Position Details

Creative Media, External Relations

Location: Print & Distribution, Unit 5 - 7 Crown Road, Kings Norton Business Centre, Kings Norton, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £25,866 to £27,518, with potential progression once in post to £30,820

Grade: 4

Full Time, Permanent

Closing date: 16th November 2023

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

To contribute and take a strong role in all aspects of print and distribution services supporting the delivery of our print and distribution services for students, staff and the wider community.

Role Summary

• This role will provide both technical and practical print and distribution support within the team.
• The post holder will work within a flexible professional team to maintain, develop and innovate the service with a strong adherence to service level agreements, quality standards and commercial awareness.
• Day to day activities will involve overseeing numerous aspects of multiple jobs through from the initial enquiry to the delivered finished product with the support of the Senior Print Technician.
• The role will require technical expertise using various industry software applications and a practical involvement in the printing, finishing, installation and delivery of all materials.
• The role will involve taking a hands-on and agile approach to the delivery of a pop up shop and on-line shop to drive additional sales and services.

Main Duties

Estimating and Relationships:

• Use the incumbent MIS to prepare accurate and detailed estimations for basic jobs in a timely manner ensuring accurate commentary is recorded regarding non-compliance, production issues or cost variance.
• Cross check all print specifications for accuracy against the customer brief and make sure that the most cost and time effective print production and distribution method is utilised ensuring quality is maintained throughout the process.
• Liaise with external suppliers ensuring accuracy, quality standards; delivery schedules and value for money are achieved in all dealings with 3rd party suppliers.
• Work closely with the Account Management Team to ensure a responsive and pro-active service is maintained where all the service level agreements are met.
• Assist with the collation of statistics and management information as required.

Pre-Production and Production:

• Undertake basic print preparation art working and pre-flight checks including the sending out of proofs and liaising with customers on any art working issues.
• Assist with the production and planning workflow taking responsibility for the safe and efficient operation of all print, finishing and distribution machines including basic maintenance and quality adherence.
• Ensure stock levels are maintained at an appropriate level to ensure the smooth operation of the service.

Pop Up/On-line Shop activities:

• Take responsibility for staffing pop up shop activities on campus.
• Ensure stock levels are monitored and maintained.
• Develop and maintain a comprehensive calendar of activities and actions for the deployment of the pop up shop.
• Assist with the innovation, production and despatch of merchandise.
• Take responsibility for the maintenance of the on-line shop presence
• Take the lead with the promotion of the pop up shop and on-line merchandise through appropriate channels including social media.
• Provide and maintain comprehensive and accurate data on all sales activities.

Large format surveys and fitting:

• Undertake site surveys when required ensuring a high level of accuracy and detail are included in the finished specification including appropriate recommendations for materials, fixings, fittings and health and safety.
• Undertake print fitting where required with a strong attention to accuracy and quality, ensuring all aspects of health and safety are assessed with and ensure the appropriate Risk Assessment Management Statements are in place prior to work being undertaken.

Distribution:

• Undertake general distribution and despatch duties including driving the van and delivering to campus.

General:

• Be flexible and proactively support the work of the team to plan, organise, maintain and deliver activities including the generation and implementation of new initiatives enabling the successful growth and delivery of the service.
• Be prepared to cover the roles of other team members in their absence where possible.
• Act as a role model to other members of the team in championing ER values and behaviours.
• The role is a task and project driven role that may require work outside of core hours and is drive by schedules and by delivery deadlines. The post holder may therefore be required to work both flexible and extended hours to deliver.
• Supports equality and values diversity, moderates own behaviour to avoid unfair discriminatory impact or bias on others.

Person Specification

Level of knowledge and previous experience required:

• Proven practical experience in a similar role within the print/distribution industry.
• Basic working knowledge of Print MIS.
• Basic working knowledge, but not limited to, of the Adobe Creative Suite, Fiery RiP and Quite Imposing software.
• Basic understanding of DHL and Royal Mail postal procedures.

Personal skills/attributes required:

Relationships:

• Ability to develop strong working relationships within the team, across the University and with 3rd party suppliers.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to support colleagues maintaining a calm and professional disposition throughout.
• Strong team player.
• Demonstrate excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate effectively with colleagues at all levels providing exemplary customer service.

Commercial awareness and innovation:

• Demonstrate a commercial and business awareness across the varied activities the team are involved in.
• Willingness to contribute to evolving the MIS. Outstanding accuracy and attention to detail in all aspects of this work with a genuine desire to constantly refine and innovate the system.
• Be proactive in offering solutions/answers where there may be problems/questions.

Organisation and problem solving:

• Good organisational skills and a demonstrated ability to work to targets and deadlines.
• Have excellent problem solving skills and be capable of using their initiative to resolve issues.
• Has the ability to project manage multiple tasks simultaneously and prioritise their workload without compromising the deadline or quality of any job.
• Willingness to accept responsibility and be open and responsive to receiving and acting on feedback.
• Able to work in a busy office environment and think on their feet and work at pace with a meticulous eye for detail and instinct for spotting potential issues before they arise.

Personal:

• Self-motivated, enthusiastic and with a good sense of humour.
• Able to respond positively and effectively to changing priorities as they arise.
• Able to work effectively with minimal management guidance/supervision and use own initiative.
• Ability to deal with all situations with a high degree of sensitivity, tact and diplomacy.
• Exercise personal integrity and discretion when handling confidential and potentially sensitive information.
• Understands the importance of equality and diversity in the workplace.
• Ability to identify and respond to equality and diversity issues in line with relevant policies and procedures.

Informal enquiries to Andy Sewell, email: a.w.sewell@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. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website .