Job Description
Position Details
Campus Services
Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
Full time starting salary is normally in the range £25,618 to £27,126
Grade: 3
Full Time (Annualised hours)
Permanent
Closing date: 31st August 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
You will be responsible for supervising a team in providing excellent customer service in any one of our areas/outlets. You will ensure the provision of a high quality food and beverage service, cash managing, supervising staff, cleaning and stock control within a team, along with any other duties required ensuring the smooth running of the catering service we offer to our diverse range of customers including administrative duties. In order to flexibly use resource you may be required to work elsewhere in the department or wider University.
Main duties
Customer Service
- Greet and serve customers in a professional, responsive, courteous, friendly manner, including answering queries and dealing with situations that arise to deliver the highest level of customer service.
- Deliver the highest level of customer service through proactive supervision of your team. You will be able to react to situations as they arise, adapting the service as necessary. Responsible for the shift, planning staff rotas and referring any concerns to line manager(s).
- Building rapport with customers whenever possible and encouraging customer feedback.
- Ensure that a high standard of presentation is consistently maintained at all times, including that of your team.
Business Requirements
- Ensuring food and beverages are produced following quality, recipe and presentation standards, and that they are served consistently to customers. Ensure all operating specifications, including food safety, are followed at all times.
- Responsible for placing accurate orders for food and commodities from internal stores, production areas, and suppliers as directed by your manager.
- Ensure that monthly stock takes are completed accurately and in a timely manner.
- Ensure the team adhere to correct standard of stock rotation whilst maintaining adequate stock levels and making sure that food products are used prior to the best before date.
- Report any equipment or vehicle failures and hazards to Manager/Supplier in a timely manner, where appropriate take action to rectify the problem.
- Ensure all portion controls are adhered to as the Manager and in line with Operations Manuals.
- Ensure the team maintain control on all food and drink wastage and record accordingly.
- Ensure that all Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) hygiene and allergen recording systems and food and drink receipt procedures are carried out and correctly recorded.
- Ensure team adhere to all Health/Food Safety Codes of Practice and Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) regulations at all times.
- Assist with the transportation of commodities and equipment from one location to another as required, following hygiene and health and safety protocols.
- Ensure the team operate electronic point of sale (EPOS) terminals accurately including the safe custody of money and data. This includes the opening / end of day procedures, cashing up and ensuring the security of all monies and data in the safe at all times. To ensure that the area and its contents are secure as you will be required to open and close areas.
- If serving alcohol, ensure compliance with the relevant licensing laws and ensure that your team are compliant.
Team Work
- Motivate the team to increase sales by upselling products and encourage them to make recommendations to improve the standards of service.
- Promote the outlet and related events, ensuring all point of sale equipment is used correctly.
- Participate in training and development activities as required.
- Maintain a professional working relationship with all members of staff, including the wider University Catering Management Team.
- Carry out job chats and Performance Development Reviews (annual) with the team members. Working with the Catering Management Team, identify any training needs for the team.
- Support staff by positively reinforcing successful performance, and coaching staff to improve where needed.
- Attend all team briefs/training and departmental meetings as required.
- Be actively involved in an annual personal development review with your line manager.
- Undertake any other reasonable duties or requests (other than those stated in the job description) as requested by a senior member of staff including driving UoB vehicles when required (where you have a clean driving license).
- In the absence of the catering management team you will deal with immediate issues of team performance, in line with the relevant HR procedures, reporting any major issues to your manager(s).
- Treats everyone with dignity and respect, supporting equality and valuing diversity.
- Monitor staff absence, completing sickness returns and maintaining appropriate records.
Operational Requirements
- Annualised Hours - Operational windows will vary by business unit/activity, and hours are as required, based on a 36 hour week 7/365 operation (BH and Closure days) on a rota basis, includes weekend and evening work activities to align with Campus Services and University.
- To undertake works activities across all UoB campuses as requested that are commensurate with the grade and role activities to support the Division and wider UoB activities.
Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience
- Demonstrate a sufficient level of literacy. This can be evidenced by achieving Mathematics and English GCSE (or equivalent level 1 qualifications) or by demonstrating relevant work experience evidencing the skills and ability to undertake the role
- Proven experience of working in a food and beverage environment, including ordering of food stuffs and compiling work schedules for other team members
- A current Food Safety level 3 certificate, Personal License, and NVQ Food Preparation/Service is desirable but full training will be provided
- Knowledge of the following is essential: Health and Safety at Work Act, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points guidance, Control of Substances Hazardous to Health guidance and a relevant Manual Handling course
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to work on an individual basis and also within a team
- Ability to present in a smart way – uniform will be provided for this purpose
- Experience of resolving day to day problems is essential
- Full clean driving license desirable
- Work patterns may vary so a flexible approach to working hours and days is essential
- Ability to learn and understand how diversity considerations affect own area (e.g. dietary requirements/dress code)
Dimensions
You will supervise team members and support their development and assist managing in achieving set budgetary targets.
Planning and organising
You will assist managers in ensuring that the service/facility is fully-set up ready for opening or services. You will need to plan and schedule your workload and that of the team. You will be required to ensure stock levels are maintained to match customer demand.
Problem solving and decision making
Working independently you will be expected to manage customer complaints, storage of stock and stock rotation, accurately completing records and organise staff rotas. You will be able to refer to managers for assistance in dealing with more complex customer complaints, issues with staff performance and supplier or equipment issues.
Internal and external relationships
You will work with a wide range of people including University staff, students and the general public. You will also work with your team, managers, and suppliers.
Informal enquiries to Joanne Pilling, 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 . 
