Overview

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

Sustainability is one of the University’s six key pillars in our 2030 strategic framework and a key workstream that will support us in achieving our global top 50 aspirations:

  • Using our research and education to make a major global contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
  • Becoming sustainable organisation by adopting environmentally responsible practices across our University
  • Activating our regional, national and international networks and partnerships to improve our resilience to global change and co-create sustainable solutions

We are looking for someone who is interested and passionate about sustainability and environmental issues; substantial work experience in this field is preferred but not essential, experience in leading successful change and engagement projects and programmes is key. We are looking for someone who has leadership skills, someone who can build partnerships and establish a strong network both across our University and in the wider Higher Education sector. The post holder will lead, facilitate and manage the development and implementation of change initiatives across the University, aligned to our Green Goals. The post holder must be skilled at seeking out opportunities for collaboration, inspiring and encouraging commitment to change. The post holder must be able to communicate clearly, tailoring messaging and content for a diverse audience. The post holder should be open to seeking out new practices and ways of working from within the institution and beyond. The post holder must be comfortable working with ambiguity and able to find solutions to problems. The post holder must be flexible and able to prioritise their workload to deliver simultaneous and interdependent priorities to a high standard.

This is a full-time role and the post holder will be based at our Edgbaston Campus. As this is a role which has a strong component of engaging with our large community of staff and students who live and work here, presence on campus is an important part of the role. The University supports hybrid working where feasible and appropriate, the post holder may spend up to two days per week working away from campus, subject to review and agreement and alignment with the University’s hybrid working policy.

The University offers a competitive salary for the post with potential progression to £48,149 a year. In addition, the University offers a wide range of benefits, including a generous annual leave entitlement and pension scheme, opportunities to join staff networks, formal and informal learning and development opportunities, and flexibility.

We pride ourselves on our collaborative approach and customer focus and are looking to recruit an individual who has values in line with ours: Ambitious, Open, Responsible, Collaborative and Innovative. We are open and welcoming to people from all walks of life and believe that a diverse team with a mix of perspectives and experiences provides the best environment for success.

The right candidate will join over 10,000 staff at the University, with opportunities to join staff networks such as the Rainbow Network, Parents and Carers’ Network, Women’s Network, Race Equality Network, and Enabling Staff Network. They will benefit from good holidays and a pension scheme, flexibility (we are currently working to a pattern of three or four days from campus), and lots of opportunities for learning and development.

Executive Support Division

The central sustainability team is a small team responsible for the oversight, co-ordination and implementation of the University’s overarching sustainability strategy and priorities. The role is based at the heart of the University, working as part of the Executive Support Division, led by the Chief of Staff. As part of the Executive Services Division, you will have access to professional networks across the University and wider HE sector to support you in your role and the support of experienced stakeholders, working in a range of fields, to help you make things happen.

The Executive Support Division bring together a varied team of stakeholders to work ‘as one’ to drive the University’s performance, impact and ensure we are on the trajectory to meet our aspiration to be in the top 50 of the world’s leading universities by 2030. We use our convening power to lead and steer initiatives to have a positive outcome for our University. Our teams develop and maintain strong networks of academic and professional service leaders within our institution, wider HE sectors and beyond to remain alert to progress, opportunities and risk and maintain our expertise in the external policy and political environment. We use our collective expertise to lead and inform the organisation’s policy and strategy, provide vital insight into the University’s performance, deliver significant change projects and programmes, ensure robust and effective decision-making aligned to our priorities, safeguard regulatory and legislative compliance. We work flexibly so that we can respond quickly to new priorities and opportunities as they emerge. We are trusted and essential stakeholders, bringing people together for the benefit of the University and beyond.

 

Role Summary

Through their work, the post holder will role model and foster commitment to environmentally responsible practices and work to align operational practices across our University to achieve our Green Goals and strategic objectives.

Main Duties

  • Work with the Head of Sustainability to foster commitment from our colleges and professional services divisions to achieve our Green Goals
  • Build strong working relationships with key stakeholders through a blend of one-to-one meetings, workshops, presentations, engagement events and other activities
  • Provide advice and guidance on the University’s approach sustainability and our Green Goals
  • Chair sustainability meetings and/or action groups, including preparing agenda, minutes and ensure decisions are implemented
  • Provide oral or written reports for Sustainability Governance Groups (or wider University groups) as required
  • Identify where colleges, schools and/or professional services divisions can deliver greatest impact and lead the creation of bespoke action plans
  • Guide the implementation and delivery of Green Goal action plans; develop a mechanism and framework to monitor and report progress risks to achieving our environmental goals and priorities
  • Identify and deliver solutions to increase staff knowledge, skills and confidence to implement the Green Goals
  • Establish and manage communities of practice to improve collaboration, sharing and alignment to the Green Goals across the University; support the management of the sustainability champions network with the sustainability engagement action group
  • Seek out examples of best practice in other Higher Education sectors; build an external network of sustainability professionals to share best practice
  • Develop and deliver concept-prove projects designed to improve environmentally responsible practices
  • Identify internal and external resources to support and deliver the University’s sustainability work, including writing business cases for resources and/or seeking endorsement to embed initiatives
  • Provide advice and content to develop or adapt UoB policy as required
  • Gather and share examples and evidence of successes and achievements to celebrate; develop written content for internal and external communications to foster commitment to the Green Goals, including content for the annual Sustainability in Focus publication
  • Contribute to the development and delivery of the wider sustainability team communication and engagement activity, including delivering UoB Green Week, UoB Xtra events and Sustainability Champion events
  • Deliver initiatives to engage our students in the Green Goals, raising awareness of institutional progress and identifying opportunities for students to contribute to our Goals
  • Support the University’s wider sustainability agenda as required, including (but not limited to) league table submission and improvement action plans

The post holder is required to be flexible in developing their role and will from time to time be required to undertake any other duties commensurate with the grading of the post, including deputising for the Head of Sustainability where appropriate.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

  • Strong intellectual confidence and a high degree of personal judgement, resourcefulness, flexibility, and a self-motivating approach. The ability to complete tasks based on only broad direction and with minimum supervision
  • A passion for enhancing sustainability, backed by a broad knowledge of the challenges and requirements in tackling global sustainability, including the implications for a large research-intensive university or demonstrate a willingness to learn
  • Willingness to drive own personal development
  • Enthusiasm and willingness to meet challenging demands, working with different people and deadlines
  • A high degree of initiative and an ability to bring personal ideas and creativity to projects and tasks and work with others to ensure projects are successfully completed
  • An excellent understanding of higher education and empathy for the academic endeavour of the University, and how sustainability priorities are integrated in this context
  • Strong communication skills, facilitation and presentation skills
  • Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to inspire confidence and command authority with a range of colleagues and high-profile external contacts, including proven influencing and negotiation skills with the ability to resolve issues at all levels
  • Ability to build cross-institutional networks
  • Demonstrable experience of the attributes required to deliver this agenda in a large, complex organisation. This will include one or more of: experience of project management within a large, complex organisation; leading operational and cultural change; working collaboratively and influentially with a wide range of senior colleagues; effective engagement with a large and diverse community to enable change; proven ability to develop and implement new policies
  • Ability to produce and analyse complex source material, information and data

 

Core competencies/transferable skills

Working at this level you will be able to develop and successfully demonstrate the core competencies/transferable skills outlined in each of the areas shown below. As appropriate for the level, our Birmingham Professionals will take ownership for getting things done. You will be expected to be flexible as required in supporting your department and wider University.

Planning and organising

  • Plan the running and development of service(s), overseeing resources and inputting into resource planning as appropriate
  • Develop, agree and implement standards for delivery for own area
  • Manage a team of staff and review, develop and motivate them
  • Plan relevant training and development
  • Provide professional advice, guidance and support to others within and outside their immediate work area
  • Oversee resources and make recommendations about future resource requirements

Problem solving and decision making

  • Review, develop and propose solutions for problems with (for example) staff, budgets, services and/or systems
  • Deal effectively with unexpected issues, such as changing priorities
  • Deal with sensitive people matters/issues
  • Provide specialist advice and recommendations to support decision–making of others

Organisational understanding

  • Understand their own and closely related working areas and how they contribute to the success of the University
  • Has an understanding of how the University operates; actively seeks to share this knowledge with others
  • Developing empathy with the academic endeavour

Relationships and communication

  • Influence decision makers and win support for proposals
  • Develop excellent working relationships within and outside of their own area and potentially with external stakeholders
  • Co-ordinate activities across a number of areas

Informal enquiries to Zoe Hurley, Head of Sustainability, email: z.l.hurley@bham.ac.uk

View our staff values and behaviours here

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.

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