Senior Executive Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor - Executive Office - 9413Z24 - Grade 8

Full Job Description

Position Details

Executive Office

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £45,585 to £54,395 with potential progression once in post to £61,198

Grade: 8

Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to May 2025

Closing date: 28th January 2024

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, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We 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 to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide-range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career 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 debate. We 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 are, and how we work.

Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a 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 site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.

Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham

Background

The University of Birmingham is a global institution working within a diverse and vibrant city. We offer an inspiring education to our students and undertake important and impactful research. We are a place of open, critical thinking, and the creation, sharing and dissemination of knowledge.

This post is based in the University’s Executive Office. The Executive Office is part of the Executive Support Division, which includes Strategic Planning, Strategic Programme Development and Change, Legal Services, Sustainability, and Governance, and we meet regularly to share our work and successes, and to learn together. We are open and welcoming to people from all walks of life and believe that a diverse team with a mix of perspectives and experiences provides the best environment for success. The Executive Office established and leads the University-wide PA Network, which brings together all PAs and EAs across the institution. We’re really proud that our network was recognised with a West Midlands PA Forum award.

We are looking for a highly motivated individual with a “can-do” attitude and outstanding interpersonal and organisational skills. In exchange, the right candidate will join over 8,000 staff at the University, with opportunities to join staff networks such as the Rainbow Network, Parents and Carers’ Network, Women’s Network, Race Equality Network, and Enabling Staff Network. They will benefit from good holidays and a pension scheme, flexibility, and lots of opportunities for learning and development.

Role Summary

This is a busy, dynamic, and challenging post working at the very heart of the University. The post-holder will cover a period of parental leave for twelve months. You will work closely with the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Adam Tickell, who leads the University – and is our equivalent of a Chief Executive Officer. You will also work with the University’s Chief of Staff and the Head of the Executive Office.

The post will suit a highly motivated individual with outstanding interpersonal skills who relishes the chance to take on a broad range of work, from project delivery to event management. The post-holder will work with others across the University to ensure that activities are joined up and are designed to meet the needs of various stakeholders.

The post-holder will be able to work without direct supervision and will exercise a high level of discretion and self-motivation, working simultaneously on multiple tasks whilst maintaining a clear focus on the key issues that need to be addressed. You will have an in-depth understanding of policy issues as they relate to the University, as well as being capable of taking the initiative to develop and lead institutional projects.

You will act as a conduit between Adam, his senior team, and internal and external stakeholders, and your approach will be collaborative and founded on real empathy with the academic endeavour of the University.

You will role model exemplary behaviours and provide thought leadership, advice and guidance to the Executive Office team to ensure the functions of the Office are delivered to the highest quality.

The post-holder will line manage a small team, and will usually work to a pattern of four days/week from campus.

Main Duties

Executive Support for the Vice-Chancellor

• Responsibility for the provision of a broad range of activities that facilitate the Vice-Chancellor’s ability to lead the organisation, including:
  • Line management of the Executive Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor to ensure effective and proactive management of mailboxes and a complex and challenging diary with a range of internal and high-profile external commitments, prioritising and planning the diary at least 12 months in advance.
  • Production of documents, presentations, and briefings in relation to the work undertaken by the senior team, including undertaking desk research and sourcing, interpreting, and appropriately responding to information from internal and external stakeholders. 
  • Proactive preparation and collation of high-quality meeting-related papers including working closely with the Governance team to ensure the effective sequencing of executive and non-executive committees and acting as an interface between senior colleagues. 
  • Provision of high-quality committee support including taking clear and concise minutes and ensuring that any action points are followed up in a timely manner.
  • Planning and arranging complex UK and overseas travel, ensuring the best use of time and considering budgetary constraints.
  • Provision of outstanding customer service at all times, including acting as a first point of contact for internal and external visitors to the office.
• Politically astute decision-making regarding priorities in consultation with the Vice-Chancellor to optimise his time in the most effective and efficient way.
• Dealing with a wide range of enquiries independently, demonstrating excellent judgement and sensitivity to wider political and organisational priorities when working with the senior team and senior figures within the University and externally.
• Planning and arranging events, and organising high-profile visits by senior external stakeholders, requiring close liaison with a range of departments.
• Keeping abreast of external developments in the Higher Education sector, ensuring the Vice-Chancellor is briefed and has up to date information from the appropriate sources.
• Leading internal and external initiatives where delegated from the senior team.
• Monitoring and processing financial information in accordance with the University’s policies, for example monitoring budgetary spend, taking corrective action, and flagging issues where appropriate.

People Management

• Managing and supervising a small team and providing advice and guidance to other members of the Executive Office. Ensuring relevant targets and goals are achieved within resource constraints.
• Create a motivating environment where staff are challenged, developed, encouraged and supported to achieve outstanding results.
• Responsible for ensuring all annual review processes, including Performance and Development Reviews are conducted within the team.
• Identify appropriate opportunities for development and change and encourage other team members to do the same.
• Guide staff through periods of change, communicating a clear and positive vision.

General

• Is an active member of the PA Network to support and develop the skills of other PAs and EAs across the University, including leadership and mentorship as appropriate.
• Actively manages equality, diversity and inclusion through monitoring and evaluation and actively challenging unacceptable behaviour.
• Supports the University’s sustainability agenda through resource efficient working.
• Any other duties commensurate with the grade.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Educated to Degree level (or equivalent qualifications) or significant and proven experience of working as a Personal/Executive Assistant at Board level in a complex organisation plus practical managerial experience - where no equivalent qualification is held significant practical relevant experience and expertise in a series of progressively more demanding roles will be required.
• Outstanding organisational and administrative skills with proven ability to evaluate and improve processes and set standards for best practice.
• Strong intellectual confidence and a high degree of personal judgement, resourcefulness, flexibility, and a self-motivating approach. The ability to complete tasks based on only broad direction and with minimum supervision.
• Substantial experience of engaging, and collaborating, with internal and external stakeholders.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to inspire confidence and command authority with a range of colleagues and high-profile external contacts, including proven influencing and negotiation skills with the ability to resolve issues at all levels.
• Excellent people management skills, with proven experience of leading, motivating and managing teams.
• Ability to build networks to facilitate cross-institutional collaboration, promote knowledge sharing, provide constructive challenge as appropriate, and gain commitment to action or change.
• A high degree of professionalism, tact, and diplomacy, and the ability to exercise discretion regarding the handling and management of sensitive information/issues.
• Outstanding written communication skills, including the ability to write on behalf of the senior team for different audiences and to required deadlines.
• Highly proficient IT skills, in particular the ability to handle complex electronic diaries and emails and the Microsoft Office suite of programmes. The post-holder should also be confident and able to quickly learn new IT skills and software packages as required.
• Ability to produce and analyse complex source material, information and data.
• A high degree of initiative and an ability to bring personal ideas and creativity to projects and tasks and work with others to ensure projects are successfully completed.
• Enthusiasm and willingness to meet challenging demands, working with different people and deadlines, and the resilience to proactively manage changing priorities without reference to others.
• Demonstrable confident and welcoming style and outstanding customer service at all times
• An interest in higher education and an ability to get up to speed quickly with key policy issues in the sector.
• Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day to day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly. 

Dimensions

Roles at this level provide authoritative professional advice across a range of activities and/or will lead and manage diverse team(s) and resources. You will use your professional skills to resolve problems where the solution is not immediately apparent. Significant evaluation and independent thought is therefore required to resolve ambiguity. You will have wide discretion to decide on direction whilst ensuring activities are broadly consistent with operational policies. You will be able to influence policy through advising on the impact of policy change and implementation in your area of work. You will need to assess the impact of your activities across your area, with related areas and to ensure they fit with the broader objectives of the University.

Planning and Organising

• provide professional expertise, and manage resources and/or a diverse team;
• integrate and co-ordinate work across different parts of the department/University;
• lead and manage staff who are likely to be carrying out diverse duties, and ensure collaborative working to deliver a successful service;
• project manage activities to facilitate major changes;
• develop policy within functional guidelines, and contribute to strategic development within own area;
• be accountable for the quality and professionalism of service delivery, with an appreciation of longer term issues.

Problem Solving and decision making

• anticipate, interpret and assess customer needs, identifying trends, generating original ideas and testing innovative solutions;
• deal with significant people management issues such as change programmes;
• resolve issues which may not have arisen before through use of experience and judgement.

Internal and External relationships

• has an excellent understanding of their own working area and a broad understanding of the contribution other areas make to the success of the University;
• has an excellent understanding of how the University operates, together with an understanding of how academia operates in the UK;
• demonstrates empathy with the academic endeavour and seeks to encourage others to do so;
• use coaching skills to motivate and develop staff;
• proactively and sensitively manage the performance of their team and create a motivating environment;
• influence others (including across the University) to follow a particular course of action;
• represent the department at internal and external meetings/events/network with colleagues in other institutions to share best practice.

Informal enquiries to Richard Charlton, 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. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone  on our website .