Job Description

Position Details

Campus Services

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

Closing date: 18th June 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

Department overview

Winterbourne House and Garden is owned by the University of Birmingham and sits under the Campus Services directorate. In addition to Winterbourne, Campus Services are responsible for a huge range of services including student accommodation, catering, cleaning and waste management, conferences and events, delivering the University’s post, day nurseries, Edgbaston Park Hotel and Conference Centre, security and also Sport and Fitness.

Restored to its Edwardian Arts and Craft splendour, Winterbourne House and Garden is a unique heritage attraction set within 7-acres of beautiful botanic gardens. Only minutes from Birmingham city centre, Winterbourne is a hidden gem home to beautiful antiques, over 6,000 plant species from around the world, 3 National Plant Collections, and today, welcomes over 90,000 visitors annually.

Part of the Visitor Services Team at Winterbourne House and Garden, the Communications and Events Officer role is responsible for the daily management and delivery of our events programme, membership scheme, volunteering and group bookings, also supporting front of house functions as required. They work closely with the Campus Services Marketing department to deliver timely communications and campaigns. The role manages smaller projects in their entirety, or manages elements of larger projects, to support various aspects of Winterbourne’s visitor engagement and development.

The role deputises for the Visitor Services Department in the absence of the Visitor Operations Manager.

Main Duties

• Volunteer Management:
  • In partnership with the Visitor Operations Manager (VOM) the post holder will lead on implementing the ongoing development of Winterbourne’s Volunteer programme. Using industry best practice they will work with Departmental Heads to advise them on the Volunteer Journey from recruitment, through induction to exit and assist in the development of new roles to support business needs.
  • The post holder will be responsible for all volunteer records and the relevant GDPR compliance. This will involve working in conjunction with other UoB departments, currently Development and Alumni Relations, to employ and manage suitable software initiatives.
  • The post holder will monitor and maximise volunteer engagement through the production of a regular newsletter, the organisation of volunteer social and recognition activities, and the delivery of timely email communications. In partnership with the Visitor Operations Manager (VOM), you will also lead the design, delivery and evaluation of an annual volunteer survey, providing management with actionable insights to support continuous improvement.
  • The post holder will act as an impartial point of contact for volunteers who have queries or issues relating to their roles that they feel unable to raise with their supervisor/manager, and work as an intermediary with the assistance of the VOM as required, to seek resolutions.
  • The post holder will also assist Volunteer Managers with HR matters as they arise, providing guidance and expertise in the field.
  • The post holder will manage Winterbourne’s volunteer admin team, overseeing training and setting short- and long-term priorities for activity.
  • The post holder will manage allocated Internships and Placements from University of Birmingham and other local educational establishments.
• Events:
  • The post holder will devise and manage a programme of events that broadens Winterbourne’s audience demographic and creates new streams of income, utilising internal and external contacts in the sector to deliver high-quality, cost-effective events.
  • The post holder will use robust project management skills to successfully deliver Winterbourne’s events programme, ensuring excellent communication with both external providers and internal stakeholders across the University.
  • The post holder will manage production and event costs for approval by the VOM, benchmarking ticket pricing across the sector, and planning accordingly to ensure event income and expenditure delivers to set budgets.
• Comms and Marketing:
  • Working with Campus Services Marketing (CSM) and the VOM the post holder will set priorities for Winterbourne’s marketing activity, in line with Winterbourne’s Business Plan.
  • Alongside Campus Services Marketing, the post holder will support the development and delivery of multi-channel communication activities to key stakeholders (e.g. members, staff, students), acting as the point of contact for Winterbourne departmental managers for any marketing or digital need, providing specialist advice accordingly.
  • The post holder will draft all related communication (hard and soft copy), ensuring that it complies with University and Winterbourne branding guidelines, is written in a language appropriate to the target audience, and, working with the CSM team, sent via the most appropriate channels of communication.
  • Responsible for the coordination of communications briefings, web pages, newsletters and social media campaigns as appropriate.
  • Research and write copy for external publications and websites.
  • The post holder will manage day-to-day relationships with key external partners, designated by the VOM, including the RHS Partner Garden scheme and Gardener’s World. They will draw on these relationships to secure publicity opportunities for Winterbourne.
  • Review and develop content for webpages to ensure all information is up to date, suitable for target audiences, and accessibility is maintained.
• Visitor Engagement:
  • In partnership with the Visitor Operations Manager, the post holder will be responsible for devising and coordinating all aspects of Membership administration, providing support to members of the visitor services team on the CRM system and online membership system.
  • The post holder will devise methods to ensure Winterbourne receives targeted feedback from visitors, event bookers, members and volunteers. They will be responsible for reporting on this feedback and making recommendations for improvement based on this data.
  • The post holder will work with a range of visitor statistics and communicate this data to colleagues in Campus Services Marketing to help inform marketing activity.
  • Providing support and advice to Winterbourne team members when dealing with enquiries relating to their area the post holder will take on any complex issues, using their judgment to redirect them to senior colleagues when necessary.
• Additional duties
  • The post holder will represent Winterbourne at relevant internal and external meetings, to enable knowledge sharing and to advocate for Winterbourne and the University.
  • Provide front of house cover for Winterbourne’s Visitor reception and Shop as required.
  • Participate in the Duty Manager rota
  • Hold a first aid certificate and assist with provision on site.
  • Maintain an up-to-date knowledge of project management methodologies.
  • The post holder may be asked to manage other colleagues working on the project/s, and this will include allocating work.
  • Provide support to other areas of marketing and events across Campus Services on occasion, as required.
  • Identify and respond to equality and diversity issues in line with relevant university policies and procedures. Fosters a fair and equitable workplace for all staff.
  • 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) - where no equivalent qualification is held, significant practical relevant experience and expertise in a similar role will be required
• Evidence of literacy and numeracy, with the ability to write clearly, and to analyse information and data.
• Professional experience in a Communications, Events and/or Marketing role, but including some events planning 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.
• Demonstrable ability to plan ahead and anticipate requirements, proactively managing own workload and, where appropriate, coordinating the workloads of others to meet competing priorities, work to deadlines, and progress multiple tasks concurrently.
• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to write for different audiences, and to required deadlines.
• Excellent interpersonal skills. You must inspire confidence and command authority 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 theUniversity 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

DBS required

The University is committed to safeguarding and we promote safe recruitment practice, therefore all associated pre-employment checks will be undertaken before any appointment is confirmed. Due to the nature of the work undertaken in this role all successful applicants will be subject to a satisfactory DBS clearance prior to appointment.

Informal enquiries to Tessa Lovell, email: e.t.lovell@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