Description Position Details Development and Alumni Relations Office Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK Full time starting salary is normally in the range £47,389 to £56,535 with potential progression once in post to £63,606 Grade: 8 Full Time ( Part time is available however, will accommodate to 0.8FTE if required) Fixed Term contract up to September 2027 Closing date: 15th April 2026 This role is also open as an internal secondment opportunity which would need to be agreed by your current line manager. Interviews provisionally scheduled for 29th April 2026 UK and International 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 Background Our University has a proud history of philanthropy stretching back to its foundation in 1900. With a clear vision to change the lives of the people of Birmingham, Joseph Chamberlain raised the funds required to build the University from citizens and corporations based locally and around the globe. Since then, philanthropy has continued to play an important role in shaping the University. There have been a number of fundraising campaigns, including a £1m urgent capital appeal after the Second World War and a £1.4m campaign to fund the Vale ‘student village’ in the 1960s. In 2015 we closed the Circles of Influence Campaign, raising £193 million, making it the largest HE fundraising campaign outside Oxbridge and London. The University has global reach, including several partnerships with other leading universities around the world, and is grounded in its local community, having opened the first fully comprehensive University secondary school in the country in 2015. We are an ambitious and successful research-intensive University (one of the top 100 research-led universities globally) and have produced 10 Nobel Prize winners, including three who received their awards in 2016. Academics here are exploring the impact of climate change, helping to address global health epidemics, and changing our understanding of Shakespeare. Our students come from nearly 150 countries, and our flagship outreach programmes mean that almost 25% of our student population come from disadvantaged backgrounds: one of the highest proportions in the UK. 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 is comprised of five teams, is focused on fundraising and volunteering from alumni, organisations and individuals who are passionate about changing lives, through funding various research trials, supporting student bursaries, mentoring students, and providing internships. Role Summary The Head of Engagement will be a key leader in DARO, contributing to DARO’s strategy and managing key day-to-day activities across the office. The post holder will be responsible for the creation and high-quality delivery of the global engagement programmes for DARO’s key audiences. The Head of Engagement will be a passionate champion of the alumni community, working with colleagues across the University to identify opportunities to enrich the alumni programme. The Head of Engagement will also be responsible for stakeholder management of a number of key contacts, internally and externally and play an active role in ensuring that alumni are integral to the delivery of University priorities including ranking as a global top 50 University, high quality student recruitment and supporting graduate employability. The Head of Engagement will play a key role in shaping the engagement programme in support of the final year of the Birmingham in Action campaign, encouraging audiences to support the campaign with their time, money and networks. and will generate creative ideas to engage our internal and external audiences and be responsible for setting objectives and ensuring effective delivery. This role is ideal for a creative individual with the drive to spot exciting opportunities and to make them happen. Leading and working with a team of engagement professionals and collaborating with senior stakeholders across the University, you will drive our alumni relations programme forward. Candidates must be able to demonstrate, with examples, how they have led a team through the development and delivery of a significant engagement programme. Part time is available however, will accommodate to 0.8FTE if required. Main Duties Develop, lead and deliver a comprehensive, global and high-quality alumni engagement programme which inspires individuals to give their time, networks and/or money to support the University, and champion the alumni audience at all times. Identify and be responsible for the delivery of engagement activities which will support the final year of the Birmingham in Action campaign and ensure they meet agreed objectives. Lead an effective Engagement Team motivating and empowering them to deliver their ambitious strategies, to work collaboratively and to share best practice. Be responsible for the performance of the team, celebrating exceptional performance whilst acting on underperformance and coaching team members to excel in their role. Actively participate in the collaborative partnership between DARO, External Relations, Careers Network, UB Sport and the Guild of Students to identify shared strategic objectives and deliver associated projects. Collaborate with colleagues in Dubai and Edgbaston to maximise engagement opportunities for alumni of the Dubai campus and to deliver strategic objectives. Work collaboratively with colleagues and peers to ensure that activities are aligned to deliver the greatest impact for our audiences and the University. Build excellent relationships with key colleagues around the University and identify opportunities for collaboration which engage the alumni audience to deliver strategic objectives, for example delivery of Graduate Outcomes, global reputation and student recruitment strategies. Be responsible for the delivery of the China and India engagement plans, ensuring they continue to support student recruitment and graduate employability priorities. Cultivate and maintain excellent networks in the university and charity sector, ensuring best practice in the University of Birmingham programme and opportunities for innovation. Actively manage equality, diversity and inclusion through monitoring and evaluation and actively challenging unacceptable behaviour. Support the University’s sustainability agenda through resource efficient working. Any other duties commensurate with the grade. Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience Educated to Degree level (or equivalent qualifications) plus significant relevant practical experience – where no equivalent qualification is held substantial practical relevant experience and expertise in a series of progressively more demanding roles will be required. Significant experience of creating and managing broad based programmes such as alumni relations, volunteering, or membership programmes. Demonstrable experience of directly managing a team Experience of working with a mass audience or mass channels (i.e., broad communication or event programmes) Ability to manage a large team of staff, setting high performance standards and impact orientated deliverables. Ability to work collaboratively with colleagues within DARO, particularly the Volunteering, Regular Giving, Donor Experience, Philanthropy, and Data and Insight teams. Excellent communication skills and the confidence to present to large groups. Ability to work under pressure and effectively prioritise a varied and diverse workload. Extensive experience of working to and delivering against targets. Ability to work with initiative, to take decisions, and think creatively and laterally. Understanding of fundraising and data protection regulation. Strong understanding of the importance of fundraising and alumni relations within higher education. Ability to interact effectively with donors, volunteers, and external agencies. Strong negotiation skills and the ability to persuade and influence. Ability to respond appropriately to complaints. Knowledge of the work practices, processes, and procedures relevant to the role, including broader sector/commercial awareness. Experience of championing Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion in own work area. Ability to monitor and evaluate the extent to which equality and diversity legislation, policies, procedures are applied. Ability to identify issues with the potential to impact on protected groups and take appropriate action. Informal enquiries to Claire O'Sullivan, email: c.f.osullivan@bham.ac.uk View our staff values and behaviours here 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 .