Position Details

Worklink

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £31,396 to £33,966 with potential progression once in post to £38,205

Grade: 6

Full Time, Permanent

Closing date: 16th September 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

Campus Services (CS) employs over 900 staff with a turnover exceeding £65m in the last financial year. CS plays a key role in the quality of the student, staff, and visitor experience, providing services across diverse areas such as the University’s sporting facilities, food and beverage, cleaning, conferencing, hotel operations, day nurseries, Portering, post, branded and own-brand retail outlets, visitor services and attractions (e.g., Winterbourne House & Gardens), student housing, transport, waste disposal and recycling. CS is a highly commercial organisation operating within the University context and has an ambitious strategic agenda, in terms of growing our service profile across both our Birmingham and Dubai campuses.

Worklink is the University of Birmingham’s on campus student casual work recruitment service, dedicated to helping students find flexible work on campus while they study. Our service enables students to earn money while they study, develop new skills through working in University roles and boosting their employability. We support University managers with our recruitment expertise to help them to find the best student candidates for their vacancies.

Role Summary

The Operations and Project Coordinator supports the management and delivery of Worklink administration, relating to student casual work assignments at The University of Birmingham. This role is increasingly involved in a large amount of project work, including operational and process improvements, service growth, and contributing to University-wide projects. The post holder will line manage a small team, ensuring that processes and systems remain accurate and up to date, while providing advice and guidance to stakeholders across the University. They will take on a project coordination element to manage small projects and project documentation for both their projects and larger projects managed by other team members. Balancing these responsibilities alongside daily operational tasks and arising challenges is crucial. The post holder will ensure the quality and professionalism of the service is maintained, representing the University in a highly professional manner, and building and maintaining relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, including Payroll, the Core Systems Optimisation Team, HR, and senior professionals and academics.

Main Duties

• Oversee and optimise the administration team at Worklink by evaluating performance, conducting targeted individual meetings, resolving HR issues, and ensuring adherence to the values and behaviours framework.
• Facilitate Performance and Development Reviews and direct, inspire and develop team members to achieve service standards through effective training and guidance.
• Provide expert counsel to colleagues on system activity, University policies, and procedures for casual work assignments; provide guidance to Hiring Managers ensuring compliance with UKVI and DBS legislation and implement changes in employment legislation to maintain team compliance.
• Monitor and approve activity in Core Systems to ensure data integrity, deliver targeted training, and maintain data quality for efficient payroll processing
• Develop, support, and evaluate the effectiveness of ongoing testing and training for Core Systems. Lead the creation and review of guidance documents and communications, ensuring process maps are up to date.
• Lead and collaborate on implementing improvements to administrative processes, identifying and executing new enhancement opportunities.
• Provide deputy leadership support to ensure continuity and alignment with quality commitments, employing strategic direction.
• Assist in managing the team by overseeing performance, ensuring quality assurance, maintaining staff welfare, and handling recruitment and induction. Collaborate on workload prioritisation and represent the department in meetings as needed. Leading and delivering on Worklink projects including managing elements of larger projects and smaller projects independently.
• Contribute to developing communications plans, presentations, and promoting the projects and their outcomes.
• Maintain an up-to-date knowledge of project management methodologies and work with the wider Project management community to develop best practice.
• Create and execute comprehensive training programs, maintain updated training records, and ensure all guidance documents comply with regulations and are regularly updated following process changes.
• Promotes equality and values diversity, acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
• Supports the University’s sustainability agenda through resource efficient working.
• Any other duties commensurate with the grade.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Experience managing and motivating teams, prioritising workloads, monitoring performance, and conducting appraisals.
• Front-facing customer service experience with a strong customer service focus.
• Excellent communication skills adaptable to diverse customer groups.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and ability to learn new software and processes.
• Knowledge of DBS processes, Employment Legislation, and the UK Higher Education sector.
• Ability to use databases, create reports, analyse data, and drive process improvements.
• Proactive problem-solving skills with attention to detail and ability to meet targets and deadlines.
• Strong organisational skills, adept at planning and delivering multiple objectives under time pressure, with flexibility to adapt to changing requirements.
• Experience of using project management tools is desirable.
• Experience of managing complex information and queries within project delivery.
• Educated to Degree level (or equivalent qualifications) - where no equivalent qualification is held, significant practical relevant experience and expertise in a similar role will be required
• Evidence of literacy and numeracy, with the ability to write clearly, and to analyse information and data.
• 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.
Able and willing to work flexibly. Normal office hours are between 8:30am and 5pm Monday to Friday, however some evening and weekend work may be required.

Informal enquiries to Adam Chambers, email: [email protected] between 27th August to 29th August. After 29th August can all informal enquires go to James Liddiard, email: [email protected].

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 everyone on our website .