Position Details
Development and Alumni Relations Office
Location: 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, with flexibility for 0.8 FTE
Fixed Term contract up to September 2027
Closing date: 8 th July 2026
UK and International 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.
Office 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 a number of 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.
Role Summary
The Events Manager will be responsible for developing and leading a range of strategically important events for our diverse community of alumni, donors and volunteers. From our mass engagement ‘Bringing Birmingham to You’ event series, to bespoke cultivation events hosted by senior members of staff, to stewardship events to thank our supporters at all levels, the Events Manager will ensure a high-quality, engaging, and tailored experience for alumni, donors, volunteers, and VIPs. These groups are key audiences within the Birmingham In Action campaign, whose support will enable us to reach our ambitious goal. This will involve working in collaboration with colleagues, academics, and key stakeholders across DARO and the University. Alongside developing and delivering events to the highest standard, the Events Manager will work with the Events Programme Manager to identify opportunities for Development and Alumni Relations to be actively involved in University-wide initiatives. In partnership with the Events Programme Manager, the Events Manager will lead the review and improvement of event registration platforms, championing best practice of data management. They will ensure that all processes, from initial registration through to post-event analysis, are efficient and effective, and deliver high-quality data to inform decision-making and demonstrate wider event impact.
Main Duties
- Lead the development, delivery, implementation, and evaluation of a varied programme of events to engage, inform and inspire alumni and donors to interact with the University of Birmingham
- Ensure events are strategically aligned to DARO and wider institutional priorities such as student recruitment and Global Top 50 ambitions
- Ensure events are high quality, have clear objectives and are delivered to a brief
- Work with colleagues across DARO including Fundraising, Donor Experience, Charitable Funding Partnerships, Corporate Partnerships, Volunteering, Regular Giving and Principal Giving to deliver a range of events which meet the needs of the respective audiences, nationally and internationally
- Take personal responsibility for delivering a number of high-profile events with senior members of staff, usually the Vice-Chancellor and/or Chancellor, with donors, volunteers and VIPs
- Prepare and deliver detailed in person and written event briefings for a range of senior members of staff, including the Vice-Chancellor
- Ensure the ‘Bringing Birmingham to You’ mass engagement event series showcases the University’s research excellence, and aligns to DARO’s fundraising priorities as they relate to Birmingham in Action.
- Build and maintain excellent relationships with the Vice-Chancellors Office, Birmingham Global, Conferences and Events, academics, and other important internal and external networks and key stakeholders
- Work closely with the Events Programme Manager, and Data and Insight Team to ensure that event processes are effective and efficient
- Work with the Communications and Donor Experience teams to ensure event messaging aligns with campaign goals, reflects the University’s brand, and maximises audience engagement and impact
- Work with the International Volunteering Manager and International Fundraising teams to deliver events in areas of strategic priority
- Ensure events are delivered on time, and within budget
- Management of casual staff where appropriate
- Deputising for Events Programme Manager where appropriate
- Fosters a fair and equitable workplace for all staff
Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience
- Qualified to Degree level or equivalent plus practical managerial experience or significant relevant experience demonstrated through increasingly more demanding roles evidencing the experience necessary for this role.
- Experience of delivering strong outcomes, with a clear stakeholder focus, through event planning or developing engagement programmes, ideally working with donors, supporters or alumni
- Evidence of literacy and numeracy, with the ability to write clearly, and to produce and analyse information and data.
- Excellent stakeholder-management skills.
- Excellent budgetary management skills and experience.
- Highly proficient IT skills, including the MS Office and website editing software. You should be confident and able to quickly learn new IT skills and software packages as required.
- Excellent interpersonal, communication, relationship building and influencing skills with the ability to deal confidently with a range of internal and external stakeholders/contacts.
- Excellent communication with ability to present to large audiences with confidence.
- Excellent organisational and multi-tasking skills with a methodical approach to work and the ability to prioritise workloads in order to meet deadlines.
- Personal confidence, independence and determination to succeed as an individual and as part of a team.
- The ability to think and plan strategically, both in the short and long-term.
- The flexibility to work unsociable hours (evenings and weekends) when required and to travel in the UK and potentially overseas.
Knowledge of the protected characteristics and duties under the Equality Act 2010. Including fostering good relations and advancing the universities Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED).
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Informal enquiries to Emily Meadway, 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 .
