Job Description
Position Details
School of Languages, Cultures, Art History and Music
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
Part Time (22.5 hours per week)
Fixed Term contract up to October 2026
Closing date: 25th August 2025
This role is also open as an internal secondment opportunity which would need to be agreed by your current line manager.
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
The College of Arts and Law is recruiting a FTC 0.6 FTE, Student Experience Officer for the School of Languages, Cultures, Art History and Music. This is an exciting opportunity to take on an established role (due to maternity cover) and join a dynamic, research-led, professional services Student Support Team. This team comprises Student Wellbeing, Student Experience and the Academic Writing Advisory Service. Reporting to the Student Support Manager – Student Experience and working closely with the School Head of Operations and School Head of Education. the Student Experience Officer (SEO) will devise and deliver a wide range of student experience activities that meet School and College strategic objectives to improve the student experience of diverse cohorts of students studying a range of Languages, Cultures, Art History and Music programmes. They will identify opportunities for enhancement and review and evaluate College provision in this area and will work closely with other relevant areas such as the Central Student Experience Projects Team and Careers Network. With EDI at the heart of all operations, these activities will sit against the strategic pillars of:
- Student Community,
- Student Voice,
- Welcome, Induction and Transition,
- Academic Adjacent Activity,
- Student Communication.
The post holder will use their judgement in solving problems and will work effectively and collaboratively with staff at all levels in the College and University.
The ideal candidate will become a visible and friendly presence for students in the College and be just as willing to co-ordinate a student exhibition as contribute to student induction programmes, review student survey results and draft formal action plans.
The post holder may occasionally be required to work evenings during University term time in order to meet service requirement.
Main Duties
The post holder will be required to undertake the following duties:
- To provide support for the organisation and delivery of supporting UG and PGT induction in the College, including an evaluation and review these activities.
- To be the central point of contact within your school for Welcome, Induction and Re-Induction activities.
- Working with the CAL Student Support Manager (Student Experience) and AWAS Service Manager to devise improved academic transition support for PG students.
- Through working with Academic and Professional Services colleagues to identify opportunities to further enhance the sense of an inclusive and supportive community within the college relative to the diversity or identify cohort groups. To support the organisation and delivery of related activities.
- To lead on the further development of the College’s use of facilities for UG students, including the use of the provision and development of additional study spaces for students.
- To work with Professional Services colleagues in the coordination and development of employability support for CAL students.
- To ensure the College works effectively with feedback via student surveys (e.g. UKES and NSS) and Staff/Student consultative committees. To work effectively with Education Support Teams in the College to ensure issues relating to the organisation and management of UG and PGT provision are responded to effectively.
- To review current College methods for communication with UG students and to establish best practices for future communication. This might include iVLE use, newsletters, and social media.
- To contribute to University Open Days and recruitment activities in the College.
Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience
Shortlisted candidates will be expected to evidence the following in their application:
- First degree in one of the academic disciplines of the College and evidence of being a current or recent student in the College of Arts and Law or an arts and humanities faculty in HE
- Experience of supporting students in higher education (either in a voluntary or paid capacity)
- An understanding of UG and PG education, the student lifecycle and the diverse needs of different cohorts
- Excellent communication skills
- Excellent interpersonal skills, including listening skills
- Ability to work on own initiative to set up new activity or initiatives
- Ability to analyse data and to use the outcomes to inform action planning
- Effective team working skills evidenced by specific examples of team working
- A track record of delivering an excellent customer experience
- Self- motivated, well organised and able to prioritise workloads to meet deadlines
- Ability to manage large volumes of data and where appropriate manipulate and concatenate this data with other sources to identify trends and patterns.
- Understanding of the issues affecting the student academic experience in a higher education environment
- Willingness to learn and understand the direction/vision of the College and how this may impact the student experience
- Commitment to continuing professional development and training
- 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.
Desirable
- Experience in developing web-based materials
- Experience in events management
Planning and Organising
Organisational understanding: understands the context and options for development of their area within the complexity and diversity of the University. Candidates should possess excellent administration skills, including a high degree of proficiency with MS Office applications, particularly the use of Excel.
Problem Solving and decision making
Fosters co-operation and collaborative internal and external partnership working in order to deliver the University Strategic plan and develop the University
Strategic thinking and perspective: Demonstrates understanding of the key factors impacting on their area and identifies opportunities for improvements.
Internal and External relationships
Communication: communicates with a wide range of styles appropriate to different individuals, groups and situations.
Internal contacts: the CAL Student Experience team, professional services colleagues in Recruitment and Marketing, Alumni, Finance, the Careers Network and CAL AWAS, academic staff and students, senior colleagues from across the university.
External contacts: applicants (at Open Days), alumni speakers at events.
Informal enquiries to Adrian Powney, email:
[email protected] or Sophia Robertshaw, 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 . 
