Apprentice Senior Administrator - College of Medicine and Health - 95747 - Apprentice Grade 5

Position Details:

• College of Medicine and Health
• Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK 
• Full time starting salary £23,718 per annum rising to £29,647 after 12 months service.

Apprentice Grade 5

• Full Time / Fixed Term for 16 Months
• Apprenticeship Standard: Business Administrator Level 3  
• Training Provider: HIT Training 
• Closing date:  2 November 2025 - please upload a CV with your application.

Eligibility: The training delivered in apprenticeships is funded through the apprenticeship levy which is subject to Department for Education funding rules for apprenticeships. When reviewing applications the University and the training provider will be checking candidates meet this eligibility criteria. Further information is available on our webpage. 

You have normally been a resident in the UK for the last 3 years. For exemptions please refer to the government funding rules for apprenticeships. 

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

Apprenticeship Context

This role sits in the College of Medicine and Health and will support the administration of Health and Safety management in the College.  The role will provide admin support to the College Health and Safety Manager and the Health and Safety Management committees in the College. This will include but is not limited to arranging and preparing for meetings and trainings, taking notes, monitoring and chasing actions, keeping records of training eg first aiders. As the apprenticeship develops the role holder may also support workplace inspections. On the successful completion of the administrative apprenticeship there may be the opportunity of a Health and Safety apprenticeship or another form of ongoing health and Safety training. 

Apprenticeship Summary

As an Apprentice Senior Administrator within a team/department you will provide support for a broad range of administrative duties, some of which may be complex.  You will learn a wide range of skills, both technical and administrative, and have the opportunity to lead on specific tasks within a team.  In order to flexibly use resource you may be given the opportunity to work in different areas of the department or wider University. Apprentice Senior Administrators may work in any area of the University; with large groupings in HR, Finance, and School/College Hubs.

During this apprenticeship you will learn the following

1. To deal with complex systems and procedures and will be expected to offer advice on these, including deciding on the response to more complex queries. 
2. To exercise your judgment on the answer to queries or on the direction of work within parameters set by your manager.  On a day to day basis you will be expected to resolve more complex queries without necessarily referring to your manager. 
3. To Maintain high profile working relationships with key stakeholders on your own initiative, fielding enquiries and ensuring that appropriate information is disseminated to stakeholders as appropriate.
4. Organising events including booking a venue, sending invitations, arranging refreshments, liaising with speakers, manage bookings, co-ordination of colleagues, advertising, collating feedback and reporting back.
5. To manage some smaller projects on own initiative, but will also carry out desk research and source data from internal and external sources in order to contribute to wider projects.
6. To use a variety of complex University systems and processes to research, analyst and interpret complex data, producing bespoke reports as required. This may include identifying and resolving issues with the data.
7. Support the management, development and implementation of operational processes and systems.
8. Process more complex data (which may be financial, HR, student-related or other), monitoring accuracy, chasing up missing information, and resolving any issues as appropriate. 
9. Provide specialist advice and training to colleagues on area of activity. 
10. As required, provide a professional secretarial service to relevant committees and meetings. 
11. You may be required to be responsible for one or more of the following: 

• monitoring budgets including processing payments, authorising expenditure, raising concerns where finances are not in line with the budget, 
• procuring goods and services through the University system, 
• updating and writing contents for the department’s communications eg intranet pages,
• dealing with health and safety and facilities issues, 
• HR-related tasks such as managing staff absence, induction, or dealing with leavers,
• dealing with arrangements for international visitors,
• monitoring internal procedures/compliance and ensuring these are followed and disseminated as appropriate.

1. Support equality and values diversity, moderating own behaviour to avoid unfair discriminatory impact or bias on others.

You will be expected to engage fully with the University of Birmingham apprenticeship scheme, attending mandatory group days and contributing to the successful promotion of the scheme by representing your department in a positive manner.

This apprenticeship would suit

• Someone looking to develop a career in administration and has an interest in Health and Safety
• The role will require someone who can organise their own time and complete the tasks required of them.
• We are looking for someone who is keen to learn and enjoys providing excellent customer service.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience 

• Educated to A Level standard, or equivalent level 3 qualification such as a Level 3 NVQ, or level 3 national diploma or relevant work experience evidencing the skills and ability to undertake the role. 
• Minimum of grade C/4 in Mathematics and English at GCSE or equivalent.
• Proficient IT skills, in particular the wider MS Office suite of programmes including Excel and PowerPoint. 
• Able to quickly learn new IT skills and software packages as required.
• Ability to plan ahead and anticipate requirements, proactively planning time effectively, progress tasks concurrently and work to deadlines.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to write for different audiences, and to required deadlines. 
• Excellent interpersonal skills and excellent customer service at all times.
• Ability to act professionally with tact and diplomacy, and the ability to exercise discretion regarding the handling and management of sensitive information/issues. 
• Ability to work effectively in a large, complex organisation, and to develop a good understanding of how the University and higher education institutions work.
• Ability to understand policy and procedures and how to apply these.
• Understands the importance of equality and diversity in the workplace.
• Ability to identify and respond to equality and diversity issues in line with relevant policies and procedures.

Career Pathway

On completion of this apprenticeship, you may be able to progress into one of the following roles:

Senior Administrator

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.