Senior Administrator Nurseries 106542 Grade 5

Position Details

Nurseries

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

Part Time (21 hours per week)

Permanent

Closing date: 10th November 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 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

Role Summary

This post is responsible for the development and maintenance for a range of administrative and financial procedures primarily in the Nurserys business including admissions events invoicing and planning as well as high quality clerical support to the Nursery Managers and the Childcare Services Manager (CSM).The post involves a great deal of interaction with senior Nursery staff and parents so the applicant must be able to deal effectively and positively with people at all levels in a business- like and engaging manner. The post holdermay also be responsible for managing other staff or for supporting colleagues and sharing knowledge. The post holder will be responsible for undertaking the day-to-day administrative activities without heavy supervision except for highly complex or very unusual matters where guidance may be sought.

The post holder will be required to work from the Maples nursery site respond flexibly to variations in work content and develop expert knowledge of the Connect nursery management system to facilitate and support all business activities undertaken by the CSM.

Main Duties

Administration Duties

• To be responsible for undertaking the administration activities relating to the work of the Nursery business and the Managers which include all forms of communications finance registration of children admissions planning and others as indicated by the Childcare Services Manager
• To centrally be responsible for the compilation and maintenance of accurate records at both sites relating to all aspects of the Nursery business and for ensuring that appropriate management information is compiled and analysed using the Connect system and that appropriate correspondence is made to key stakeholders such as parents finance office and staff team
• To be responsible for assisting the developments and centralisation of processes procedures and associated protocols relating to the work of the Nursery managers and the development of the Nursery business. Maintain a comprehensive and extensive filing system for all paperwork related to mandatory OFSTED and University directives covering all aspects of childcare operations
• Maintain high profile working relationships with key stakeholders on your own initiative fielding enquiries and ensuring that appropriate information is disseminated to stakeholders as appropriate
• Liaising with Childcare Services Manager and University HR Department on matters of general employee administration a high degree of confidentiality will be expected in undertaking this task
• Access and manage all Nursery Managers diaries ensuring parents appointments meetings training sessions team briefs etc are all diarised
• Work with the Childcare Services Manager and the Nursery Accountant to improve the efficiency of the financial administration processes
• Monitoring budgets including processing payments authorising expenditure raising concerns where finances are not in line with the budget
• Maintain confidential and accurate children staff and parent record
• Liaise with parents via email telephone and face to face
• Preparing organising and storing information in paper and digital form
• Deal with queries on the phone and by email
• Manage diaries schedule meetings and book rooms
• Greet visitors at reception

Financial Duties

• Support the managers in maintaining meticulous financial accounts in accordance with the Universitys financial rules and regulations for each childcare setting. Be fully conversant with university financial systems and procedures and ensure these procedures are adhered to
• Using the Connect system monitor for income and expenditure at each site (e.g. occupancy levels staff costs disposable furniture / equipment)
• Ensure monthly financial documentation is received from Nursery Settings Managers and collate findings onto record findings to Childcare Services Manager
• Track and co-ordinate purchasing and delivery of new resources up to an approved value
• Creation and maintenance of all processes related to the EEE funding
• Prepare monthly fee invoices
• Collection of fees (mostly by Direct Debit) pursuing outstanding any account queries and undertake the banking process
• Be fully conversant with university financial systems and procedures and the salary sacrifice scheme available to parents
• Preparing and reviewing salary sacrifice calculations from quotes and bills on the Nursery Management system to send to payroll. There is a peak in this activity in July in preparation for the new academic year and for the renewal of all annual salary sacrifice agreements and a regular monthly/ad hoc activity for fewer parents throughout the year
• Sending contracts and quotes for salary sacrifice to parents and answering any queries that arise from these
• Monthly preparation and reconciliation of Nursery billing to send to Treasury Management liaising with the Nursery Administrative Team to ensure the bills on the Nursery Management system are accurate and suitable to be charged
• Reconciliation of the Nursery deposit holding account
• Transfer of the salary sacrifice balance from the holding account to income on a monthly basis
• Review of the government funding allocation and payments monthly reconciling the expected balancer from the Nursery Management system to the payments received in the Finance system
• Process funding claims
• Add new starters to Connect

Marketing & Occupancy

• Collate enquiry reports
• Action all marketing activities because of occupancy meetings ensuring key dates and deadlines and met whilst monitoring cost and effectiveness
• Promote the nursery to current parents and prospective parents

General

• Effective professional communication is a key skill to this role
• Undertakes such other duties as may be required from time to time in furtherance of the work of the Day Care Nurseries or at the request of the Childcare Services Manager

Required Knowledge Skills Qualifications Experience

Essential

• A minimum of 5 GCSEs Grades A*-C or equivalent is essential including passes in English Language and Mathematics
• Significant experience of office administration or extensive relevant proven experience in a Nursery setting
• Good communication skills; ability to communicate effectively with staff at a variety of different levels and from different professional backgrounds
• Excellent attention to detail and thoroughness
• Excellent office IT skills including word processing e-mail mail merge spreadsheet and database skills
• The capacity to operate effectively and efficiently in a busy multifunctional environment to prioritise a heavy workload and to work to tight deadlines
• Discretion confidentiality self-motivation and flexibility are essential requirements for this post
• Proven ability to develop an in-depth knowledge of specialist software applications e.g. Connect
• Proven ability of good team working skills is essential as is the proven ability to be able to adapt to change well
• Strong organisational skills
• Attention to detail and thoroughness
• Patience and ability to work in stressful situations
• Excellent time management skills and the ability to prioritise effectively
• Flexibility and openness to change

Desirable

• Knowledge of or familiarity with Nursery administration in HE sector would be an advantage
• Experience of using web content management systems (e.g. UCMS) or other Web authoring packages is desirable

DBS required

The University is committed to safeguarding and we promote safe recruitment practice therefore all associated pre-employment checks will be undertaken before any appointment is confirmed.Due to the nature of the work undertaken in this role all successful applicants will be subject to a satisfactory DBS clearance prior to appointment.

Informal enquiries to Sarah Perrott email:

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 everyoneon our website.