Job Description

Post title

Unlocking the Vaults Project Assistant

College/Division

External Relations

School/Department

Public and Cultural Engagement

Full time/Part time

Part time

Duration of the Post

07/08/2026 – 31/10/2026

Grade

4

Hourly rate

£15.14 per hour plus holiday entitlement

Number of positions available

1

Closing Date

22/07/2026 at 23:55

Please note that this vacancy may be taken down early depending on the number of applications received. We advise you to submit your application promptly.

Our offer to you

At the University of Birmingham, Worklink is the dedicated student employment service which helps students to find flexible, well paid part-time roles that fit around your studies. Each year, the University invests more than £2.5 million to employ 3,000 of our own students in a wide range of roles, supporting our student community into part-time work. Roles available via Worklink include a range of positions, including administrative roles, support staff such as cleaners or baristas, research roles and many more.

Jobs through Worklink help you to gain work experience, develop skills relevant for your future career, and improve your soft and hard skills in a professional setting. Enhance your CV and get valuable experience ready for graduate roles and feel connected to your university and local community.

Our jobs are flexible and can be scheduled around your academic commitments, so you can focus on your studies first. Our team are passionate about supporting students into work. Worklink are based in a central location on campus which is easily accessible for students and can also be contacted online.

Find out more about working through Worklink here or via the student intranet

Job context

Unlocking the Vaults is a National Lottery Heritage Funded project, developed by the Public and Cultural Engagement team, based at The Exchange. The Exchange is a civic-facing venue in Centenary Square in the city centre with a focus on public and cultural engagement activities. The Exchange brings together the University’s research, teaching and networks to create a place of curiosity, celebration, collaboration and change. Through accessible public programmes and community engagement activity our ambition is to enable people from the city and wider region to get involved in the University’s work to address the complex challenges. The Exchange is located in the former head office of the Birmingham Municipal Bank, built in 1933. We are now actively celebrating the heritage of this unique place.

This role will support the Public and Cultural Engagement team in the work they do to connect audiences through the Unlocking the Vaults project. This will include community engagement, evaluation and interpretation. You will assist with visitor welcome and delivery of activities for a wide variety of public audiences.

The role may include weekend and evening work and will be on an occasional basis in response to need.

Main duties

Depending on the project, schedule duties may include any of the following:

• Work with the Project Manager, Unlocking the Vaults and the Public Programmes Team and the Exchange Operational Team on the delivery of activities
• Develop and deliver themed guided tours
• Carry out participation / evaluation questionnaires with attendees.
• Collect and record evaluation data
• Assist with report writing to funders
• Assist with delivery of engagement activities for a wide variety of audiences
• Provide a range of administrative and practical duties to ensure events run smoothly
• Organise materials and set out and replenish items
• Ensure that all duties comply with the Health and Safety, Data Protection Act and other legislation and identify and report any health and safety/operational concerns
• To undertake any such duties as may reasonably be required by the project team

Required knowledge, skills, qualifications & experience

• To be positive, enthusiastic, friendly and to enjoy meeting and talking to people
• To have a genuine interest and enthusiasm for cultural heritage and heritage engagement
• Experience of working in public facing capacity on events with communities and the public
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills with an ability to engage a wide range of internal and external stakeholders
• Enthusiastic to explain the work and significance of the University of Birmingham and Unlocking the Vaults project to a wide range of audiences through guided tours and one-to-one interactions
• Ability to work effectively across different teams
• Experience of self-management and administration within a busy and evolving environment
• An active interest in how Universities engage with public audiences
• Able to demonstrate energy, determination, and resilience
• Able to demonstrate the External Relations Values and Behaviours (innovative, responsible, collaborative, open and ambitious)
• Confident using IT, primarily Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, Outlook and Teams
• Ability to identify and report health and safety/operational concerns

Further details

Interviews will be held 30th July.

For any informal queries, please contact Jane McArdle (j.e.mcardle@bham.ac.uk).

The University of Birmingham restricts all students to working up to 20 hours per week during term time for a maximum of 13 consecutive weeks If your application is successful and your course does not follow the usual academic term timetable (e.g.  PGT, PGR or PhD student), you and your supervisor must formally agree vacation periods if this role exceeds 20 hours per week In addition to this, please be aware if you are an international student you will be required to apply to the Registry for the appropriate authorised absence

You are only eligible to apply to this role if you are a current University of Birmingham student. If you are not a University of Birmingham student your application will not be considered.

To work you will need to carry out a right to work check. These checks will need to be completed prior to work commencing.

Regarding the use of AI in applications, we review hundreds of applications and shortlist candidates based on their unique perspective, motivations and potential. Cover letters generated through, or edited by, AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT or CoPilot) are easy to identify They produce generic answers and will not score highly enough to progress. You may use AI tools for research, but all written content in your application must be your own work. Authenticity and originality are key to standing out in this process.

Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we’re unable to contact all applicants individually. You can check the progress of your application by logging into the Worklink jobs portal using the same email address you used to apply. If you haven’t heard back within six weeks of the closing date, please assume your application has been unsuccessful.