Description Position Details Finance 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: 25th May 2026 This role is also open as an internal secondment opportunity which would need to be agreed by your current line manager. 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 Role Summary The Core Systems Optimisation team, (CSOT), are responsible for quarterly release management, helping to stabilise and optimise the Oracle and Worktribe systems that support Finance, HR and Research support. The team also co-ordinates and delivers end-user support and training and oversees the work of the Managed Support Provider. Reporting to the Deputy Head of CSOT the Technical Support Lead will act as a senior specialist focused on improving the quality and effectiveness of support services for the University’s Oracle SaaS and enterprise systems. A key aspect of the role is the design and delivery of high-quality training materials and in-system help, enabling staff and students to make effective use of Core Systems and increasing self-service capability. The role holder will own the training strategy and plan in line with the overall CSOT strategy, analyse service performance, identify improvement opportunities, and enhance the end-user experience through better processes, documentation, and training. Main Duties Training Delivery, Evaluation and End-User Support To design and maintain a rolling 12-month user enablement strategy that prioritises in-system guidance, contextual help, and self-service resources, ensuring stakeholders can confidently and independently use Oracle / Worktribe software. This includes flexing the programme to account for: peaks and troughs of new starters in specific user groups to ensure best use of resources mandatory items delivered by Oracle through the Quarterly Update programme enhancements chosen to be deployed by the University the needs of end-users, through the analysis of the root cause of Service Desk calls. To lead the creation and continuous improvement of embedded system guidance, including in-application help content, walkthroughs, knowledge articles, FAQs, and just-in-time learning resources. To ensure that self-service support channels (e.g. knowledge bases, guided processes, help panels) are the primary method of user support, reducing reliance on classroom and instructor-led training. To analyse Service Desk data and user behaviour to identify opportunities to eliminate repeat issues through improved in-system support and process design, rather than additional training delivery. To review the root cause of the most common causes resulting in end-user support to proactively identify additional training needs. To evaluate and report on the effectiveness of the training strategy for review by the Deputy Head of CSOT. To continually seek to improve the training and support offered to end-users in response to feedback received. To review training delivery against process-maps and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), alerting functional leads of the need to update. To maintain and promote visibility of “known issues” and workarounds through system-integrated communications, Super User channels, briefings and knowledge tools To ensure training materials remain relevant and fit-for-purpose. To liaise with HR, Finance, Research and IT on the training they provide in relation to Oracle and/or Worktribe to ensure this is appropriately signposted and aligned with the CSOT delivered training. System knowledge and Testing To become the Oracle HR / Payroll / Finance (Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)) experienced user, through on-the-job and formal training and self-study of the Oracle materials. This includes output documents, reporting – OTBI (Oracle Transactional BI Applications) and OBIA (Oracle BI Applications), Webcentre Content and integrations, inside and outside of the cloud. To provide a resolution to all Level 2 calls from the IT Helpdesk (i.e. break/fix queries, configuration issues, troubleshooting, functionality issues) within SLAs, seeking guidance from the Managed Support Partner for the more complex calls. Ensure any support received is documented as part of the knowledge transfer library to develop knowledge and understanding within CSOT. To provide on-going knowledge transfer to the business functions, in order to ensure they are self-sufficient at possible. Governance and documentation To work with Deputy Head of CSOT to ensure appropriate planning, communications, consultation, documentation and other relevant programme governance is maintained for CSOT including contributing to reports required for Business Systems Committee To ensure appropriate documentation is developed and maintained for the training and support remit, which includes but is not limited to: Weekly and monthly retrospective summary of activities, including training materials provided to end-users Quarterly look forward plans of activity Catalogue of process maps, SOPs and training guides, including last date of review Notes of meetings with stakeholders, defining participants, actions, owners and deadlines Recommendations made to functional areas on how business processes can be improved Roadmap of functional enhancements Knowledge Transfer documentation from Managed Service Provider on level 2 calls that they resolved in order to increase CSOT knowledge base Rolling 12-month training plan Rolling 12-month engagement plan Rolling 12-month review of training materials against process maps and SOPs. Engagement To implement a rolling 12-month engagement plan to ensure that all stakeholders are briefed on system related changes and developments. To lead the super user group to receive feedback on the usability of the system, consult on how the system could be developed and discuss priorities for future enhancements. To maintain the CSOT website. To treat everyone with dignity and respect, supporting equality and valuing diversity. Promotes equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture. Administrative and Operational Support To ensure that effective business processes and administrative structures are in place to support CSOT. To manage the administrative workload through forward planning, overseeing administrative work and redistributing work as necessary. To develop, maintain and continually improve team communications. To support to the team with web and social media content management and administrative support. To oversee and assist with room and facilities booking; team calendars and SharePoint system administration and improvement. To take responsibility for health and safety. To ensure the effective use of accommodation and management of equipment. To create, maintain and develop induction documentation to ensure and the continual improvement of team induction processes. Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience Educated to degree level or equivalent. Relevant professional experience preferably in Higher Education, a comparable complex public sector body or significant commercial organisation. Knowledge and experience of Finance and HR system (ERP / HRP) support with a strong focus on user enablement, development and management of in-system guidance (e.g. Oracle Guided Learning), self-service support models, and digital adoption approaches. Experience of analysing user support trends and Service Desk data to identify opportunities to improve system usability, performance, reduce repeat issues, and enhance user self-sufficiency. Understanding of how to design and deliver digital-first support models that minimise reliance on classroom or instructor-led training. Experience of management of administrative procedures; Excellent communication and inter-personal skills including: the ability to communicate effectively including the ability to produce high quality project documentation and well-developed presentation skills; establishing and managing collaborative stakeholder relationships and networks with academics, professional services staff and other partners demonstrating credibility and gravitas; interacting with all levels of staff including the ability to motivate and develop people; Excellent influencing, negotiating and facilitating skills; the ability to work using own initiative and mange own workload within agreed deadlines and tolerances. Ability to think strategically and contribute to workshops, service improvement initiatives, and planning activities focused on user experience and digital enablement. A creative, analytical, and user-centred approach to problem solving, continuous improvement, and process optimisation. Strong organisational and administrative skills, with excellent attention to detail and commitment to maintaining accurate and accessible documentation. Good IT and digital content management skills, including Microsoft Office, Visio, SharePoint, and knowledge management platforms. Collaborative and flexible working style. Ability to prioritise work, particularly under pressure. An understanding of and empathy for the activities/objectives of the University. 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. Personal characteristics: Strong intellectual abilities; Eye for detail and strong influencing personality; Judgement and resilience; Critical thinking and problem-solving; Negotiation and conflict management; Honesty and integrity; Energy and resilience. Dimensions Responsible for delivering and providing access to training for 8000 employees on the Core Systems. Planning and organising Plans the training and engagement for CSOT looking at least 12 months in advance. Responsible for organising the resources to deliver the plan. Problem solving and decision making Able to make and implement recommendations within training, engagement and budget management. Can recommend changes to functional leads following on from feedback at training. Internal and external relationships They will deal with staff from all levels of the organisation on a regular basis. Informal enquiries to Vera de Oliveira Batista, email: v.m.deoliveirabatista@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 .