Position Details
College of Social Sciences
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
Part Time (30 hours per week)
Permanent
Closing date: 27th July 2026
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
Development and Alumni Relations Office (DARO) Overview
Our University has a proud history of philanthropy stretching back to its foundation in 1900. With a clear vision to change the lives of the people of Birmingham, Joseph Chamberlain raised the funds required to build the University from citizens and corporations based locally and around the globe. Since then philanthropy has continued to play an important role in shaping the University. There have been several fundraising campaigns, including a £1m urgent capital appeal after the Second World War and a £1.4m campaign to fund the Vale ‘student village’ in the 1960s. In 2015 we closed the Circles of Influence Campaign, raising £193 million, making it the largest HE fundraising campaign outside Oxbridge and London.
The University has global reach, including several partnerships with other leading universities around the world, and is grounded in our local community, having opened the first fully comprehensive University secondary school in the country in 2015. We are an ambitious and successful research-intensive University (one of the top 100 research-led universities globally) and have produced 10 Nobel Prize winners, including three who received their awards in 2016. Academics here are exploring the impact of climate change, helping to address global health epidemics, and changing our understanding of Shakespeare. Our students come from nearly 150 countries and our flagship outreach programmes mean that almost 25% of our student population come from underrepresented backgrounds: one of the highest proportions in the UK.
DARO exists to support this academic and student community by engaging, inspiring, and celebrating alumni, individuals, and charitable funders who give their money, time, and networks to support the University’s strategic priorities. The Office, which is comprised of five teams, is focused on fundraising and volunteering from alumni, organisations and individuals who are passionate about changing lives, through funding various research projects, supporting student bursaries, mentoring students, and providing internships, as well as providing a versatile programme of engagement opportunities for our global alumni community.
College of Social Sciences (CoSS) Overview
The College of Social Sciences comprises the Schools of Social Policy, Government and Education and the Birmingham Business School. It is a vibrant community with over 12,000 students as well more than 500 academic staff and nearly 300 Professional Services staff across a range of disciplines and interdisciplinary fields. Our work impacts all areas of society from business and politics to education, justice, health, and social care. We have a highly diverse international staff body, teach programmes in Dubai, Singapore and online as well as in Birmingham, and we have over 100,000 alumni in more than 185 countries.
Role Summary
Are you a relationship management professional looking for your next challenge? Do you have a passion for supporting graduates and enhancing the student experience? Are you looking to develop your career at a prestigious organisation?
We are looking for a College Alumni Relations Officer to support the delivery of a bold and innovative alumni volunteering programme for the College of Social Sciences and the Development and Alumni Relations Office (DARO). As part of the DARO team for the College, you will be based both within DARO and the College. As part of the wider volunteering team, you will deliver a range of volunteering opportunities for alumni, which support the implementation of the College of Social Science’s 2030 strategy, as well as delivering Birmingham 2030 targets, across a diversified curriculum, the student experience, graduate employability, student recruitment, research and influence. You will play a key role securing volunteers for a broad range of priorities including student experience, graduate employability, supporting international recruitment, and global brand and reputation. You will work with colleagues across DARO and College to bring alumni closer to the University to support philanthropic giving.
The role of College Alumni Relations Officer is a key position within the College of Social Sciences and the Development and Alumni Relations Office that is responsible for the delivery of a new alumni volunteering strategy for the College . We are looking for a motivated team player with the ability to build relationships and help shape meaningful activity. If you are passionate about connecting people and helping support the student recruitment experience and employability, this is the role for you!
Main Duties
The College Alumni Relations Officer will identify, approach and host alumni volunteers to support a range of priorities for the College of Social Sciences. You will work well independently and as part of Volunteering team to activate the network of College alumni.
- Supporting the College Alumni Relations Manager and Business School Alumni Relations Manager with delivery of the CoSS Alumni Relations programme.
- Together with the College Alumni Relations Manager and Business School Alumni Relations Manager, participating in the review, evaluation and creative planning activity of the alumni relations programme, seeking out new opportunities and proposing improvements.
- Working as part of the Volunteering team to deliver the overall DARO volunteering strategy, as part of the larger Supporter Engagement team.
- Produce newsletters, presentations, and information in an interesting and informative manner.
- Using the CRM and LinkedIn efficiently to log and track alumni engagement and identify relevant alumni for volunteering opportunities within the College.
- Monitor registration, attendance, and outcomes from communications, events and volunteering activity and to evaluate success to help inform future programming.
- Facilitating alumni visits which may include campus visits, reunions, guest lectures etc.
- Identifying and securing alumni to volunteer for a range of College activity such as providing a profile, supporting international student recruitment, delivering a careers talk, etc.
- Supports the University’s sustainability agenda through resource efficient working.
- Promotes equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
- Any other duties commensurate with the grade.
Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience
- Educated to Degree level (or equivalent qualifications). Where no equivalent qualification is held, significant practical relevant experience and expertise in a similar role will be required.
- Significant practical experience in a similar role.
- Evidence of literacy and numeracy, with the ability to write clearly, and to analyse information and data.
- Highly proficient IT skills, including the wider MS Office suite of programmes including excel and PowerPoint.
- Ability to understand policy, processes and procedures, but also to recommend improvements and implement changes.
- Excellent analytical skills used to produce reports, identify issues and resolve them decisively.
- Experience of managing volunteers to deliver high-quality support.
- Ability to prioritise own workload.
- Strong communication skills.
- Strong negotiation skills and the ability to persuade and influence.
- Experience of delivering against agreed targets/KPIs.
- The ability to work with initiative, to take decisions and think creatively and laterally.
- Experience of building long-term relationships with key stakeholders.
- An understanding of College and DARO strategic priorities and objectives, and how effective volunteering and alumni relations can support these.
- Excellent interpersonal skills. The post holder must inspire confidence with a range of colleagues and provide excellent customer service at all times.
- A high degree of professionalism, tact, and diplomacy, and the ability to exercise discretion regarding the handling and management of sensitive information/issues.
- A high degree of initiative, personal judgement, resourcefulness, flexibility, and a self-motivating approach.
- Ability to work effectively in a large, complex organisation, and to develop a good understanding of how the University and higher education institutions work.
Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day-to-day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly.
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Informal enquiries to Jennifer MacKey, email: [email protected]
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 .
