Position Details: 

Campus Services

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is £19,494 per annum for the first twelve months rising to £24,368 per annum thereafter. Over the full 16 month apprenticeship there is an additional premia paid of £12,260. (comprising of Weekend Premia, Night Premia and Guaranteed Overtime payments).

Apprentice Grade 3

Full time / Fixed Term for 16 Months

Apprenticeship Standard: Professional Security Operative

Training Provider: Mercury Training

Closing Date: 09th October 2024 – Please upload a CV with your application

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

Department overview 

Campus Services (CS) employs over 900 staff with a turnover exceeding £50m in the last financial year. CS plays a key role in the quality of the student, staff and visitor experience, providing services across diverse areas such as the University’s sporting facilities, food and beverage, cleaning, conferencing, hotel operations, day nurseries, portering, post, branded and own-brand retail outlets, visitor services and attractions (e.g., Winterbourne House & Gardens), student housing, transport, waste disposal and recycling. CS is a highly commercial organisation operating within the University context and has an ambitious strategic agenda, in terms of growing our service profile across both our Birmingham and Dubai campuses.

Community Safety and Security Services

The aim of Community Safety and Security Services is to create a safe and secure University environment where our students, staff, visitors and partners can thrive. The team oversees three key functions, namely security operations, community safety operations and emergency planning.  The Security Services Team led by the Security Operations Manager is comprised of 4 teams providing services 24 hours a day all year round, patrolling campus, responding to incidents, monitoring CCTV, greeting visitors and supporting events. This is the team you will be joining.  Security Teams work alongside the Community Safety Team, (CST).  The CST puts prevention at the heart of its activity, working with students and the wider University Community to promote safety.  The team runs a drop-in advice service at the Community Safety Hub for both staff and students, offering help and support with safety and crime prevention. A Business Continuity and Resilience Manager is responsible for emergency planning ensuring the University is prepared as it can be in the face of adversity so that it can quickly return to business as usual activity.

Apprenticeship summary

Security Officers are integral to our ability to provide 24/7 security provision at the University of Birmingham.  You will work and learn with one of four teams, led by a Team Manager and their deputy, responsible for keeping the University safe by monitoring the estate for security risks, providing a visible security presence and responding to incidents.  We are looking for enthusiastic individuals, who work well in a team, with good communication skills and the ability to learn to make good decisions and take control of developing situations. If you want variety, a great team to work with and the ability to contribute to the student and visitor experience, this is the role for you.

The role of security has changed over time and now includes a wider focus on serious welfare concerns, like mental health and serious environmental challenges like flooding.  If we want to keep our community safe and feeling safe, the ability to flexibly and compassionately respond to a wide range of incidents and work with internal and external partners is more important than ever.

We strive to continuously improve our security operation and new technology is always arriving, so we need individuals able to adapt and embrace change. We consider the right attitudes and behaviours are just as important as experience and skill, subsequently we are prepared to invest in and train in the right candidate.

You will be required to work 1584 hours per year plus 312 hours of guaranteed overtime. These hours will be worked on an alternating shift pattern of two 12-hour shifts (days and nights) covering 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. This working pattern equates to an average 42-hour working week.

Main duties you will learn:

• Provide security patrols or static duties across the University and its perimeter on foot, bicycle or vehicle to ensure the safety of the staff, students, and visitors, identify and report security risks and to protect the interests of the University.
• Respond to incidents, using the national decision-making model to resolve issues in sometimes challenging situations, remaining impartial, objective, and professional.  Work with other departments in the University and external partners, like the emergency services to manage incidents.  Provide advice on security matters where appropriate and escalate serious incidents for the attention of Team Managers or their deputy.
• Deal sensitively, compassionately and calmly with emergencies including serious wellbeing issues like mental health crisis, serious crime and environmental emergencies like fire and flooding, providing advice, direction and support for students, colleagues and members of the public.
• Monitor the University for threats and risks and capture, record and report intelligence and information relevant to community safety and security for the University and its environs.
• Ensure that safeguarding incidents involving children and adults are reported in line with safeguarding responsibilities.
• Undertake Security Control Room duties and operate control room security systems, including CCTV, telecommunications and others, including new systems that may come on-line, in compliance with the Data Protection Act, General Data Protection Regulations, Human Rights Act and other relevant legislation.
• Support locking and unlocking procedures for the University Estate ensuring the safe custody and control of keys and alarms.
• Undertake assigned duties for events and other special occasions as directed.
• Comply with the requirements of all health and safety regulations, to assess and report on risks and to take appropriate action to avert those risks.  To include first aid and action to take in the event of fire.
• Ensure that all staff, students, and visitors are dealt with in accordance with the requirements of equality, diversity, and anti-discrimination legislation.  Be inclusive and treat everyone with dignity and respect, supporting equality and valuing diversity.
• Attend court or internal hearings to give professional evidence as required.
• Participate in a culture of continuous improvement. Complete all mandatory training and undertake other required training and development to ensure that you are fully competent to perform your role, including where new technologies and systems are introduced to the University.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Literacy and numeracy skills as may be evidenced by GCSE English and Maths or other level 1 qualifications.
• Ability to work as part of a team and on your own initiative within guidelines and procedure.
• Able to learn excellent communication skills and the ability to remain calm in emergencies.
• An attention to detail and the ability to learn to accurately report facts.
• The highest level of personal integrity at all times.
• Basic ICT skills that can be built upon
• Full, clean driving licence
• Participating in all required training
• Engage fully with the University of Birmingham apprenticeship scheme, attending mandatory group days and contributing to the successful promotion of the scheme by representing your department in a positive manner.
• Ability to learn and understand how diversity considerations affect own area (e.g., dietary requirements/dress code).

The role is a physical one and so an acceptable level of physical fitness must be demonstrated along with a willingness to work unsociable hours and to work outdoors in extreme weather conditions.

Dimensions

You will be expected to work effectively with internal and external customers as well within the department management structure.  Security services impact on many areas, sometimes critically, and a Security Officer will play a key role in coordinating activity and brokering information in a variety of directions with an expectation of effective outcome.

Planning and organising

Activities follow a prescribed shift pattern.

Problem solving and decision-making

• Without reference to others: All decisions must be approved by the Team Manager or deputy.
• After consulting others: All decisions relating to the performance of the post holder’s role.
• Or that would be referred to someone else: Any decision that is outside of routine operational functions or is not within the post holder’s remit, competence or authority.

Internal and external relationships

Will develop and maintain close working relationship with colleagues on your team and other teams within the security department.  Will be able to represent the University professionally when dealing with outside agencies such as the emergency services or other Government agencies.

For enquiries please email: apprenticeships@contacts.bham.ac.uk

View our staff values and behaviours here

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.