Position Details
College of Arts and Law
University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,636 to £46,049 with potential progression once in post to £48,822
Grade: 7
Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to September 2027
Closing date: 26th August 2026
UK travel may be required for this role
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 University of Birmingham is a global institution working within a diverse and vibrant City, offering an inspiring education to our students, and undertaking critically important research. We are a place of open, critical thinking, and the creation, sharing and dissemination of knowledge. Professional Services put students at the heart of all they do and enable an exceptional educational experience. They provide outstanding support to our researchers and help the University to grow its influence regionally, nationally, and globally. They ensure the University’s resources are used wisely, manage and improve the infrastructure which sits at the heart of the institution, and support decisions to be made quickly and based on sound evidence. Our Birmingham Professional programme operates across the University, supporting colleagues to network and collaborate, offering opportunities to learn and develop, contributing to the delivery of the University’s objectives, and helping everyone to understand the broader context within which we work.
External Relations is the division responsible for delivering our University to the world and prides itself in seizing opportunities that will enhance the profile and reputation of the University. We engage with many different audiences to build purposeful relationships internally, locally, nationally and internationally. We enable those who wish to apply to study on our courses to make informed choices. We recognise that we are strongest when we work together and take pride in upholding our core values of being ambitious, innovative, open, collaborative and responsible.
Role Summary
Working with the relevant Business Partner and key internal stakeholders, the Student Recruitment and Marketing Portfolio Manager is responsible for driving student recruitment to meet agreed targets for a designated area's portfolio of Education programmes. The post holder has ownership of the full marketing mix for the portfolio. They will develop and deliver strategies that optimise, grow and diversify student numbers, using their expertise to influence and collaboratively develop and refine the designated area's educational product offering.
The post holder will have an excellent understanding of the student recruitment environment and play a critical role in ensuring the designated area recruits to target across all areas of the portfolio. They will identify new pipeline opportunities for the designated academic area and work collaboratively to innovate. The post holder will oversee a range of lead generation and conversion tactics within their designated area, working closely with marketing and student recruitment teams, and will build and maintain effective relationships with key internal stakeholders including relevant board members and senior colleagues across External Relations.
Main Duties
- Develop, coordinate and deliver the designated area’s strategies to optimise student recruitment - meeting targets and securing a diverse cohort balance, working in partnership with International and Research Communications Portfolio Managers and other relevant teams and departments.
- Manage budgets and commission plans and activities to meet agreed recruitment targets working closely with marketing and student recruitment Centres of Excellence to agree priorities and associated resourcing.
- Build strong relationships with and act as the interface between academic areas, from Board members through to admissions tutors, to support recruitment efforts, ensuring colleagues are informed of key developments relating to the designated area’s portfolio of programmes and admissions.
- Represent the designated area in key meetings and forums, collaborating with relevant Business Partners, Student Recruitment and Marketing and International Portfolio Managers, senior colleagues in External Relations and the relevant academic area, marketing and student recruitment teams, and other stakeholders to align recruitment plans and priorities for the designated area and the University.
- Provide market insight and strategic recommendations on audiences, products, targets and pipeline to optimise and grow student numbers. This includes identifying new programme opportunities and adapting strategies to reflect changing market opportunities and cultural, political and economic factors.
- Ensure the designated area’s education offering is positioned and promoted effectively to prospective students across a range of channels and events, utilising innovations, identifying trends and changes in demand.
- Ensure programme portfolio compliance with CMA guidelines, liaising with internal stakeholders on developments, and ensuring timely updates across all channels.
- Lead the designated area’s programme of on-campus, online/digital and CRM activities for attraction and conversion, tracking and evaluating impact against KPIs to optimise performance.
- Commission tailored content and materials for prospective students and ensure all content is up to date across all range of channels.
- Review and analyse the success of activities to recruit students - monitoring admissions, analysing trends, and adjusting tactics to optimise performance throughout the cycle.
- Champion the University’s strategic ambitions and brand among all stakeholders.
Leadership
- Represent the designated area in strategic planning discussions, articulating market demand and opportunities.
- Manage the appropriate budgets for the designated area.
- Matrix management of resource that is deployed to support the delivery of the designated area’s student recruitment and marketing plans.
- Deputise for the relevant Business Partner on student recruitment and marketing matters, working in collaboration with International and Research Communications Portfolio Managers.
- Working with colleagues across the designated area and in Centres of Excellence promote a culture of collaboration, ensuring that teams are working effectively together to deliver the best outcomes.
General duties
- Promotes equality and values diversity, acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
- Supports the University’s sustainability agenda through resource efficient working.
- Any other duties commensurate with the grade.
Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience
- Educated to Degree level (or equivalent qualifications) plus relevant practical experience - where no equivalent qualification is held significant practical relevant experience and expertise in a series of progressively more demanding roles will be required.
- Substantial marketing and/or sales experience in product management, including managing a portfolio in a large complex organisation.
- Experience of planning, implementing, delivering and evaluating multi-channel integrated marketing campaigns.
- Experience of working with and understanding CRM systems.
- Strategic thinker with experience adapting plans to market conditions.
- Proven experience in managing relationships with the ability to lead, influence, and collaborate across teams and with senior stakeholders.
- Demonstratable project management skills.
- Strong presentation and communication skills, online, in-person and in writing.
- Cultural awareness and understanding of the need for sensitivity in engagement with different audiences, and how this might be embedded.
- Ability to analyse and interpret data and market research, applying insights to recruitment strategies.
- Experience managing budgets.
- Creative problem-solver with a proactive and resilient approach.
- A team player who can also work independently.
- Willingness to work flexibly, including occasional evenings and weekends.
- Promote a supportive and inclusive team culture working with discretion, demonstrate diplomacy, maintain confidentiality and ensure compliance with GDPR and other regulations as required.
- Commitment to demonstrating behaviours aligned with the University and External Relations framework.
- Evidence of literacy and numeracy, with the ability to write clearly, and to produce and analyse information and data.
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 Benjamin Atkins, 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 .
