Job Description
Position Details
Academic Services
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, Permanent
Closing date: 17th 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
Background
The University’s Student Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) team is dedicated to dismantling barriers and creating an inclusive learning environment and university life for nearly 40,000 students on our UK and overseas campuses. The team works in partnership with Staff EDI within Human Resources, academic schools, Professional Services departments, student groups, and external bodies to promote greater understanding between members of our community and affect positive change within the University, our city, and wider society.
The Student EDI team is within Student Services which is in turn under the aegis of Academic Services. In addition to Student EDI, Student Services comprises a group of functional teams that support students from the point of enrolment and Welcome through the entire student journey to Graduation, for all students at all levels, including University Graduate School, Funding Graduation & Awards, Student Disability Services, Aston Webb Student Hub, Student Wellbeing Services, Go Global, International Student Team, Student Experience and Partnership, and Student Communications.
Role Summary
The Student Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Officer (Chaplaincy and Operations) in the Student EDI team will play a key role in supporting the University to deliver our founding civic ambitions of equality of opportunity for all. This involves coordinating and delivering projects as identified in the University’s Access and Participation Plan, Chaplaincy Review, and EDI Strategy and will undertake work under the direction of the Assistant Director of Student Affairs (Postgraduate and EDI) and Head of Student EDI.
You will assist with the operational and administrative tasks within the team's portfolio and ensure the maintenance and upkeep of Multi-faith Chaplaincy facilities. Additionally, you will manage the team's digital presence, including email accounts, webpages, social media profiles, newsletters, and other communications. This role contributes to the smooth running of day-to-day activities, coordinates events, and facilitates communication with a diverse range of students, staff, chaplains, and stakeholders. The ideal candidate will have a strong commitment to EDI for students, as well as an understanding of the function of spiritual support and community cohesion within a university chaplaincy.
This is primarily an office-based role and flexibility is essential, as you will need to accommodate occasional irregular working patterns to support events. You should also be adept at connecting with students from diverse backgrounds and faith denominations. Moreover, you will assist the Chair of the Chaplaincy in coordinating the activities and services provided to the University community by the University's full-time and part-time chaplains, as well as the Guild of Students' faith societies.
You will contribute as a member of the Student EDI team to relevant Student EDI duties and support a coherent approach to deliver the University’s EDI objectives and ambitions. You will be part of a team of EDI professionals and be supported by student ambassadors and Chaplaincy student assistants to embed an inclusive campus culture and promote good campus relations among our student population. You will draw from your lived experience, understanding of other communities, and guidance from the Assistant Director of Student Affairs (Postgradaute and EDI) and Head of Student EDI to navigate EDI issues that could be emotionally invested by stakeholder groups with dispersed viewpoints.
The role is an excellent chance to expand your EDI expertise and develop your professional network in the Higher Education sector. You are required to be flexible in developing both your role and best-in-sector EDI activities. This is a challenging but exciting opportunity to be part of a well-recognised team which would suit a highly motivated, self-directed, diplomatic, and proactive team worker.
Main Duties
- Managing day-to-day administration and digital presence of the Student EDI team, as well as the maintenance and upkeep of Chaplaincy facilities in collaboration with the Estates Office and Campus Services;
- Maintaining effective communication channels and collaborative relationships as primary liaison with the sending bodies of the University’s chaplains to ensure alignment with the University’s values and the needs of students;
- Assisting the University's chaplains and the Guild of Students' faith societies for their services to the University community, such as liaison with University departments and administering the Chaplaincy’s Events and Activities grant;
- Coordinating activities as identified in the University’s Access and Participation Plan, Chaplaincy Review, EDI Strategy, and other current or future projects of the Student EDI team;
- Organising and delivering Student EDI events and Chaplaincy’s activities, with a focus on enhancing engagement and the overall attendee experience;
- Supervising EDI student ambassadors and/or Chaplaincy student assistants to enhance an inclusive campus culture, promote good inter-faith relations, and embed community cohesion;
- Serving as the secretary to the Chaplaincy committee and other committees serviced by the Student EDI team, including organising meetings, preparing agendas, taking minutes, and ensuring follow-up on action items;
- Ensuring compliance by chaplains with the University's policies and mandatory training requirements, including GDPR, IT security, EDI, and health & safety;
- Engaging with students from all backgrounds across the University to enhance their awareness and involvement with Student EDI initiatives and the Chaplaincy’s activities;
- Collaborating with internal and external stakeholders to develop and promote University-wide EDI or faith celebrations and history month programmes;
- Participating in work at the University to enhance inclusivity in students’ academic and social experiences;
- Acting as a key conduit between Student EDI, campus faith groups, and wider University community;
- Promoting equality and values diversity, acting as a role model, and fostering an inclusive working culture;
- Supporting the University’s sustainability agenda through resource efficient working;
- Any other duties commensurate with the grade.
Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience
- Educated to Degree level (or equivalent qualifications) - where no equivalent qualification is held, practical relevant experience and expertise in Higher Education will be required;
- Good awareness of issues related to faith expression, inter/intra-faith matters, and broader EDI affairs in a university environment;
- Strong understanding of the student experience, issues, and the student lifecycle;
- Ability to establish and communicate clear boundaries to students and stakeholders to ensure assistance is provided proportionally and within defined resources and limits;
- Experience in connecting with diverse stakeholders and proven excellence in communication skills;
- Ability to work as a member of a team as well as on own and in a proactive way;
- Experience in event planning and on-the-day delivery to ensure effective use of resources, high attendance, and positive attendee experience;
- Working knowledge of standard Microsoft Office software, content development for webpages and social media profiles, and the ability to interpret and present data in reports;
- Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day-to-day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly.
Role context
General:
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.
Specific:
As a key liaison and co-ordination role, you will be liaising with members of the University community and beyond. This will involve regular communication between a variety of stakeholders and the development of successful working relationships to effectively affect positive change for inclusivity. You will also take the day-to-day operational decisions relating to the team’s activities. The role will be required to develop initiatives and approaches proactively, and to identify and recommend improvements to the service, and work across the University as required. You will need to be self-motivated and manage your workload autonomously, whilst also keeping an awareness of the activities of the wider team.
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 Loreal Stokes, 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 . 
