Position Details
Professional Services
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, Permanent
Closing date: 17th November 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 University of Birmingham is a global institution working within a diverse and vibrant City, offering an inspiring education to our students, and undertaking critically important research. We are a place of open, critical thinking, and the creation, sharing and dissemination of knowledge. Professional Services put students at the heart of all they do and enable an exceptional educational experience. They provide outstanding support to our researchers and help the University to grow its influence regionally, nationally, and globally. They ensure the University’s resources are used wisely, manage and improve the infrastructure which sits at the heart of the institution, and support decisions to be made quickly and based on sound evidence.
Our Birmingham Professional programme operates across the University, supporting colleagues to network and collaborate, offering opportunities to learn and develop, contributing to the delivery of the University’s objectives, and helping everyone to understand the broader context within which we work.
Sustainability underpins our Strategic Framework which includes the goal of being net carbon zero by 2045.
Department overview
The University of Birmingham Estates Office is responsible for both the master planning and stewardship of our extensive estate. Our team is made up of over 180 dedicated members of staff, including many apprentices studying an extensive range of subjects; all striving to deliver a world class university experience for the benefit of all students, staff, academics and visitors. After our staff, our physical estate is the largest single enabler for our world-class teaching, research and providing a fantastic student experience.
Our estate is large and varied covering 672 acres, with over 200 buildings of different ages, complexities, physical condition and use, ranging from grade 1 & 2 listed properties to brand new state of the art learning and research spaces. It consists of two main campuses (Edgbaston & Selly Oak) along with properties in Stratford upon Avon, Ansty (near Coventry), Coniston and Dubai. The total gross internal area is 538,000 m2. Three quarters of the non-residential estate is in building condition A & B and we typically spend approaching £20M/year on energy and water.
We operate and maintain: -
- Our own energy Centre that generates 75% of our own power and provides heat to our buildings via combined heat and power plants.
- Extensive district heating and private wire networks.
- An extensive Operational Technology (OT) network and Building Energy Management System (BEMS) infrastructure supporting energy, environmental and operational management across the estate.
Role Summary
The Energy Engineer will support the wider Estates team in meeting the strategic objectives of the Department, including supporting the University's ambition to become a top 50 University. The role will lead initiatives to improve building energy performance across the University estate, delivering measurable reductions in utilities expenditure and carbon emissions, whilst contributing to the University’s sustainability, operational and decarbonisation goals.
The role combines engineering investigation, operational optimisation, business case development and project portfolio management to identify, prioritise and realise building performance improvements.
Working closely with the Energy Analysts, BEMS Team, Estates Maintenance Teams and Capital Projects colleagues, the postholder will develop practical, prioritised and costed energy-saving opportunities and support their implementation across a diverse building portfolio.
The role will directly contribute to:
- Delivering measurable financial savings through reduced energy and water consumption.
- Improving building performance, occupant comfort and operational efficiency.
- Developing a robust pipeline of energy and carbon reduction projects across the estate.
- Supporting compliance obligations, including ESOS and Display Energy Certificates.
- Providing technical leadership and support towards the University's decarbonisation objectives.
Main Duties
- Lead building energy performance investigations through structured surveys, assessments and analysis of building services, controls, occupancy patterns and operational practices to identify opportunities for improved efficiency, resilience, comfort and operational effectiveness.
- Develop and maintain a strategic programme of energy surveys and performance reviews, aligned with compliance requirements, maintenance programmes and the University's decarbonisation objectives. Develop, manage and lead delivery of a portfolio of energy performance improvement projects, including no-cost, low-cost and capital investment measures, ensuring effective measurement and verification of outcomes.
It is expected that you will carry out energy surveys yourself, in addition to the use of consultants and be prepared to become an accredited DEC assessor.
- Identify, evaluate and prioritise energy, water and carbon reduction opportunities, quantifying costs, savings, carbon benefits, payback periods and implementation routes.
- Produce high-quality technical reports, business cases, investment proposals and funding applications to support compliance, decision-making and project delivery.
- Work collaboratively with Energy Analysts, the BEMS team, Maintenance and Capital Projects teams and colleagues across the University to investigate performance issues, optimise building operations and integrate energy efficiency improvements into planned works.
- Support soft landings, recommissioning activities, seasonal tuning exercises and post-implementation reviews and assist in the development of consistent control strategies across the estate.
- Provide specialist technical advice and guidance to Estates colleagues and wider University stakeholders, contributing to feasibility studies, decarbonisation strategies, internal standards and best practice development.
- Maintain professional competence and compliance knowledge, including relevant accreditations, whilst monitoring emerging legislation, standards and industry best practice to inform continuous improvement.
- Fosters a fair and equitable workplace for all staff. Identify and respond to equality and diversity issues in line with relevant university policies and procedures.
- Other relevant criteria from our equality and diversity duties document.
- Supports the University’s sustainability agenda through resource efficient working.
- Any other duties commensurate with the grade.
Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience
- Educated to Degree level (or equivalent qualifications) or relevant technical qualification and considerable relevant experience. Where no equivalent qualification is held, significant practical relevant experience and expertise in a series of more demanding roles will be required demonstrating the conceptual understanding required.
- Chartered Engineer, Incorporated Engineer, or demonstrable progress of working towards professional registration with an appropriate institution such as, but not limited to, CIBSE, Energy Institute or Institute of Energy and Technology.
- Recognised and substantial technical expertise and experience in Energy Management / Engineering in relation to energy use in buildings, thus able to be authoritative in this field and how to change, adapt and apply systems.
- In-depth and specialist understanding of energy consumption within buildings including, heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting, associated controls and energy producing plant (heat pumps, boilers, CHP units).
- Have the skills and experience to understand, conceptualise and interpret the requirements of staff and students.
- Experience undertaking energy surveys and building performance assessments within complex buildings and taking findings all the way through to the delivery of improvement projects.
- Working knowledge of Building Energy Management Systems and their role in optimisation.
- Detailed understanding of ESOS, DEC, EPC and other relevant compliance frameworks.
- Experience developing and managing portfolios of energy improvement projects and the measurement and verification of savings.
- Passionate about sustainability, energy efficiency and continuous improvement.
- Understanding of how energy and decarbonisation activities contribute to wider University strategy and society
- In depth up to date specialist understanding and experience in a relevant scientific, technical or IT specialism
- Evidence of literacy and numeracy.
- Knowledge of the protected characteristics and duties under the Equality Act 2010. Including fostering good relations and advancing the universities Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED).
- Other relevant criteria from our equality and diversity knowledge, skills and experience document.
Informal enquiries to James Sharman, email: [contact details available in the full listing]
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.
