Personal Assistant

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

Job summary

A leading UK university is seeking experienced Personal Assistants to support the School Heads of Department. This full-time role requires exceptional communication and organisational skills, along with advanced IT skills. Responsibilities include managing diaries, scheduling meetings, and providing high-quality secretarial support. The ideal candidate will have previous experience as a Personal Assistant and be able to work collaboratively with diverse stakeholders. This is a great opportunity to contribute to the university's strategic initiatives.

Qualifications

• Previous experience as a Personal Assistant.
• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office tools.
• Experience in diary management.

Responsibilities

• Provide high-quality secretarial support.
• Manage electronic diaries effectively.
• Schedule and prepare for meetings.

Skills

Strong communication skills

Organisational skills

IT skills (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

Team working skills

Job description

Department Student Services Location Birmingham, West Midlands Salary £32,006 to £35,331per annum Post Type Full Time Release Date 04 December 2025 Closing Date 23.59 hours GMT on Friday 09 January 2026 Reference BUS25004

Birmingham City University is seeking experienced Personal Assistants to join the newly formed School Leadership teams, where you will be responsible for supporting the School Heads of Department, and be a part of our journey to achieve the priorities outlined in the University’s ambitious and future focussed Strategic Plan.

We are seeking highly organised and proactive candidates to work closely with the Heads of Department, providing a confidential and high level of support. This pivotal role demands exceptional communication and organisational skills, a keen eye for detail, and the ability to manage a dynamic and fast-paced workload with professionalism and efficiency.

Reporting to the Director of School Operations you will have the ability to organise your own workload and manage a complex diary. You will have a flexible approach to your role, where you will work with the Heads of Department and the Dean’s Executive Personal Assistant to ensure the business needs and key university and school-based activities and deadlines are met. The ability to form positive working relationships with key internal and external stakeholders will be key to your success, as will managing and planning key events.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Providing a high quality secretarial and organisational support service.
• Effective management of electronic diaries, assessing priority of appointments and reallocation as necessary.
• Providing support for an extensive range of meetings. This will include scheduling, preparing agendas, pre meeting briefings and meeting papers, noting action points and following them up.
• Drafting correspondence, memos and reports and preparing presentations.
• Acting as a key liaison point between the senior managers and other key parties, setting up meetings as appropriate and maintaining good communications.
• Making travel arrangements, booking accommodation and processing claims for expenses.
• Sorting, distributing and responding or drafting responses to incoming mail in a timely and efficient manner.

Amongst other essential criteria, the Personal Assistant will:

• Have previous working experience as a Personal Assistant.
• Possess excellent IT skills including advanced knowledge of word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software packages, preferably Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Have experience of electronic diary management.
• Be able to demonstrate excellent team working skills with the ability to work collaboratively and cooperatively with colleagues.
• Be able to assimilate large quantities of written and verbal communication quickly in order to produce accurate, timely minutes.

Birmingham City University is deeply committed to equality, diversity, and inclusivity at all levels in the organisation, and to addressing underrepresentation in our workforce to ensure we are truly representative of the community we serve. We welcome applications from applicants from all backgrounds and communities for this role, and particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic applicants.

The appointed candidate will normally be employed through our subsidiary company BCU Support Services Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Birmingham City University. Appointees with prior LGPS membership who wish to enter the LGPS scheme will be able to do so and will be employed by Birmingham City University directly.