BMSU Administrator Research Strategy and Services 55957 Grade 5

Position Details

Research Strategy and Services

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 Permanent

Closing date: 18th January 2026

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

The University of Birmingham is a global institution at the heart of an ambitious diverse city. We are dedicated to delivering world-changing research and providing an exceptional education to our students. Our Professional Services staff play a vital role in enabling these ambitions by supporting our research community with expertise innovation and dedication.

The Research Strategy & Services Division (RSSD) is at the forefront of delivering the Universitys ambitious research goals. Within RSSD the Biomedical Services Unit (BMSU) supports a breadth of in vivo research and is dedicated to fostering collaboration and supporting innovation to provide a sector-leading service to our researchers and realise the research ambitions of the University.

Role Summary

As a Senior Administrator within the BMSU 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 be able to use your wide range of skills both technical and administrative and have the opportunity to lead on specific tasks within a order to flexibly use resource you may be given the opportunity to work in different areas of the department or wider University.

Main Duties

• You will be able to deal with complex systems and procedures and will be expected to offer advice on these including deciding on the response to more complex queries.
• You will be expected to exercise your judgment on the answer to queries or on the direction of work within parameters set by your a day to day basis you will be expected to resolve more complex queries without necessarily referring to your manager.
• If you have a supervisory role you will line manage your staff taking responsibility for co-ordinating and prioritising the work of 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 on your own initiative fielding enquiries and ensuring that appropriate information is disseminated to stakeholders as appropriate.
• You may be involved in organising events including booking a venue sending invitations arranging refreshments liaising with speakers manage bookings co-ordination of colleagues advertising collating feedback and reporting back.
• 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.
• You will be expected to use a variety of complex University systems and processes to research analyst and interpret complex data producing bespoke reports as required. This may include identifying and resolving issues with the data.
• Support the management development and implementation of operational processes and systems.
• Process more complex data (which may be financial HR or other) monitoring accuracy chasing up missing information and resolving any issues as appropriate.
• Provide specialist advice and training to colleagues on area of activity.
• As required provide a professional secretarial service to relevant committees and meetings.
• You may be required to be responsible for one or more of the following:
• monitoring budgets and processing payments
  • procuring goods and services through the University system
  • HR-related tasks such as recording staff absence and supporting with inductions
  • dealing with arrangements for visitors
  • monitoring internal procedures/compliance and ensuring these are followed and disseminated as appropriate.
• Supports equality and values diversity moderating 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 work experience evidencing the skills and ability to undertake the role.
• Minimum of grade C/4 in Mathematics and English at GCSE or equivalent.
• Professional experience in a similar role.
• Highly proficient IT skills ideally including experience in handling complex electronic diaries and emails the wider MS Office suite of programmes including Excel and PowerPoint. The applicant will also ideally have some experience of working with financial and ordering systems. 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.
• Excellent interpersonal skills. The pos tholder 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 how the 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.

Dimensions

This role will require the exercise of personal initiative within and beyond the manage a team or budgets.

Planning and Organising

The role is required to work independently on daily weekly and monthly tasks but also on projects with medium and longer-term horizons without daily supervision. May manage other staffs workloads.

Problem Solving and decision making

They will work with direction from management but with a significant degree of will deal with more complex queries and be expected to resolve any problems in their area of may also manage the workload of others or coach others to achieve results.

Internal and External relationships

This role will be liaising with internal colleagues and stakeholders likely to be University-wide and with external stakeholders.

OH 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 Occupational Health clearance prior to appointment.

Informal enquiries to Saiqa Dar 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.