Operations Officer - School Of Biosciences - 105434 - Grade 6

Job Title

Operations Officer

Job Description

School of Biosciences

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £33,002 to £35,608 with potential progression once in post to £39,906

Grade: 6

Full Time, Permanent

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

The College of Life and Environmental Sciences (LES) is home to around 5,000 students studying more than 100 undergraduate, postgraduate taught and research programmes. It has c350 academic and c150 professional services FTE, and an annual budget of £70m. The College is one of 5 colleges in the University and consists of 4 schools: Biosciences, Geography and Earth and Environmental Sciences, Psychology, and Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences.

We are dedicated to exploring the diversity and evolutionary challenges of life in all its forms. Across the breadth of life and environmental sciences, we discover, apply and translate science, forging major advances in human and environmental health. From exercise, biomedicine and mental health to climate change, food security and resilience we combine original thinking and real-world experience with clear focus and rigour.

Together, we are developing solutions to ensure a healthier and a more sustainable future.

Role Summary

The College of Life and Environmental Sciences (LES) are seeking a highly motivated and experienced Operations Officer to support the efficient daily operations in Biosciences. As Operations Officer, you will play a key role in providing high-quality operational and administrative support, ensuring the smooth running of essential School processes. You will work independently within established procedures, providing specialist expertise in finance and recruitment, and contributing to continuous service improvements. Your ability to prioritise tasks, manage multiple responsibilities, and provide expert advice will be essential in delivering efficient, compliant, and high-quality support.

This role requires a proactive and flexible approach, the ability to adapt to changing priorities, and strong relationship building skills. You will collaborate closely with academic and professional services colleagues across the School, College, and University to enhance operational effectiveness. The role also includes line management responsibilities, where you will lead, mentor, and coordinate workloads for another member of staff, ensuring effective performance and professional development. You will report to the Head of Operations, deputising as required, and work closely with stakeholders across the University to ensure efficient operational delivery.

Main Duties

• Financial management: Oversee and manage key financial processes, including budget planning, financial reporting, non-staff expenses, purchase orders, invoices, and reconciliations, ensuring compliance with University policies and providing guidance to colleagues.
• HR and recruitment: Manage the full recruitment lifecycle for core-funded and research staff, working with HR to attract candidates, oversee onboarding, and support induction. Handle contract extensions, workforce planning, and fixed-term contract renewals in alignment with project funding.
• Operational and governance support: Provide high-level administrative support to School leadership, including preparing reports, briefing documents, and maintaining key operational resources such as the School's Staff Handbook. Support School governance by coordinating meetings, preparing agendas, minuting discussions, and ensuring follow-up actions.
• Event and project coordination: Support the planning and execution of School-wide initiatives, strategic projects, and high-profile visits, ensuring smooth delivery and alignment with School and College priorities.
• Process improvement and compliance: Contribute to continuous improvement of operational functions by identifying efficiencies, streamlining processes, and ensuring compliance with policies and best practice.
• Line management and team leadership: Lead, mentor, and support Operations support staff within the School, ensuring effective workload distribution, professional development, and a collaborative and inclusive working environment.
• Flexible and collaborative working: Work proactively and flexibly across the operational team, ensuring responsive service delivery and adapting to evolving priorities to support the School's education, research, and strategic objectives.
• Any other duties commensurate with the role, as required by the Head of Operations or School leadership, to support the effective delivery of School and College priorities.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Demonstrable professional experience of effective and efficient business operations, following existing systems, procedures, and processes.
• Accurate, reliable, and willing to adapt and learn new skills and procedures.
• Good knowledge of Office 365, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, SharePoint, and Microsoft Teams, aligned with IT skills and strong familiarity with navigating various systems.
• Committee servicing - experience in organising meetings and taking minutes.
• Excellent communication skills, with experience of effective engagement with diverse stakeholders both internally and externally.
• Attention to detail and a high standard of accuracy.
• Excellent time management, prioritisation and organisational skills.
• Experience of responding independently and dealing with unforeseen problems and circumstances.
• Experience of delivering several tasks simultaneously often with conflicting deadline.
• Experience of communicating effectively and working collaboratively.
• Experience of working with minimum day to day supervision, managing and prioritising own workload.

Informal enquiries to Claire Cooper, email: c.e.cooper@bham.ac.uk

View our staff values and behaviours here

Use of AI in applications: We want to understand your genuine interest in the role and for the written elements of your application to accurately reflect your own communication style. Applications that rely too heavily on AI tools can appear generic and lack the detail we need to assess your skills and experience. Such applications will unlikely be progressed to interview.

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.

Job Info

• Job Identification 9088
• Job Category Specialist/Professional
• Posting Date 04/07/2026, 11:01 PM
• Apply Before 04/22/202