Job Description

Department
Library and Learning Resources
Location
City Centre Campus/City South Campus
Salary
32,006 to 35,331 per annum
Post Type
Full Time
Release Date
07 January 2026
Closing Date
23.59 hours GMT on Sunday 25 January 2026
Reference
L626001
Birmingham City University is seeking an experienced Personal Assistant to join the Library & Learning Resources (L&LR) department for a maternity cover contract. You will be responsible for supporting the Director of L&LR and working alongside the library's Senior Leadership Team.



We are looking for highly organised and proactive candidates to work closely with the Director providing a confidential and high level of support. This pivotal role demands exceptional communication and organisational skills, a keen eye for detail, and the ability to manage a dynamic and fast-paced workload with professionalism and efficiency.


Reporting to the Director of L&LR, you will have the ability to organise your own workload and manage a complex diary. You will have a flexible approach to your role, where you will work with the Director and the library's Senior Leadership Team to ensure the business needs and key university and department-based activities and deadlines are met. The ability to form positive working relationships with key internal and external stakeholders will be key to your success.


Key responsibilities will include:

Providing a high quality secretarial and organisational support service. Effective management of electronic diaries, assessing priority of appointments and reallocation as necessary. Providing support for an extensive range of meetings. This will include scheduling, preparing agendas, pre meeting briefings and meeting papers, noting action points and following them up. Drafting correspondence, reports and preparing presentations. Acting as a key liaison point between senior managers and other key parties, setting up meetings as appropriate and maintaining good communications. Sorting, distributing and responding or drafting responses to incoming mail in a timely and efficient manner.

Amongst other essential criteria, the Personal Assistant will:

Have previous working experience as a Personal Assistant. Possess excellent IT skills including advanced knowledge of word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software packages, preferably Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Have experience of electronic diary management. Be able to demonstrate excellent team working skills with the ability to work collaboratively and cooperatively with colleagues. Be able to assimilate large quantities of written and verbal communication quickly in order to produce accurate, timely minutes.

For informal enquiries, please contact Sarah Pittaway, Director of Library & Learning Resources sarah.pittaway@bcu.ac.uk

OUR VISION

Birmingham City University is growing in quality and standing, with an academic STEAM agenda at the heart of our ambitions. We are transforming the lives of students and their communities, and want outstanding people to join us in taking us on the next stage of our exciting journey.


Our students learn through doing. They are empowered throughout their educational journey, achieving significant educational gain and personal transformation.


There has never been a better time to join us. Come and be part of the next exciting stage of our journey.

ABOUT BIRMINGHAM CITY UNIVERSITY

At the heart of our 2025 Strategy is our mission is to enable our students to transform their lives and to achieve their potential. Through our education and research, and the roles our graduates go on to play in the world, we not only support individuals to transform their lives, but we also play a part in transforming society.


Located in the centre of the UK's second city, we are a university with a long heritage of innovation and of making, dating back to our origins in 1843 when we were founded as the Birmingham Government School of Design.


Our heritage of making through innovation and its application through knowledge exchange, and of creative research and practice, today finds it expression in our STEAM agenda, in our research and enterprise, and in our commitment to challenge-based learning. Working across disciplines, and delivering impactful research and enterprise, interdisciplinarity is at the heart of the continuing transformation of our academic portfolio.

OUR STAFF COMMUNITY

Birmingham is home to a rich and diverse range of communities. Our students reflect this rich cultural mix, and we are continuing to work to make sure that this is also reflected in our broader university community.


Birmingham City University values the quality and diversity of our staff. Our staff and student community is defined by our core values, which outline who we are as a University and how we work with each other. Our core values are we create opportunity, we think differently, and we build community.


We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, continuously reviewing and improving our policies, practices, and procedures to ensure that we are promoting these in all aspects of our operations. We believe that by working together, combining our many different backgrounds and life experiences, we will empower each other to reach our full potential.


We hold an Athena SWAN Bronze award in recognition of our commitment to improving employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.


Our University is located in one of the most culturally rich and diverse Cities in the UK, and it is our ambition to be the University for Birmingham and the surrounding region. The events of 2020 have highlighted the stark inequalities that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Communities face and we are committed to removing the institutional barriers that our staff and students face and improve the representation, progression and success of staff and students from all backgrounds within higher education. To demonstrate this, we have signed up to the Race Equality Charter to show our commitment.


Birmingham City University has been recognised for its progress on LGBT+ equality with a Gold award in the Stonewall Index and have entered the Top 100 Employers 2023 for LGBT+ inclusion. Meanwhile, we are Disability Confident (Committed) and are on an exciting journey to advance our University to progress through the Disability Confident scheme.


We are also a Mindful Employer, which means we are committed to supporting the mental health and well-being of our staff, and we have also signed up to the Mental Health Charter led by student mental health charity Student Minds. Furthermore, we are signed up to The Technician Commitment - a university and research institution initiative supported by the Science Council and Gatsby Foundation - aiming to ensure visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for technicians working in higher education and research.

WORKING AND LIVING IN BIRMINGHAM

The youngest city in Europe with under-25s accounting for nearly 40% of the population, Birmingham is a city full of energy and enthusiasm and is a great place to live and work.


Based in the heart of England, the city is easily accessible by road, rail and air. Birmingham New Street station has recently undergone major redevelopment, while the city is at the heart of the high-speed rail network, HS2. HS2 will provide new rapid rail travel connecting Birmingham City Centre to London and the rest of the network from the new Curzon Street Station - adjacent to Birmingham City University's City Centre Campus - and will be one of the most environmentally friendly stations in the world.


The city's appetite for progression is boundless, and it has been championing innovation since the earliest days of the Industrial Revolution, reflected in Birmingham City University's new STEAMhouse building which opened in October 2022 and is home to an inter-disciplinary community of entrepreneurs, businesses, academic researchers, and students offering a wealth of support to companies of all sizes to boost growth through innovation to address commercial and societal challenges.


Birmingham is brimming with great theatres, museums, the world-famous Birmingham City University Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, as well as beautiful historical buildings and the iconic Library of Birmingham. It also has amazing concert and sporting venues including Edgbaston Cricket ground, which Birmingham City University has a long-standing partnership with. It is also home to the Alexander Stadium, which is the stunning new home for Birmingham City University's sport courses. The Stadium was one of the main event spaces for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022, which saw the eyes of the world on the city, and Birmingham City University staff and students played pivotal roles - including designing the official medals for winning athletes.


Birmingham's vibrant dining scene offers something for all tastes, including Michelin star restaurants, Spiceal Street at the Bullring, the Chinese Quarter, and the famous Balti Triangle.


The city also provides a great place to shop, being home the Bullring and Grand Central, the luxurious Mailbox Birmingham and the world-famous home of British bling - the Jewellery Quarter, which is home to Birmingham City University's School of Jewellery.


From Harvey Nichols, Selfridges and the beautiful arcades and independents, to the city's historic markets in Digbeth, the shops in Birmingham offer a plethora of choice.


BCU Values underpin how we work in achieving the ambitions set out in our Strategy and Priorities, and are the principles that unite the way we work together and for our students.