College Alumni Relations Manager - College of Medicine and Health - 42936Z2 at University of Birmingham

Birmingham, England, United Kingdom -

Full Time

Start Date

Immediate

Expiry Date

14 Jun, 26

Salary

46049.0

Posted On

16 Mar, 26

Experience

5 year(s) or above

Remote Job

Yes

Telecommute

Yes

Sponsor Visa

Skills

Project Management, Volunteer Management, Communication Skills, Negotiation Skills, Persuasion, Influence, Strategic Planning, Initiative, Decision Making, Creative Thinking, Relationship Building, IT Skills, Data Analysis, Budget Management, Stakeholder Management, Diplomacy

Industry

Higher Education

Description

Position Details College of Medicine and Health 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, Fixed Term contract up to April 2027 Closing date: 8th April 2026 UK 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 [https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/jobs/staff-benefits] Background The College of Medicine and Health At the College of Medicine and Health we are shaping the future of health and medicine through the provision of innovative education and exceptional research, delivered by world-leading academics and supported by a diverse range of committed and high-performing Professional Services staff. Development and Alumni Relations Office The Development and Alumni Relations Office (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 comprises over 50 staff across four teams, is focused on fundraising and volunteering from alumni and individuals who are passionate about changing lives, through funding various research initiatives, supporting student scholarships, mentoring students, and providing internships. The recent launch of the hugely ambitious Birmingham In Action campaign frames these efforts, as we seek to secure one million volunteering hours from our students, staff and alumni and raise £400 million in support of institutional priorities. Role Summary We are looking for a College Alumni Relations Manager to join our team to refine and expand a bold and innovative alumni volunteering programme to support both the priorities of the College of Medicine and Health and DARO. As a DARO business partner for the College, you will be based both within DARO and the College itself. You will join nine other volunteering professionals as part of the wider team and will be responsible for developing a range of volunteering opportunities for alumni, which support the College’s key priorities, and Birmingham 2030 targets, across a diversified curriculum, the student experience, graduate employability, student recruitment, research and influence. You will be responsible for growing the number of alumni volunteers for the College, reporting on the impact of your work internally and the relationship management of a number of key alumni contacts, with a clear focus on supporting international recruitment for the College. You will work with colleagues across DARO to bring alumni closer to the University to support Philanthropic giving. Main Duties In consultation with the Deputy Director of Operations and the Head of Volunteering, and in collaboration with the College Directors of Education and Research, the post holder is responsible for the development, planning and implementation of a new alumni volunteering strategy for the College focused on the following areas: Supporting education and the student experience * Facilitating alumni guest lectures, which enhance the student experience; this will include working with key academic contacts to incorporate volunteer alumni input into the curriculum. * Recruiting high profile alumni volunteers to undertake distinguished lectures, further promoting the College and its profile. * Identifying ways for alumni volunteers to support the student experience for postgraduate and distance learning students. * Promoting the alumni service to current students in the College, ensuring they understand the benefits of maintaining a lifelong relationship with the University and their department. * Facilitating interaction between alumni and academic staff to inform a developing and relevant curriculum. Enhancing graduate employability and student recruitment * Engaging alumni volunteers who can provide career profiles and deliver careers talks to undergraduate and postgraduate students, to demonstrate the range of careers that CMH students go into. * Organising and running successful and professional events for speakers to engage with students. * Working with the College careers team to engage alumni volunteers who can offer internships and placements to students. * Increasing the number of alumni mentors that are available for undergraduate and postgraduate students. * Supporting Marketing and Careers Network by collating profiles of recent graduates as well as graduate testimonials. * Supporting student recruitment events by engaging volunteers to attend open days and international pre departure events, with a clear focus on recruiting international students. * Harnessing the enthusiasm and influence of alumni around the world to support international student recruitment, through digital and in person efforts and quantify the impact of the influence and applications and conversions. * Working collaboratively with our Careers Network colleagues, Student and Recent Graduate Engagement Manager and Communications team to support engagement with our young alumni, recent graduate employability and affinity towards the University, as a means of positively impacting response rates to the Graduate Outcomes survey. Supporting research and influence * Identifying and engaging alumni contacts who can support College research objectives by opening up their networks to support research bids. * Working with the Charitable Funding Partner on the identification of potential research funders and fundraising projects. * Recruiting alumni volunteers from around the world to act as ambassadors who can advocate for the College in support of its objectives. * Working with the central DARO communications team to ensure that key research stories from the College are shared with all alumni and supporters and particularly alumni from the College. * Proactively identifying, managing and cultivating relationships with influential alumni in industry, higher education, government and policy makers, who have the potential to support College priorities. * Supporting the relationship management of Honorary Graduates within the College to ensure that their potential to support the College is maximised. * Championing the impact of alumni volunteering across the College, including delivery of a regular report to the College Board to demonstrate how alumni volunteering is supporting key College objectives. General * The role may hold financial responsibility for College Alumni Relations budget, including budget setting and management. * Promoting equality and valuing diversity, acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture. * Supporting the University’s sustainability agenda through resource-efficient working. * Any other duties as commensurate with the grade. Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience * Educated to Degree level (or equivalent qualifications) plus relevant practical experience - where no equivalent qualification is held significant practical relevant experience and expertise in a series of progressively more demanding roles will be required. * Substantial experience of project management, preferably in an academic setting. * Experience of managing volunteers to deliver high-quality support. * Ability to prioritise own workload. * Strong communication skills. * Evidence of literacy and numeracy, with the ability to write clearly, and to produce and analyse information and data. * Strong negotiation skills and the ability to persuade and influence. * The ability to represent the College and University externally with confidence, diplomacy and authority. * Experience of delivering against agreed targets/KPIs. * The ability to think and plan strategically, both in the short and long-term. * The ability to work with initiative, to take decisions and think creatively and laterally. * Experience of building long-term relationships with key stakeholders. * An understanding of College and DARO strategic priorities and objectives, and how effective volunteering and alumni relations can support these. * Excellent IT skills, with working knowledge of standard Microsoft Office software and using custom systems and databases. * 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. * The post holder will be self-reliant and will be expected to manage their workload. * The post holder will be able to plan ahead, in terms of the operational aspects of supporting the College priorities. Further particulars can be found here [http://www.download.bham.ac.uk/vacancies/jd/MDSFPs.pdf] Informal enquiries to Cate Linforth, email: c.linforth@bham.ac.uk [c.linforth@bham.ac.uk] View our staff values and behaviours here [https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/about/our-strategy/our-values] 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 [https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/university/about/equality/index.aspx].

Responsibilities

The manager is responsible for developing, planning, and implementing a new alumni volunteering strategy for the College of Medicine and Health, focusing on supporting education, student experience, employability, recruitment, research, and influence. This includes growing the number of alumni volunteers, managing key alumni contacts, and reporting on the impact of the volunteering program internally.