Job Description
Position Details:
School or Department: Careers Network
Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
Grade/Band: Grade 6
Hourly rate: £16.92 plus holiday entitlement
Casual contract from: 2 nd February 2026
Advert closing date: 8 th December 2025, 23:55pm
Number of positions available: 2
Please note that this vacancy may be taken down early depending on the number of applications received. We advise you to submit your application promptly.
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 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.
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
This role is located within the Careers Network department, which exists to help students and graduates realise the potential of their University of Birmingham experience and degree, helping them to positively shape the world around them. The team comprises circa 70 staff across several specialist areas, supporting employability, enterprise, and entrepreneurship within and beyond the curriculum, while engaging with employers, alumni, and external partners to support this endeavour.
Role Summary
The role will form part of the Programmes Team, working on The Birmingham Award (the University’s optional employability programme, designed to enable students to develop, recognise, and articulate their skills effectively in preparation for graduate employment). The post holder will be responsible for marking and providing feedback on the summative assessments for students completing The Birmingham Award, The Birmingham Award with Distinction – Undergraduate, and The Birmingham Award with Distinction - Postgraduate. The post-holder will be provided with training and will receive a standardised marking criteria and feedback form template to assist them in their role.
The successful candidate will also be required to provide students with support during assessment clinics and appointments as and when necessary. Other tasks may include administrative tasks associated with online educational content and other supportive work required for education / teaching on the award.
The Birmingham Award Teaching Associate role is open to current
Postgraduate Researchers (PGR). The position will run for a duration of
17 weeks and working hours will be up to
15 hours per week.
Work schedule
This role commences in early February and will run for 17 weeks (13 weeks from Monday 2nd February to Friday 1st May 2026, then 4 weeks from Monday 20th July to Friday 14th August 2026). The successful candidate will be required to be available to work up to 15 hours per week allocated as flexible working (e.g. working remotely), with deadlines each week for returning marked assessments to The Birmingham Award team. Please note that there is potential for hours to be extended further into the summer should the level of postgraduate assessments exceed expectations.
Additional Information
- Interviews are expected to take place between Monday 13th and Friday 19th January 2026, preferably in person.
Main Duties
Training for the role:
- To attend a Birmingham Award marking training session with the Educational Development Leads; this includes an overview of The Birmingham Award and The Birmingham Award with Distinction programmes, assessment overview and marking/feedback guidance
- To work through the online educational component of The Birmingham Award with Distinction – Undergraduate and The Birmingham Award with Distinction - Postgraduate
- To complete a ‘standardisation’ exercise, to ensure that marking is consistent and that quality feedback is being provided
- To attend and observe a Birmingham Award information session delivered by the Programmes Project Officer
- To attend and observe Birmingham Award assessment appointments/clinics
- The post-holder may be required to attend or participate in additional training activities, if determined necessary
Marking Assessments:
The Birmingham Award (undergraduate and postgraduate taught assessments)
- The post-holder will be required to mark student reflections for The Birmingham Award utilising a marking criteria template
- The post-holder will be required to make a judgement of either ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ for each reflection submitted
The Birmingham Award with Distinction (undergraduate and postgraduate assessments)
- The post-holder will be required to mark student competency-based answers for The Birmingham Award with Distinction (summative assessment) against a standardised marking criterion, and complete a standard feedback form template.
- The post-holder will be required to make a judgement of either; ‘no improvement needed’, ‘Minor tweaks might benefit’ or ‘Major adjustments recommended’ against seven key criteria, and provide an overall ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ mark to the student.
- The post-holder will be required to provide a personalised summary statement for each marked assessment, drawing upon the marking criteria to draw out both positive areas and suggestions for improvements in future applications.
- The post-holder will be required to return marks and feedback to The Birmingham Award team within an agreed timeframe.
Assessment Support (if required):
- To deliver one-to-one student support appointments
- Co-deliver Birmingham Award clinic sessions supporting students with their assessments or resubmissions
- Support with The Birmingham Award Student of the Year process, supporting with the creation of guidance for students and answering queries about the process as and when
Person Specification
The successful candidate will be a current
Postgraduate Research (PGR) student at the University of Birmingham (any discipline).
- A good honours degree.
- Experience of delivering training or teaching sessions and facilitating group-work.
- Experience of supporting student assessment and providing written and verbal feedback
- Demonstrable knowledge of the STAR method of structuring competency-based answers in applications and interviews.
- Demonstrable experience of providing excellent customer service or support.
- A demonstrable understanding of the issues affecting student employability, at all levels of study.
- Excellent communication and presentation skills.
- Excellent time-management and organisational skills.
- Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work as a team.
- A positive and enthusiastic approach.
- Demonstrable interest in issues around careers, employability, personal and professional development.
- A flexible approach to working.
For any informal queries, please contact Ellen Shobrook ( e.shobrook@bham.ac.uk
)
View our staff values and behaviours here
Valuing excellence, sustaining investment
We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community and are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working.
The University of Birmingham restricts all students to working up to 20 hours per week during term time. If your application is successful and your course does not follow the usual academic term timetable (e.g. PGT, PGR or PhD student), you and your supervisor must formally agree vacation periods if this role exceeds 20 hours per week. In addition to this, please be aware if you are an International student you will be required to apply to the Registry for the appropriate Authorised Absence.
You are only eligible to apply to this role if you are a current University of Birmingham student. If you are not a University of Birmingham student your application will not be considered.
To work you will need to carry out a right to work check. These checks will need to be completed prior to work commencing. 
