Senior Administrator and PA School of English, Drama and Creative Studies 107033 Grade 5

Position Details

School of English Drama and Creative Studies

Location: University of Birmingham Edgbaston Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range 29647 to 31460 with potential progression once in post to 35388

Grade: 5

Full Time Fixed Term contract up to April 2028

Closing date: 5th March 2026

There will also be an on-line drop-in session on Wednesday 25th February between 12:00-13:00. If you would like to book a short slot please email Rob Doolan.

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 andweare equally proud to be recognised as a leading global 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 todevelopthrough our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programmewhichprovides allprofessionalservices staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full almost 5000professionalservices jobs in a wide-range of functionsin Edgbaston andin our campus inDubai there are plenty of opportunities foryou to be able to develop yourcareer 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 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 areand how we work.

Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees andtothe success of the University and depending on the role we offer avarietyof flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible addition you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 dayspaid holidaya 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 campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool shopsplaces to eat and drinkour own art gallery museum and botanical gardens.

Find out more about thebenefits of working for the Universityof Birmingham

Background

English Drama and Creative Studies (EDACS) andLanguages Culture Art History and Music (LCAHM) are two of five schools in the College of Arts and Law. The schools are distinct but their operations teams are working in close partnership to develop shared ways of working where it is beneficial to do so. We seek an industrious ideas-focused senior administrator to join us on this exciting journey.

Role-holder responsibilities include supporting a range of key processes in areas including HR Communications Finance Facilities and Events Management. The post holder will also provide PA support to the Head of School for EDACS.

This is a post that requires attention to detail the ability to work as part of a team and the capacity to manage a varied and busy workload.

Role Summary

As a senior administrator and personal assistant within a team/department you will provide support for a broad range of administrative duties some of which may be complex. You may also be responsible for managing other staff or for supporting colleagues and sharing will use your excellent organisational skills and attention to detail to ensure the people you support are well prepared and that the tasks you carry out are completed to a high quality in a timely manner.

Main Duties

• Undertake complex diary management and meeting planning usually 6-12 months ahead making decisions on the best use of will require you to understand the priorities and deadlines you and your manager(s) are working to and will involve developing relationships across the University and beyond.
• Proactive inbox management with confidence to make decisions on behalf of otherswhere appropriate.
• Dealing with a wide range of more complex enquiries and correspondence independently or exercising judgement to redirect them to senior colleagues or other departments within the University.
• If in a supervisory role you will line manage all staff and take responsibility for co-ordinating and prioritising the work of others normally as the head of a small team or sub-unit of a team. If not in a supervisory role you will still be expected to act as a role model and coach members of the team.
• Maintain high profile working relationships with key stakeholders fielding enquiries and ensuring that appropriate information is disseminated to stakeholders as appropriate.
• Proactive preparation and collation of meeting-related papers working collaboratively to determine what information might be required in advance of a meeting articulating clear deadlines for submission and proactively chasing where necessary. This may include attending meetings to provide high-quality committee support taking minutes and following up as appropriate.
• Arranging complex UK and overseas travel including booking flights hotels transfers and organisation and planning of itineraries ensuring best use of time and taking into account budgetary constraints.
• Organisation of events including booking a venue sending invitations arranging refreshments liaising with speakers manage bookings co-ordination of colleagues advertising collating feedback and reporting back.
• Collate analyse and interpret data. This may include identifying and resolving issues with the data.
• Will manage some smaller projects on own initiative but will also carry out desk research and source data from internal and external sources in order to contribute to wider projects.
• Support the management development and implementation of operational processes and systems.
• Will be responsible for one or more of the following:
  • monitoring budgets including processing payments authorising expenditure raising concerns where finances are not in line with the budget
  • procuring goods and services through the University system
  • updating and writing contents for the departments communications eg intranet pages
  • dealing with health and safety and facilities issues
  • HR-related tasks such as managing staff absence induction or dealing with leavers
  • dealing with arrangements for international visitors
  • monitoring internal procedures/compliance and ensuring these are followed and disseminated as appropriate.
• Supports equality and values diversity moderates own behaviour to avoid unfair discriminatory impact or bias on others.

Required Knowledge Skills Qualifications Experience

• Educated to A Level standard or equivalent level 3 qualification such as a Level 3 NVQ or level 3 national diploma or relevant experience evidencing the skills and ability to undertake the role.
• Minimum of grade C/4 in Mathematics and English at GCSE or equivalent level 2 qualification.
• Highly proficient IT skills in particular the ability to handle complex electronic diaries and emails the wider MS Office suite of programmes including excel and PowerPoint and some experience of using an enterprise resource planning package. The post holder should also be confident and able to quickly learn new IT skills and software packages as required.
• Proven ability to plan ahead and anticipate requirements proactively planning own (and sometimes others workloads) to manage time effectively progress tasks concurrently and work to deadlines.
• Excellent communication skills including the ability to write for different audiences and to required deadlines. Minute-writing skills would be an advantage.
• Excellent interpersonal skills. The post holder must inspire confidence and command authority with a range of colleagues and provide excellent customer service at all times.
• A high degree of professionalism tact and diplomacy and the ability to exercise discretion regarding the handling and management of sensitive information/issues.
• A high degree of initiative personal judgement resourcefulness flexibility and a self-motivating approach.
• Ability to work effectively in a large complex organisation and to develop a good understanding of howthe University and higher education institutions work.
• Ability to understand policy and procedures and how to apply these.
• Understands the importance of equality and diversity in the workplace.
• Ability to identify and respond to equality and diversity issues in line with relevant policies and procedures.
• Proven ability to work as part of a team.

Dimensions

This role will require you to exercise personal initiative within and beyond the department.

You may manage a team or budgets.

Planning and organising

This role will require you to work independently on daily weekly and monthly tasks but also on projects with medium-longer-term horizons without daily supervision. You may manage other staffs workloads.

Problem solving and decision making

You will work under the direction of the senior manager you support but you will have a significant degree of will deal with the more complex queries and be expected to resolve any problems in your area of responsibility. You may also manage the workload of others or coach others to achieve will take day to day decisions on managing the diary emails preparing papers and booking travel.

Internal and external relationships

You will be liaising with a wide range of internal colleagues and stakeholders likely to be University-wide and with external stakeholders.

Informal enquiries to Robert Doolan email:

View our staff values and behaviours here

Use of AI in applications:We want to understand your genuine interest in the role and for the written elements of your application to accurately reflect your own communication style. Applications that rely too heavily on AI tools can appear generic and lack the detail we need to assess your skills and experience. Such applications will unlikely be progressed to interview.

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 everyoneon our website.