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Finance Office

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £29,762 to £32,411 with potential progression once in post to £36,333

Grade 6

Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to September 2024

Closing date: 13th August 2023

This role is also open as an internal secondment opportunity which would need to be agreed by your current line manager.

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

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Personal or Executive Assistant to gain a broad understanding of a complex business within a busy team, providing executive support to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and her deputies. The Finance team is broad in the areas of work it supports and this role will be embedded in the work of the team and the University. Working as manager of a small team providing support to the leadership in Finance, where we pride ourselves on our collaborative approach and customer focus and are looking to recruit an individual who has values in line with ours: ambitious, innovative, open, collaborative and responsible. We are looking for a highly motivated individual with a “can-do” attitude and outstanding interpersonal and organisational skills.

Role Summary

This is a busy, dynamic, and challenging role working at the heart of the University supporting the CFO, her deputies and Finance in a range of work.

The post holder will gain understanding of the area of work of the CFO and Finance, using this knowledge to make effective decisions on her behalf. You will be able to work without direct supervision and 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 act as a conduit between Finance and other internal and external stakeholders, and your approach will be collaborative and founded on real empathy with the academic endeavour of the University.

Administrative and diary support

You will provide high-quality and timely administrative and organisational support through a broad range of duties including complex email and diary management, organising meetings and events, undertaking complex travel arrangements, liaising with a range of internal and external stakeholders on behalf of the CFO and Deputies, and leading and supporting projects. You may occasionally be required to compile reports, papers, briefings, and analyse management information for a range of internal and external audiences.

You will use your excellent organisational skills and attention to detail to ensure the CFO and Deputies are well prepared; your outstanding communication skills to represent the senior team; and you will enjoy navigating a large complex organisation in order to get things done.

Events

You will arrange and manage high profile events (visits, conferences etc.) when needed, liaising effectively with a range of departments within the University and externally. You will use your excellent communication skills to build a network of contacts to support this work.

You will also line manage a team of two, motivating, supporting and proactively monitoring performance throughout the year, ensuring they are delivering appropriate support.

Main Duties

• Effective management of the inbox and a complex and challenging diary for university business and, related to the senior team’s roles in other external organisations, prioritising and planning the diary at least 12 months in advance.
• Leading a small team, prioritising and allocating work, inspiring high standards and managing performance to ensure combined and effective delivery of outputs.
• Dealing with a wide range of enquiries independently, exercising good judgement when acting as the interface between the senior team and senior figures within the University and externally.
• Proactive preparation and collation of meeting-related papers.
• Production of documents, presentations, and briefings in relation to the work undertaken by the senior team, including undertaking desk research and sourcing information from others.
• Planning and arranging complex UK and overseas travel, ensuring the best use of time and taking into account budgetary constraints.
• Planning and arranging events, and organising high profile visits by senior external stakeholders, requiring close liaison with a range of departments.
• Provision of high-quality committee support where necessary, taking minutes and ensuring that any action points are followed up in a timely manner.
• Leading initiatives where this is delegated from the senior team.
• Monitoring and processing financial information in accordance with the University’s policies.
• Providing cover for the other colleagues in the team.
• The post holder is required to be flexible in developing their role and will from time to time be required to undertake any other duties commensurate with the grading of the post.

Person Specification

• Experience of operating as a Personal Assistant or similar role, including some team management, in a complex organisation.
• Strong organisational and administrative skills.
• A high degree of personal judgement, resourcefulness, flexibility, and a self-motivating approach.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to inspire confidence and command authority with a range of colleagues and external contacts.
• Ability to build networks to facilitate cross-institution collaboration, promote knowledge sharing, provide constructive challenge as appropriate, and gain commitment to action or change.
• Evidence of professionalism, tact, and diplomacy, and the ability to exercise discretion regarding the handling and management of sensitive information/issues.
• Good 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 MS 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 to different people and deadlines, and the resilience to manage changing priorities.
• Outstanding customer service at all times.
• An interest in, and knowledge of, the higher education sector, and an understanding of how sector or institutional changes may impact on their work or the work of the senior team.
• A commitment to promote and adhere to the agreed values of the University and the Finance Division.
  

When completing the application form, please use the person specification above to inform your answer to the section that says: Please provide your reasons for applying for this role, skills, experience, and other interests and activities as appropriate to the post for which you are applying. As a rough guide, we would expect you to write in the region of 600-1000 words and cover how your skills and experience apply to the role, with clear examples. You may also attach a CV if you wish, however, shortlisting will be predominantly based on the information in the application form.

If shortlisted, you will be invited for interview and to meet the team you will be working with and for. Outline interview questions will be provided in advance.

Informal enquires to Erica Conway, email: [email protected] . If you are new to the University of Birmingham, we can also put you in touch with colleagues from the staff networks, or others across the University, to help you get a sense of what it is like to work here.

View our staff values and behaviours here

Valuing excellence, sustaining investment

We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community and are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working .