Position Details

College of Life and Environmental Sciences

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £32,296 to £34,866 with potential progression once in post to £39,105

Grade: 6

Full Time, Permanent

Closing date: 5th March 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. 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

Role Summary

Working under the direction of the Research Communications Manager, the Marketing and Communications Officer is responsible for the development and implementation of communications activity for the College of Life and Environmental Sciences. The objective of the role is to enhance the College’s identity and profile to both internal and external stakeholders. The post holder will work collaboratively with colleagues across the College and University with a flexible and innovative approach to deliver a broad spectrum of internal and external communications and marketing. The post holder will deliver tailored and targeted action plans across a range of research communications activities as well as take ownership of the College events programme and coordination of internal communications.

Experienced in both digital and offline marketing communications, the post holder will manage and implement multiple projects across internal communications and engagement, events, research communications and profile-raising activity.

As part of the College’s Marketing and Communications team, the post holder will take a key role in College-wide initiatives working with a number of professional services teams (including Student Services, Research Support) and academic colleagues, as well as working closely with the University’s Communications and Reputation team in External Relations.

Main Duties

• Develop and deliver marketing communications plans that deliver against key objectives in relation to multiple stakeholders in line with the University and College strategies. Raise the profile of the College, its research and education both internally and externally.
• Develop and deliver communications frameworks and strategies for the College’s recognised institutes and centres.
• Develop and deliver project plans for all internal communications, including recommending new processes and metrics. Monitoring and evaluation of plans.
• Support the development of key elements of the College Intranet, to include supporting content editors across the College.
• Take ownership of College events programme (virtual and in-person). All activity to be aligned with the wider College objectives in terms of building strong community relations and extending reach of research impact to defined audiences.
• Work with colleagues from across the University to develop and deliver the social media strategy for the College with a view to increasing reach and engagement of research and education activity.
• Support filming and photography activity, ensuring that the College has an up-to-date, dynamic portfolio of rich media content for campaigns.
• Effectively and proactively engage with academic and professional colleagues from across the Schools and College community to seek out opportunities and support profile raising. Develop strong links with senior academic staff to gain an understanding of strategic priorities within the College.
• Encourage engagement and growth of media coverage of academic colleagues in the College working closely with colleagues in the University Corporate Communications team.
• Develop and deliver training and development activities for academic staff enabling them to engage effectively with key stakeholders. These include (but not limited to) the media, policy influencers, general public, and internal stakeholders.
• Liaise closely with colleagues from across the institution to develop and grow the internal profile of the College and its Schools, ensuring all opportunities are explored and disseminated accordingly.
• Ensure that the reputation and brand of the University, College and its Schools, is supported and adhered to at all times, working with University Communications, Creative Media and other colleagues as appropriate.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Degree-level education or equivalent work experience
• Event management experience, involving internal and external stakeholders
• Experience of devising, and delivering, multi-channel strategic communications plans
• Experience of translating complex information into accessible communications through multiple channels
• Demonstrable understanding of the complexities and competing factors related to research environment and higher education
• Proven copywriting ability for a range of audiences and communications channels
• Enthusiastic approach with an ability to bring people together to work on a common cause
• Strong stakeholder relationship skills, including the ability to influence people in positions of seniority
• A proven, high standard of communication skills and confidence in managing projects at all levels
• Well-developed administrative and organisational skills with a proven ability to pay meticulous attention to detail
• Ability to work with initiative and being able to prioritise work in a pressured environment and manage multiple workloads simultaneously
• Ability to proactively solve problems with a creative and innovative approach
• Computer literate, confident and competent in the use of database systems and electronic communication
• Experience of coordinating and evaluating digital advertising campaigns
• Ability to use analytics and interpret data to inform your work and evaluate campaigns
• Experience of using CMS and CRM software
• Ability to work well in a team as well as work independently when appropriate

Flexibility to work out of hours as required (including occasional evening and weekend work) and a willingness to travel where necessary

Informal enquiries to Caroline Durbin, email: c.durbin@bham.ac.uk

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 .