Education Support Administrator - School of Dentistry - College of Medical and Dental Sciences - 54218S23 - Grade 4

Full Job Description

Position Details

College of Medical and Dental Sciences

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally the range £25,866 to £27,518, with potential progression once in post to £30,820.  Pro-rata for part time positions. 

Grade 4

Part time (0.6 FTE), Fixed term contract up to 31st August 2024

More vacancies may become available prior to the date of interview. 

Closing date: 7th January 2024

Zoom Info Session

If you are unsure as to whether this is the role for you, have any questions, or just want to learn more, we invite you to join us at the "UoB Education Support Administrator Info Session". This will be an open session where you can learn more about the role, ask questions, and hear more about what it's like to work at the University of Birmingham from a current Education Support Administrator. Please see below for details:

When: 18^th December 2023 and repeated 4^th January 2024

Register in advance for this meeting by emailing Clare Tolley ( )  

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Role Summary

At the University of Birmingham, students are at the heart of all we do.  You will be able to develop a wide range of skills, both technical and administrative, and may also have the opportunity to lead on specific tasks within the team. 

You will join a professional services team which is passionate about providing an excellent administration support for students and staff.  Duties may vary between teams, but you will have the opportunity to be involved in all aspects of the administrative work supporting the delivery of our taught and research programmes for students.  This will include providing timely and accurate administrative support for some or all of the following activities: student recruitment and admissions, welcome activities, induction, timetabling, attendance monitoring, examinations, student progression, placements and graduation etc.

Organisation chart

Typically reports to a Programme Manager and provides education support for one or more teaching programmes.

Main Duties

• Act as the first point of contact providing relevant and timely information to students, staff and external providers, answering queries promptly and handling any issues from initial contact to resolution. This will include recognising when queries need to be referred elsewhere.
• Provide administrative support for a wide range of activities in delivering the annual cycle of teaching and learning outlined in the role summary above; for example recording student attendance information or seeking draft exam papers from academic staff for approval.
• Regularly communicate relevant information to students, staff and external providers.
• Provide administrative support for event planning and delivery which enhances the curriculum and student experience.
• Use a variety of complex University systems and processes to collate, manipulate and interpret sets of data, and produce routine reports.
• Contribute to the annual programme/module review and evaluation processes.
• Contribute to periodic reviews of administrative processes and procedures with the objective of making improvements and sharing best practice across other areas within the wider University.
• Provide a professional secretarial service to relevant committees and meetings where required.
• Supports equality and values diversity, moderating own behaviour to avoid unfair discriminatory impact or bias on others.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience 

You will need to evidence:

• Some professional experience in similar roles; and
• GCSEs to a minimum of grade C/4 in English and Mathematics (or equivalent qualifications).

You will be:

• Comfortable in a role where you take responsibility for specific tasks, where you can carry out duties without needing to refer to others, and where you have some scope for choice and using your own judgment.
• Comfortable with working largely on your own initiative, although supervision is available. 
• Encouraged to contribute to improving processes and to propose new ways of working. 
• Able to communicate clearly and effectively with others, and delegate straightforward duties where appropriate.
• Well organised with the ability to prioritise work proactively, independently and as part of a team.

In addition to the above, you should be able to demonstrate and/or evidence the following:

• The ability to work to tight deadlines in a collaborative team environment. 
• The ability to support other team members. 
• A good understanding of how to deliver excellent customer service. 
• The ability to interact with individuals at all levels of internal and external organisations. 
• Experience of using and maintaining complex work systems e.g. student databases/record systems or equivalent, and an aptitude for learning new IT packages and systems.
• Exemplary attention to detail and the ability to work confidentially, use judgement and make appropriate decisions within the constraints of the role.
• Experience of supporting committees in a secretarial capacity.
• The ability to cope with change in a fast moving, dynamic environment where change is often required immediately. 
• An understanding of the importance of equality and diversity in the workplace.
• The ability to identify and respond to equality and diversity issues in line with relevant policies and procedures and how to respond to issues in line with relevant policies and procedures.

Dimensions

You will not be required to line manage anyone in this role or manage a budget. 

Planning and organising 

You will be required to manage and prioritise a varied workload to deliver within required time frames.

Problem solving and decision making  

You will be working under the direction of a senior manager, but with some autonomy to deliver the outputs required.  You will be working within the framework of existing policies, processes and procedures for the University and the College.  You will take day to day decisions on answering queries and will be expected to refer queries on as appropriate.

For internal enquiries, please contact Clare Tolley, email: ( )

Please note: the University will be closed for the Christmas break from the end of business on Wednesday 20^th December 2023 and will re open on Tuesday 2^nd January 2024 - you should not expect to receive a response to your email during this period.

View our staff values and behaviours here