Position Details
Dubai Operations
University of Birmingham, Dubai campus
Salary: Competitive
Grade: 5
No. of positions: 1
Full time
Location: Dubai, UAE
Closing date: 24th July 2025
University of Birmingham Dubai
Having established ourselves in Dubai International Academic City in 2018 we have now moved to our new state-of-the-art campus which opened in Sept 2021. These posts represent an excellent opportunity to join an ambitious World Top 100 University as we continue to grow our long-term strategic mission in Dubai, the UAE and the wider region. Our campus reflects the very best of Birmingham through our presence in Dubai.
Background
Professional Services Ethos
Our ethos as a Professional Services team has been developed in line with the principles of being a Birmingham Professional. In particular here in Dubai this means that all Professional Services colleagues seek to collaborate effectively to ensure the needs of the whole campus community and our stakeholders are met. It also means that we work constructively together to provide a flexible range of service and support that adapt to the changing needs of the Campus as we grow. There are specific focal points in the academic cycle when all Professional Services team members will be expected to contribute regardless of their primary role, for example Welcome or Graduation.In addition, the duties listed below are illustrative of the general nature and level of responsibility of this post which is likely to change over time in response to the needs of the Campus and as you develop your experience and skills.You will have the opportunity to develop and may also need to specialise your duties further, over time, in agreement with your manager.
In order to contribute to the success of the team and the University’s vision for the Dubai Campus the Professional Services team will be seeking to continue to recruit and develop colleagues who display:
* a high level of intellectual aptitude;
* strong agility and a portfolio of skills that can adapt to meet changing circumstances;
* an innovative and creative mind-set; and
* both an enterprising and entrepreneurial nature to support our growth and pursuit of excellence.
Role Summary
This role will have the opportunity to work at the heart of our Campus at the Student Hub, ensuring a varied and interesting range of work. Duties may vary across workstreams, but you will be trained in everything you need to know to support the delivery of our enquiry management service points; in person, by phone or in person.
Our Student Hub provides front line information, advice and guidance to students on a wide variety of queries, and aims to resolve student requests at the first point of contact. It also provides transactional services such as ID card issue, reference requests, letter requests and has a pivotal role in the delivery of University Welcome activities throughout the academic year. The Student Hub provides administrative and customer service support to and on behalf of: Student Programme Administration, Student Services, Student Mobility, Student Wellbeing Services, Student Experience.
The Student Hub receives a high volume of queries across our in-person, email and telephone channels, and the Enquiry Management Assistant will be expected to work across all of these enquiry channels. You will become an expert user of the University’s student enquiry management systems, such as Verint and Service Now. You will also develop excellent triage skills in order to be able to effectively respond to and signpost student queries on a wide range of topics, including financial, disability and wellbeing support, and University administrative processes.
A significant percentage of the post holder’s time will be invested in responding to queries from students and applicants contacting the Hub Services Team, including liaising with other internal and external stakeholders as required. The post holder will be an integral member of the Professional Services team and a key part of our drive to improve our responsiveness and customer service delivery, working towards our university’s aim to provide an excellent and innovative student experience, through automation and digitisation.
This post holder will work across our undergraduate and postgraduate student body, which will involve working evening and weekend shifts during term time.
Main Duties
* To undertake day-to-day administration and customer service activity for the Student Services team, including responding to a wide range of student enquiries received by email, telephone and in-person.
* Supporting sessional activity, such as Welcome, Graduation and exams, as required. This may require some out of hours working.
* Undertake projects or special tasks which may be assigned from time to time. For example, this may include contributing to periodic reviews of administrative and customer service processes and procedures with the objective of making improvements and sharing best practice across other areas within the wider University.
* Manage all data and interactions in accordance with university policy and data requirements.
* Proactively using own initiative and creativity to identify solutions or improvements for service delivery – in particular as relates to enquiry management and customer service.
* Support equality and values diversity, moderating own behaviour to avoid unfair discriminatory impact or bias on others.
* To contribute to own professional development and the development of the service by keeping your knowledge up to date with relevant training activities, attendance at team meetings, and other important knowledge building activities.
* Any other duties that might reasonably be required from time to time in line with the grading of the post.
Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience
* Educated to a degree level.
* Experience of delivering high quality customer service and ability to demonstrate a strong understanding of how to respond to differing stakeholders’ needs, including internal customers across different University departments, and enquirers from a diverse range of backgrounds.
* Demonstrating excellent attention to detail, accuracy and personal organisation.
* The ability to thrive in a fast-moving, dynamic environment where change is often required at short notice.
* Excellent IT skills especially in the use of Microsoft Office Applications and systems such as enquiry management systems. The post-holder will have the confidence and ability to learn new packages as and when required.
* Ability to prioritise workloads in the face of conflicting demands, using own judgement to ensure the work is completed to time and deadlines.
* Excellent written communication skills, including the ability to write clearly and concisely.
* Experience of developing good working relationships (e.g. partnerships) with colleagues from different areas in a company, showing understanding of the interdependencies that affect the work of other staff / teams in an organisation.
* Evidence of ability to provide a high level of all of the following: professional judgment, confidentiality, diplomacy, cultural awareness and sensitivity, when liaising with staff, students and other key stakeholders.
* The post-holder must have an appreciation and general understanding of data protection and its relationship with the need for controls around information security and confidentiality.
* Flexibility and willingness to work extended hours to meet the demands of the service during term time and to meet the needs of the service, e.g. Welcome, degree congregations and examinations.
Dimensions
You will not be required to routinely line manage anyone in this role or manage a budget but you may supervise temporary staff from time to time.
Planning and Organising
You will be required to manage and prioritise a varied workload to deliver within required time frames.There is also a need to maintain an awareness of activity across the department and wider University as appropriate.
Problem Solving and decision making
You will be working under the direction of a senior manager, but with the autonomy to deliver the outputs required.You will be working within the framework of existing policies, processes and procedures for the University. You will, however, take day to day decisions on what advice to give and for responding to and resolving queries.
Internal and External relationships
This role will be liaising with students, internal colleagues and stakeholders, and external stakeholders as well with an expectation on maintaining good working relationships with all.
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 everyoneon our website .
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