (visits, conferences etc.) when needed, liaising effectively with a range of departments within the University and externally. You will use your excellent communication skills to build a network of contacts to support this work.
Main Duties
Executive Assistant duties:
- Effective management of the inbox and a complex and challenging diary for University business and business related to the senior team’s roles in other external organisations, with an ability to prioritise and plan the diary at least 12 months’ in advance.
- Dealing with a wide range of enquiries independently, exercising good judgement when acting as the interface between the senior team and senior figures within the University and externally.
- Proactive preparation and collation of meeting-related papers and the production of documents, presentations, and briefings in relation to the work undertaken by the senior team, including undertaking desk research and sourcing information from internal and external stakeholders.
- Planning and arranging complex UK and overseas travel, ensuring the best use of time and taking into account budgetary constraints.
- Planning and arranging events, and organising high profile visits by senior external stakeholders, requiring close liaison with a range of departments.
- Provision of high-quality committee support where necessary, taking minutes and ensuring that any action points are followed up in a timely manner.
- Monitoring and processing financial information in accordance with the University’s policies.
Project Support Officer duties:
- Supporting the delivery of projects from project initiation through to implementation and evaluation, ensuring that projects are supporting the University’s Strategic Framework and delivering measurable benefits and improvements.
- Monitoring and coordinating progress through the development and maintenance of project and communication plans.
- Responsibility for planning, organising, and running events, including those run virtually, in-person and in a hybrid fashion, and leading initiatives as directed by the senior team.
- Leading on communications for major projects, which will require close working with stakeholders across the University, and a clear and engaging writing style.
- Maintaining oversight of a calendar of events and taking responsibility for assessing their effectiveness.
- Provide administrative support, including raising requisitions and purchase orders, organising meetings and workshops which may include delegates from across the University, maintaining records of spend against budget.
- Maintaining the webpages owned by the Executive Office, taking a proactive approach to ensure they are accurate and up-to-date.
As a member of the Executive Office, you will:
- Contribute proactively, including active participation at team meetings and events and covering for others where necessary, promoting and adhering to the values of the University.
- Work flexibly to provide support to cross-Divisional and University initiatives.
- Promote equality and value diversity, acting as a role model, and fostering an inclusive work culture.
- The postholder is required to be flexible in developing their role and will from time to time be required to undertake any other duties commensurate with the grading of the post.
Person Specification
- A good first degree or equivalent work experience, with a proven ability to grasp complex issues.
- Outstanding organisational, administrative and IT skills, including diaries, emails and MS Office suite of programmes.
- Ability to work effectively under pressure, prioritising appropriately in order to meet multiple deadlines with excellent attention to detail and high standards of accuracy.
- Ability to bring personal ideas, enthusiasm and creativity to projects and to use own initiative and self-motivation when undertaking tasks.
- Excellent interpersonal skills and a customer focused approach, with the ability to inspire confidence and command authority with a range of colleagues and external contacts.
- Ability to build networks to facilitate cross-institutional collaboration, promote knowledge sharing, provide constructive challenge as appropriate, and gain commitment to action or change.
- Outstanding written communication skills, including the ability to write on behalf of the senior team for different audiences and to required deadlines.
- A high degree of resourcefulness, flexibility, a self-motivating approach and personal judgement, including the ability to exercise discretion regarding the handling and management of sensitive information/issues.
- Experience of producing and analysing complex source material, information and data.
- Enthusiasm and willingness to learn, meet challenging demands, work to different people and deadlines, and the resilience to manage changing priorities.
- An interest in, and knowledge of, the higher education sector, and an understanding of how sector or institutional changes may impact on their work or the work of the senior team.
- A commitment to promote and adhere to the agreed values of the University and the Executive Support Division.
Please refer to the person specification above when completing the section titled: ‘This section should set out your reasons for applying, skills and experience, and other interests and activities as appropriate to the person specification’. As a guide, aim for between 600 and 1000 words. Your response should demonstrate how your skills and experience have prepared you for the role. Where possible, include specific examples from previous roles to show how you have successfully applied these skills in practice.
N.B. We are interested in your unique portfolio of skills and experience. Applications that have been written by, or run through, generative AI (e.g. ChatGPT or CoPilot) are easy to spot. If you decide to use generative AI as part of your application preparation, please use it only for research.
Interviews will be held on our Edgbaston campus on Monday 15th September.
Informal enquiries to Katy Caves, 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 . 
