Job Description
Position Details
Development and Alumni Relations Office
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 June 2027
Closing date: 15th March 2026
This role is also open as an internal secondment opportunity which would need to be agreed by your current line manager.
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 several 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 our 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 underrepresented 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 projects, supporting student bursaries, mentoring students, and providing internships, as well as providing a versatile programme of engagement opportunities for our global alumni community.
Role Summary
Are you a volunteering or alumni relations professional looking for your next challenge? Do you have a passion for engaging volunteers and for bringing people together? Are you looking to develop your career at a prestigious organisation?
We are looking for an International Engagement Manager to join our team to refine and expand a bold and innovative alumni volunteering programme to support both the priorities of the University and the Development and Alumni Relations Office (DARO). The post holder will deliver volunteer and engagement opportunities in key markets including China, India, Hong Kong, USA, Dubai, and many others, and will join nine other volunteering professionals as part of the wider team. The role will be responsible for developing a range of volunteering opportunities for international alumni, which support Birmingham 2030 targets around graduate employability, student recruitment, student experience, research and influence. You will be responsible for growing the number of international alumni volunteers and reporting on the impact of your work internally.
A key component of this role will be developing relationships with colleagues across the University to include alumni engagement and volunteering across the University’s international strategic themes. The International Engagement Manager role will be a point of contact for international matters into the Development and Alumni Relations Department amongst other University departments, including International Student Recruitment, Birmingham Global and Careers Network. As the lead on international engagement activity for the department, you will be expected to travel overseas for events and alumni activity in key strategic regions.
You will be provided with a robust induction and an ongoing training program that will include support from the University as well as expert external providers.
Main Duties
As an International Engagement Manager, you will have responsibility for developing and managing a portfolio of current and prospective international volunteers. You will have strong organisational skills and be able to plan and deliver international events. You will be a strong communicator and be passionate about engaging graduates of the University in volunteering activity.
In consultation with the Head of Volunteering, the post holder will be responsible for the planning and implementation of a new international alumni volunteering strategy focused on the following areas:
* Build relationships with key stakeholders across the University and act as the first point of contact in DARO for colleagues looking for international alumni to volunteer (e.g. int’l recruitment, Birmingham global, TNE teams, CN/ER in country).
* Responsible for managing our international alumni groups and ensuring they have the tools to be effective ambassadors for the University. In key recruitment and fundraising regions, this includes managing the relationships with lead contacts.
* Working closely with the wider Supporter Engagement Team to engage our global volunteer community to identify new volunteers to support key University strategic initiatives, such as the University’s Top 50 ambitions, through taking part in QS surveys, University marketing campaigns, and international recruitment and employability activities.
* Leading on the promotion and celebration of our alumni community through the StudyUK Alumni Awards.
* Coordinate and lead on global events and activity within DARO, including Global Alumni Gatherings, assembling and mobilizing project teams, and coordinating activity to ensure smooth delivery.
* Supporting international engagement activity in key growing alumni markets for the University, such as China and India, informing the strategy and working with the alumni community to develop activity of interest for the alumni and the University alike.
* Working with the central DARO communications team to ensure there is a comprehensive international alumni communications plan, including raising awareness of the impact of our international alumni volunteers across our wider alumni and supporter audience by sharing volunteering case studies and key international alumni stories.
* Identifying and engaging international alumni contacts who can support research objectives by opening up their networks to support research bids.
* Supporting strategy development for key countries e.g. China, India, Dubai.
* Promotes equality and values diversity, acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
* Supports 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). Where no equivalent qualification is held, practical relevant experience and expertise in a similar role will be required.
* An understanding of College and DARO strategic priorities and objectives, and how effective volunteering and alumni relations can support these.
* Experience of project management, preferably in an academic setting.
* Experience of event management with effective results.
* Experience of managing volunteers to deliver high-quality support.
* Strong communication skills and the ability to communicate effectively with prospects, donors, volunteers, alumni, academics, researchers and businesses using a wide range of communication skills.
* Experience of delivering against agreed targets/KPIs.
* The ability to think and plan strategically, both in the short and long-term.
* Experience of building long-term relationships with key stakeholders.
* The ability to work independently with initiative, prioritising your own workload to take decisions and think creatively and laterally.
* Strong negotiation skills and the ability to persuade and influence with diplomacy and sensitivity.
* The ability to represent the University with confidence, diplomacy, and authority.
* Highly proficient IT skills, including the wider MS Office suite of programmes including excel and PowerPoint, as well as knowledge of CRM to record interactions effectively to allow accurate performance monitoring and reporting.
* The flexibility to work unsociable hours (evenings and weekends) when required.
* 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.
Informal enquiries to Cate Linforth, email: c.linforth@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 .
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