Executive Assistant and Project Officer - Human Resources - 8664 - Grade 6

University of Birmingham; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 36,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Birmingham seeks an Executive Assistant and Project Officer to support the HR Executive Office. The role involves managing projects and providing high-level executive support to senior HR leaders, requiring strong organizational and communication skills. This full-time position offers a competitive salary with opportunities for professional development within a diverse and inclusive environment.

Benefits

40 days paid holiday a year

Occupational sick pay

Pension scheme

Generous package of benefits

Qualifications

• Educated to Degree level or equivalent.
• Significant practical experience in a similar role.
• Proficient IT skills, especially with email and diary management.

Responsibilities

• Provide executive support to the Director of People and Culture.
• Manage and deliver designated HR projects.
• Assist in planning meetings and high-profile events.

Skills

Organizational skills

Communication skills

Interpersonal skills

Project management

Analytical skills

Education

Degree or equivalent qualifications

Tools

MS Office

Job description

Position Details

Human Resources

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £32,546 to £35,116 with potential progression once in post to £39,355

Grade: 6

Full Time, Permanent

Closing date: 6th July 2025

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 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 todevelopthrough our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programmewhichprovides allprofessionalservices staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential.With almost 5,000professionalservices jobs in a wide-range of 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 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 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 working.In 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 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 thebenefits of working for the Universityof Birmingham

Role Summary

The HR Executive Office is one of a number of functions that makes up the Human Resources (HR) division at the University. As part of this Team, the Executive Assistant and Project Officer will provide project and executive support to the Director of People and Culture and in addition will provide support where required to the wider senior HR Leadership Team and the HR Executive Office team.

This is a busy, dynamic, and challenging post working at the heart of the University supporting our senior HR leaders. The post holder 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. The role will act as a conduit between the Director of People and Culture and other internal and external stakeholders, demonstrating a collaborative approach founded on real empathy with the academic endeavour of the University. The role will require excellent organisational skills and attention to detail to ensure provision of the best executive support to the Director of People and Culture. The role holder will use outstanding interpersonal and communication skills to represent Human Resources and the Executive office; and will enjoy navigating a large complex organisation in order to get things done.

Project Support

The role holder will either assist in the management of designated projects across HR, supporting HR Project Managers and other senior HR colleagues, or manage and deliver smaller projects, or elements of projects, devising and delivering project plans to ensure the successful completion. The role holder may occasionally be required to compile reports, papers, briefings, and analyse management information for a range of internal and external audiences.

Executive support

The role holder will provide high-quality and timely executive support to the Director of People and Culture as and when required, through a broad range of duties including support to University committees, complex email and diary planning management, organising meetings and events, and liaising with a range of internal and external stakeholders. The role holder will ensure professionalism at all times, especially when dealing with sensitive and confidential matters.

Main Duties

Projects

• To support project delivery, Project Boards, workstreams and working groups within an overall HR Strategic project or manage elements of larger projects or smaller projects on your own;
• Support may include some or all of the following:
• carrying out project planning activities;
• identifying milestones which will need to be adhered to;
• data collection and analysis;
• milestone tracking/key performance indicator tracking;
• developing and proposing solutions for any issues;
• recommending improvements to project management;
• preparing progress reports for project boards or other meetings;
• assisting in budgetary monitoring and management, including reporting;
• assisting with stakeholder management, developing and maintaining regular contact with internal and external stakeholders to understand requirements;
• assessing and escalating issues and risks as appropriate;
• Contribute to developing communications plans, presentations, and promoting the projects and outcomes of projects/workstreams;
• Maintain an up-to-date knowledge of project management methodologies;
• Determine short term priorities for own work, ensuring you maximise quality, efficiency and continuity;
• Assist in the evaluation and review of projects;
• Production of documents, presentations, and briefings in relation to the work undertaken by the senior team, including undertaking desk research and sourcing information from internal and external stakeholders;
• Leading initiatives where this is delegated from the senior team.

Executive Support

• Supporting the Director of People and Culture (and wider Senior Leadership Team and HR Executive Office) where required, with high level executive support, including:
  • Provision of high-quality support to several key University committees where necessary, taking accurate minutes and ensuring that any action points are followed up in a timely manner.
  • Dealing with a wide range of enquiries independently, exercising good judgement and discretion when acting as the interface between the HR senior team and senior colleagues within the University and externally.
  • Handling sensitive communication, maintaining confidentiality and discretion at all times.
  • Effective management of an email communication and diary planning, prioritising and planning key meetings and events, liaising with key senior stakeholders in the University and beyond- at least 12 months in advance.
  • Proactive preparation and collation of meeting-related papers.
  • As directed, planning and arranging events on behalf of the HR function and organising high-profile visits by senior external stakeholders, requiring close liaison with a range of departments.
• Planning and arranging complex UK and overseas travel, ensuring the best use of time and ensuring compliance with relevant Financial and Expenses related policies and procedures, and considering budgetary constraints.
• Monitoring and processing financial information in accordance with the University’s policies.
• Providing cover for other colleagues in the HR Executive Office.

General

• Promote 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

• 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.
• Significant practical experience in a similar role working with senior stakeholders at Board level in a complex organisation.
• Experience of delivering or supporting the delivery of projects and using project management tools.
• Evidence of literacy and numeracy, with excellent communication skills and a demonstrable ability to write clearly, including on behalf of the senior HR team for different audiences, and to analyse information and data.
• Highly proficient IT skills, inparticulartheabilitytohandlecomplexelectronicdiariesand emails and the wider MS Office suite of programmes including excel and PowerPoint. The post holder should also be confident and able to quickly learn new IT skills and software packages as required.
• Ability to understand and ensure adherence to policy, processes and procedures, but also to recommend improvements and implement changes where appropriate to do so.
• Excellent analytical skills used to produce reports, identify issues and resolve them decisively.
• Excellent interpersonal skills. The post holder 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.
• Enthusiasmandwillingnesstomeetchallengingdemands,workingwithdifferentpeople and deadlines, and the resilience to manage changing priorities.
• Ability to work effectively in a large, complex organisation, and to develop a good understanding of howthe Universityand higher education institutions work.
• 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 HR team.
• Ability to build networks to facilitate cross-institution collaboration, promote knowledge sharing, provide constructive challenge as appropriate, and gain commitment to action or change.
• Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion considerations ensuring that at all times those are embedded in day-to-day activity in own area.

Role context

Roles at this level will require expertise and a detailed understanding of methods, systems and procedures in an administrative or professional area. You will either use specialist knowledge or have more of a planning/co-ordination/project role. You will have the opportunity to exercise a high degree of personal responsibility and initiative which you will use to resolve queries; you will use your judgement to deal with unforeseen problems and circumstances, all with limited guidance/supervision.

Core competencies/transferable skills

Working at this level you will be able to develop and successfully use the core competencies/transferable skills outlined in each of the areas shown below.As appropriate for the level, our Birmingham Professionals will take ownership for getting things done.You will be expected to be flexible as required in supporting your department and wider University.

Planning and organising

• prioritise and schedule work and resources to ensure on time and (where applicable) on budget delivery;
• set priorities and quality standards for a wide range of tasks and duties;
• contribute to written documents, for example guidelines internal to the area, taking account of audience;
• operate with limited supervision as they will have considerable scope for initiative, within established work procedures.

Problem solving and decision making

• anticipate and identify issues in own area based on experience;
• make appropriate suggestions for improvements and implement these when agreed in own area;
• facilitate change, and articulate the implications and benefits of change to others;
• focus ondetermining short-term priorities of work area, and how to maximise quality, efficiency, and continuity.

Organisational understanding

• quickly develop an understanding of their working area and how it contributes to the success of the University;
• display an interest in how the University operates beyond own working area; develop and share this knowledge with others.

Relationships and communication

• develop and maintain excellent working relationships in own area, and more widely as required for collaborative working opportunities;
• communicate clearly and openly with others both within and external to the University, and use a range of communication skills and strategies to gain commitment to a course of action;
• always demonstrate collaborative working, including with others outside the immediate work area.

Informal enquiries to Charlotte Bowles, email: [e-mail]

View our staff values and behaviourshere

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 .