IT Procurement and Software Licencing Specialist - IT Services - 13596S25 - Grade 5

Position Details

IT Services

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £29,647 to £31,460, with potential progression once in post to £35,388

Grade: 5

Full Time, Permanent

Closing date: 4th May 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, 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. Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University, and we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. 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.

Role Summary

This is an important role within IT Services working within Client Services to provide a much-needed function across End User Services. As part of the Client Services team, this role will centralise the procurement and licensing of standard / non-standard items ensuring that local teams have more time to focus on other issues.

The post holder will provide a highly responsive, cost effective and efficient purchasing and management service to the University, enabling hardware and software to be made available to staff and students according to agreed standards and expectations. They will support the implementation of strategies, policies, regulations whilst providing guidance to university staff and students.

The primary purpose of this role is to provide a responsive centralised service for standard / non-standard items across End User Services. The post-holder will:

• Process orders for Hardware and Software, providing support to the existing hardware and software services function within the team.
• Identify opportunities for improving Hardware and Software Services and taking a proactive role in automating or streamlining the service whenever possible.

Main Duties

• Tracking assets during the procurement process to ensure that equipment and software is correctly logged and tracked on the asset management system.
• You will be responsible for determining your own priorities for your workload, and for ensuring you co-ordinate with other team members to meet overall IT Services priorities.
• Provide up-to-date information on costs to enquirers, ensuring the University gets value for money.
• Place orders with suppliers, coordinating with budget holders and Finance Office.
• Processing orders for agreed items across the University using our call/incident platform, ServiceNow, to progress requests keeping the user informed.
• Support the continuous improvement of software procurement and licensing processes, identifying areas for automation and self-serve provision.
• Ensure that recurring, annual software licences are recorded and renewal mechanisms pro-actively actioned in a timely manner.
• Act as primary contact for the University’s main hardware and software suppliers, tracking performance to ensure the University is receiving the expected and agreed level of service.
• Liaise with counterparts at other institutions through forums to share knowledge and gain information.
• Maintain the University’s various software delivery services for provision of software to non-managed devices to staff and students.
• Develop and maintain an effective hardware and software management process including licensing.
• Track usage of managed software and licences.
• Advising on non-standard requests use cases in conjunction with technical and business owners.
• Ensure that centrally provisioned licences are kept up to date by establishing and maintaining communications with vendors and key personnel.
• Ensure the Universal Services Application Packagers are aware of any new software or new versions of existing software required.
• Liaise with Service Owners to update License Server with correct license versions.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• 5 GCSEs at grade C or above, including Mathematics and English (or equivalent level 2 vocational qualifications).
• A demonstrable experience in administration and/or order processing.
• A good up to date general knowledge on current trends in IT.
• The ability to work effectively as a member of a team towards quality service goals and deadlines.
• Excellent communication skills, coupled with a strong customer service orientation.
• Ability to prioritise and schedule workload in the face of conflicting demands.
• Structured and methodical approach to problem solving.
• A willingness to adopt and champion new ways of working.
• A willingness to coach and train colleagues in your own areas of expertise.
• A good knowledge of IT hardware and specifications.

Dimensions

You will have no direct financial or staff management responsibility.

Planning and Organising

You will be working in response to more complex customer enquiries, and you will need to prioritise your own workload to deliver on schedule and at quality.

Problem Solving and Decision Making

You will use your knowledge and expertise to analyse problems and identify solutions, making recommendations on the implementation of a longer-term plan when necessary.

Internal and External Relationships

You will liaise with a wide range of staff and students, and colleagues in the wider IT team to ensure the delivery of a quality service.

Informal enquiries to Andrew Kilminster, email: a.r.kilminster@bham.ac.uk

View our staff values and behaviours here.