Programme Administrator (Doctoral Research College) - Fixed Term minimum 6 months (102019-472)

Category: Admin/Clerical | Faculty/Division: Research, Innovation and Enterprise | School: Doctoral Research | Department: Doctoral Research | Location: City South Campus | Post Type: Full Time | Closing Date: 28 Oct 2019 | Birmingham City University is implementing a new and ambitious growth strategy across the continuum of Research, Innovation and Enterprise activities.  Delivery of our new strategy will ensure that new knowledge underpins our curriculum offerings to all students; powers innovative collaborations and partnerships with organisations of all types and delivers economic; cultural and societal impact regionally; nationally and globally. The research ambitions of the University can be summarised by the phrase “Better; Bigger; Broader and Bolder”, signaling our intention to further improve research quality; grow the numbers of research-engaged staff and post-graduate research students; ensure excellent research underpins our entire academic portfolio and to do more research in collaboration with end-users to drive innovation; address real-world problems and deliver tangible impacts. Post-graduate research students (PGRs) are an essential part of our research ambitions, adding new capacity to our research engine and contributing to our research ambitions, whilst studying for a research doctorate supervised by teams of faculty-based research-engaged academic staff. An integral part of our strategy has been the establishment of a cross-university Doctoral Research College to support the development journeys of our doctoral student population from application to award. Working in partnership with Faculty-based PGR coordinators and academic staff, the DRC coordinates and harmonises all aspects of doctoral student provision, to ensure our PGRs receive a high-quality experience and are equipped with a range of transferrable skills for their subsequent professional lives. We have ambitions to grow significantly our doctoral student population and to manage actively and accelerate progress of PGRs to achieve award within 4 years of full-time study. The Doctoral Research College team is led by the DRC Manager and comprises a distributed team of centrally-located and faculty-embedded Doctoral Research College Officers and Programme Administrators (Doctoral Research College) who work in partnership with academic staff to support all aspects of PGR life and administer the systems and processes that underpin doctoral studies. The Programme Administrator (Doctoral Research College) has an important role, supporting operations of the Doctoral research College with all administrative aspects of the PGR life-cycle, including: Supporting the Doctoral Research College Officers in delivery of a high quality, support for PGR students from admission to award. Provide PGRs with a friendly, knowledgeable and helpful primary point of contact for administrative matters relating to their doctoral studies. Maintaining accurate student records, utilising a range of systems, including SITS, and ensuring administrative processes for PGR students are effective, efficient and compliant. Assisting academic supervisors with scheduling and arrangements for student supervision meetings and providing administrative support for the Faculty Research Degrees and Environment Committee and other formal and informal meetings as required. To be successful in this role you will need: To be educated to A level standard with GCSE grade C or above in English and Maths or able to demonstrate an equivalent portfolio of qualifications, skills and experience. Education to first degree is desirable. A high level of literacy and numeracy including use of word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software packages, ideally Microsoft Office. Proficiency in the use of the SITS student record system is desirable. Experience of a student-facing role in higher or further education is desirable. Experience of providing high quality customer service in a complex environment. Experience of maintaining student or other complex records accurately. Experience of working successfully as part of a team. Ability to communicate clearly and in appropriate language with students and colleagues both orally and in writing. Ability to understand and explain complex regulations to students and colleagues. Ability to manage own time and workload. Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to support, guide and inform as necessary. If you are committed to delivering a high quality service to support PGR students from application to award and feel you could contribute to the development of a high quality Doctoral Research College, we would like to hear from you. Please ensure you upload a copy of your CV and a Covering Letter as part of your application, explaining clearly how your skills and experience match the requirements of the role and how you could contribute personally to the success of the Doctoral Research College and the wider success of the Research, Innovation and Enterprise Team. We recommend that, where possible, you remove personal details from your CV and Covering Letter including your name.