Junior Functional Expert (HR & Payroll) - Finance Office - 105901Z26 - Grade 5

Position Details

Finance Office

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £30,062 to £31,900, with potential progression once in post to £35,883

Grade: 5

Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to November 2027 

Closing date: 25th October 2026

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

The Core Systems Optimisation team, (CSOT), is responsible for Oracle quarterly release management, helping to stabilise and optimise the build of the system, co-ordinating and delivering end-user support and training and overseeing the work of the Managed Support Provider. CSOT work with key stakeholders across the University community to deliver enhancements to system functionality, resolve defects and manage quarterly upgrade releases.

Role Summary

This role will play a key role in preparing data for testing, amending tests scripts as required, running tests and providing relevant test evidence and other test relates duties, as required. They will be responsible for resolving incidents, deploying enhancements, supporting training and overseeing regression testing. The postholder will also have a good awareness of the business processes and system functionality.

Main Duties

System Functionality

• Develop an in-depth knowledge of system functionality across all modules.
• Manage requests for new positions and work schedules in Core Systems in a timely manner.
• Ensure system processes, reporting and schedules run accurately.

End-User Support

• Resolve all Level 2 calls assigned from the ITS Service Now Desk, including break/fix calls, configuration issues, troubleshooting requests including data issues or dealing with issues associated with user-error.
• Undertake configuration changes, (integrations, conversions, enhancement, forms), as required.
• Keep all documentation up to date and accurate.
• Develop reports to satisfy business intelligence requirements for the relevant processes. 
• Developing a comprehensive knowledge of Core Systems functionality so as to be best placed to respond to Core System’s users queries and issues
• Problem solving and troubleshooting in order to provide second line support to staff via ServiceNow incidents 
• Taking ownership, monitoring and tracking incidents through to resolution, which will include raising incidents with our third-party Managed Support Provider, or third-line University IT Services.
• Responding to incidents in a timely and professional manner
• Liaising with members of other teams to aid in the timely resolution of Core Systems relates issues (E.g. IT Services Desk, HR, Finance, Worklink)
• Create and maintain positions and work schedules, ensuring tasks are dealt with in a timely manner whilst also ensuring data accuracy
• Liaise with Finance colleagues, sharing weekly spreadsheets in order that position costing can be maintained
• Investigate data issues and identify ways to resolve them, using excel look-ups to compare and reconcile data.
• Create/update test scripts
• Undertake testing to ensure that functionality is configured appropriately, recording outcomes and providing appropriate test evidence documentation
• Update process maps and standard operating procedures (SOPs) to ensure that they are kept fully up to date.

Release Management

• Evaluate forthcoming releases associated with the range of modules.
• Undertake all necessary regression testing to ensure that functionality is configured appropriately. Review requirements and specifications and define test conditions. Design test cases and test scripts under own direction, mapping back to pre-determined criteria, recording and reporting outcomes. Analyse and report test activities and results. Identify and report issues and risks associated with own work. Compile results for feedback.
• Ensure all process maps are kept fully up to date.

Data Integrity

• Maintain data integrity ensuring appropriate master data management creation.
• Investigate data issues and identify ways of resolving them.

Training

• Update knowledge base articles, based on information provided by the COST Training and Operations Manager, to ensure users have accurate information to try and resolve their issues themselves, before raising ServiceNow incidents
• Support end user training, as required.

Skills Development:

• Develop knowledge across all functional areas over time, to ensure that cover can be provided during absence or during periods of heightened activity.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Knowledge and experience of system implementation
• Has experience working in an Oracle HCM cloud system
• Candidate should have experience in the following:
  • Investigating production issues 
  • Supporting quarterly Oracle updates. 
  • Co-ordinating Oracle Service Requests (SRs). 
  • Build and maintain technical configurations where required
  • Maintaining configuration workbooks, Knowledge Databases.
  • End -user/ UAT support
• Good communication and inter-personal skills 
• Well-developed administrative and organisational skills with a proven ability to pay attention to detail. 
• Good IT skills, including Microsoft Office. 
• Ability to prioritise work, particularly under pressure. 
• An understanding of and empathy for the activities/objectives of the University.

Informal enquiries to Soumi Nandi, email: [email protected] 

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.