Outreach Coordinator (Finance) External Relations 56191 Grade 5

Position Details

External Relations

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 (0.8 FTE) Permanent

Closing date: 11th 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 awide rangeof 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 havea state-of-the-artsports centre with pool shopsplaces to eat and drinkour own art gallerymuseumand botanical gardens.

Find out more about thebenefits of working for the Universityof Birmingham

Background

External Relations is comprised of nine teams which help drive delivery of the Universitys strategic framework. External Relations communicates with Birminghams many different audiences in order to build purposeful relationships internally locally nationally and globally. We enable those who wish to apply to study on undergraduate and postgraduate courses to make informed choices whilst ensuring our partnerships profile and reputation reflects the success of the University and delivers impact. External Relations sits within the Universitys Professional Services structure which provides outstanding support to our researchers enables an exceptional educational experience for our students and helps the University to grow its influence regionally nationally and globally.

The Undergraduate Recruitment and Marketing team and the Outreach team sit within External Relations and are responsible for the development promotion and delivery of student recruitment and widening participation activities for the University within the team undertake a wide range of aspiration raising events and student recruitment activities (i.e. HE fairs school and campus visits open days and residential events) as well as undertaking a range of activities targeted at specific groups within the community as part of our commitment to widening participation.

The University of Birmingham has a commitment to widening participation; ensuring that young people from communities who are under-represented in Higher Education are encouraged and supported to make informed choices regarding their future progression. This activity provides a ladder of engagement from Year 6 through to Year 13 and on to Higher Education.

Role Summary

This is an exciting role in a busy and fast-paced team. This permanent post will play a key role in supporting the Universitys widening participation and outreach agenda and along with providing support for a broad range of administrative duties and outreach programmes this role will also provide financial support for the team and be responsible for administering and monitoring the teams accounts and budgets. As a senior administrator within the team you will provide support for a broad range of administrative duties some of which may be complex. You 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

• Be responsible for the administration monitoring and reconciliation of budgets within the Outreach team. This will include:
  • processing payments authorising expenditure raising concerns where finances are not in line with the budget.
  • procuring goods and services through the University system.
  • completing monthly budget reconciliation returns and supporting quarterly outturns and forecasting.
  • reconciling corporate and purchasing cards held in the Outreach team.
• General office administration and project work as required i.e. coordinating and taking minutes at departmental meetings (Outreach and Student Recruitment & Outreach team meetings) and supporting the team in dealing with ad hoc requests from the ER Directorate.
• Provide administrative support for several pre- and post-16 Outreach programmes.
• Proactive inbox management with confidence to make decisions on behalf of others where 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.
• Maintain high profile working relationships with key stakeholders fielding enquiries and ensuring that appropriate information is disseminated to stakeholders as appropriate.
• Arranging UK travel on behalf of the team including booking hotels travel 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.
• Working with Worklink to support the employment of student ambassadors and mentors.
• Supporting the DBS process and DBS checks.
• Supporting the wider recruitment team at Open Days.
• Supports equality and values diversity moderates own behaviour to avoid unfair discriminatory impact or bias on others.

Person Specification

• 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.
• Strong financial awareness and numeracy with demonstrable evidence of budgetary and financial administration.
• 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 and anticipate requirements proactively planning own (and sometimes others workloads) to manage time effectively progress tasks concurrently and work to deadlines.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills including the ability to write for different audiences and to required deadlines.
• Excellent interpersonal skills. The postholder 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.

Desirable:

• An understanding of widening participation in the field of education
• Experience of working with students
• Knowledge and understanding of the UK Education system
• Experience of working within the HE/Education sector

Dimensions

This role will require the exercise of personal initiative within and beyond the department. May 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-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 autonomy. They will deal with more complex queries and be expected to resolve any problems in their area of responsibility. They 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.


Informal enquiries toElizabeth Chandler email:

View our staff values and behaviourshere

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 ideasinnovationand debate at the heart ofUniversitylife. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN Race EqualityCharterand 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 everyonehas the opportunity tosucceed. 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.