Faculty:Science and Engineering

Job Description

School:Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences

Location:Moulsecoomb

Job Title:Senior Research Administrator (Finance & Contracts)

Post Number:SP5015

Grade:5

Responsible to:School Administration Manager

On a day to day basis the post holder will be responsible to the School Administration Manager, but the Faculty Officer has overall responsibility for the administration of the Faculty and for the training and career development of administrative staff.

Main areas of

responsibility:

To participate fully in ensuring that the school’s research strategic and operational objectives are met in specific areas and in relation to the faculty and Strategic Plan and to provide an efficient and effective research administrative service for the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences.

To manage the interface between the school, faculty, central departments and external bodies as required on Research budgetary matters and to provide a service for School Technical Managers, Head of School, members of staff with delegated responsibility and multiple designated account holders of research budgets.

To be responsible (with the Senior Research Administrator (SRA) Management Information & Marketing) for co-ordinating the general and statistical information relating to the school submissions to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) Research Excellence Framework (REF).

To liaise with National Funding organisations, medical charities, including the NHS and other grant awarding bodies and the EU Grant Manager on all matters associated with grants (Post Award).

To work with the Head of School and member(s) of staff with delegated responsibility, to manage the post-doctoral research staff within the school and be responsible for the recruitment and training needs of post-doctoral staff.

To take a leading role in the academic development and administration of the Masters in Research courses/Professional Doctorate in liaison with appropriate academic staff, other relevant university staff and external organisations.

To establish, co-ordinate and oversee audit, quality control and monitoring procedures for research (Post Award) within the school in liaison with the SRA (Management Information & Marketing), faculty, central departments, grant providers and collaborators to ensure robust systems are in place and good practice is shared.

To provide cover and support to the SRA (Management Information & Marketing) as necessary.

To participate fully in ensuring that the school’s research strategic and operational objectives are met in specific areas and to provide an efficient and effective research administrative service for the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences.

1.1To participate fully in the corporate, budgetary and strategic planning and decision making of the Research Strategy Group, developing specialist knowledge in the areas of Finance and Contracts.

1.2To develop systems, produce & present financial information on research figures at Research Strategy Group meetings and

to assist in decision making concerning both finance and strategy matters as a full member of the Research Strategy Group (RSG).

1.3To service RSG (in the absence of the SRA Management

Information & Marketing) and committee meetings composing agendas, taking and circulating minutes and initiating any follow-up action on matters arising as required.

1.4To undertake specific projects and responsibilities in support

of the Head of School, Research Strategy Group and the Faculty Officer.

1.5To work with the SRA (Management Information & Marketing)

to develop, implement and maintain administrative systems for the Faculty Research Centre located within the School and to provide cover on all research administration in the absence of the SRA (management Information & Marketing) as necessary.

To manage the interface between the school, faculty, central departments and external bodies as required on Research budgetary matters and to provide a service for School Technical Managers, Head of School, member of staff with delegated responsibility and designated account holders of research budgets.

2.1To be the point of contact within the school in relation to the school’s research finance and research staff contracts, liaising with colleagues within the school and central departments in relation to research income post award, research budget management and research staff finance.

2.2To design and provide bespoke financial reports with limited guidance in liaison with the Faculty Management Accountant. To keep up to date with, and advise on the university’s financial, employment regulations and the Concordat.

2.3To assist the School Administration Manager, Head of School and members of staff with delegated responsibility with monitoring variances in research budgets and providing information for the development and implementation of the school’s budget centre plan, highlighting adjustments where appropriate.

2.4To ensure that the research active and post-doctoral research staff are conversant with the implementation of the university’s financial regulations as appropriate, including the administration of finance related forms, conference travel and staff expense travel (relating to research) and petty cash.

2.5To co-ordinate applications, travel and accommodation arrangements for departmental delegates to attend conferences, meetings and forums.

To be responsible (with the SRA Management Information & Marketing) for co-ordinating the general and statistical information relating to the school submissions to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) Research Excellence Framework (REF).

3.1To liaise with the SRA (Management Information & Marketing) on developments in (HEFCE) policy to inform internal prioritisation and to collate and analyse information in preparation accordingly for the Research Excellence Framework (REF).

3.2To prepare or draft school research reports and documentation for meetings organised by Academic Registry and attend and present at meetings as appropriate.

3.3To prepare components of the final submission document in consultation with the Heads of Unit of Assessment/Head of Research, members of the Research Strategy Group, Academic Registry/VRU and SRA (Management Information & Marketing).

3.4To organise and service school REF Strategy Group meetings and attend centrally organised meetings concerning the REF as appropriate.

4.To liaise with National Funding organisations, medical charities, including the NHS and other grant awarding bodies and the EU Grant Manager on all matters associated with grants (Post Award).

4.1To liaise with funding bodies regarding contract negotiation.

4.2To give high quality support to the Principal Investigators on grants with audit compliance.

4.3In conjunction with academic staff, to prepare interim and detailed final reports at the termination of grant awards.

4.4To liaise with the member of staff responsible for the management and development of European grants across the faculty providing administrative support and financial and statistical information as required.

5.To work with the Head of School and member(s) of staff with delegated responsibility, to manage the post-doctoral research staff within the school and be responsible for the recruitment and training needs of post-doctoral staff.

5.1To co-ordinate the recruitment process for all post-doctoral staff

in the school, liaising with the Head of School, member of staff with delegated responsibility and Principal Investigators and Personnel Department with regard to the production and approval of adverts and job descriptions and arranging interviews.

5.2 To manage the induction and training of all post-doctoral staff

in the school, co-ordinating and assisting with the school

Research Reviews and taking appropriate action and ensure

training records are maintained.

5.3To keep abreast of developments on the Concordat agreement (relating to postgraduate staff development) and advising upon necessary actions to assist the RSG and Faculty Research Centre to achieve its principles in consultation with central departments.

6.To take a leading role in the academic development and administration of the Masters in Research courses/Professional Doctorate in liaison with appropriate academic staff, other relevant university staff and external organisations.

6.1To be proactive in seeking ways to enhance the student experience in liaison with the appropriate academic staff.

6.2To advise academic and research staff on general policy, regulations and processes in relation to MRES/Professional Doctorate student degree processes and training programmes.

6.3To update and maintain student records and to assist and liaise with the academic staff on all student matters, including taking minutes and collating data for monitoring and evaluation.

6.4To maintain student records and co-ordinate and service examination boards in liaison with academic registry for MRES and Professional Doctorate Students.

6.5To deal with enquiries made by students concerning MRES and Professional Doctorates.

6.6To act as a point of contact between the school and the Doctoral College as necessary.

7To establish, co-ordinate and oversee audit, quality control and monitoring procedures for research (Post Award) within the school in liaison with the SRA (Management Information & Marketing), faculty, central departments, grant providers and collaborators to ensure robust systems are in place and good practice is shared.

7.1To keep abreast of changes in quality compliance set out by the university and grant providers (post award) and to keep research active staff updated on policy where appropriate.

7.2To advance the use of project management software tools, develop and pilot their use by grant holders within the school. To enhance organisation of all aspects of project management with a view to sharing good practice and provide training across the faculty where appropriate.

7.3To develop familiarity with the range and depth of the particular research projects and contracts to ensure timelines re adhered to, documentation and evidence based research data is stored securely and can be retrieved efficiently.

7.4To enhance existing processes for monitoring and evaluation of research within the school and develop new systems for recording research centre activity.

7.5To provide advanced tracking of achievements of grants, providing reports to RSG and research centre members.

8To provide cover and support to the SRA(Management Information & Marketing) as necessary.

Selection criteria:The criteria below indicate the qualities that are needed to do the job well. Candidates for the post will be selected according to the extent to which they satisfy them, and their evidence of potential for developing the rest further. Most of the criteria must normally be met in order to qualify for selection.

Essential:

Knowledge/qualifications: Word, Excel, Internet and email, knowledge of how to maintain and develop effective administrative systems; budgeting, data collection and manipulation and familiarity with spreadsheets. To hold a degree or equivalent relevant experience.

Communication: highly developed interpersonal skills; able to communicate information in a persuasive way orally and in writing both to staff and to students; will be proactive in meetings; diplomacy and negotiating skills with the ability to be assertive without being aggressive.
Sensitivity: listens well and understands the needs of others; sensitive to the differing needs of different situations.
Self-motivation: has a record of successful performance at an appropriate level of responsibility; sets and meets objectives on own initiative; is committed to continuous self-development; keeps abreast (or is able to keep abreast) of developments within the higher education and relevant academic disciplines within the higher education sector.
Teamwork: flexible; co-operative; helpful; respects ideas and expertise of others; appreciates own strengths and weaknesses. The ability to lead as well as be part of a team, take action appropriate to the job without being prompted.
Organisation: the ability to prioritise work effectively, judging the relative importance of conflicting demands and planning actions in order to meet deadlines. An ability to maintain high standards while working quickly with a minimum of supervision.
Response to change: prepares and plans self and others for change; adaptable; interested in learning and investigation.
Analysis, creativity and problem solving: considers various perspectives and the overall picture; solves problems and develops plans successfully, with absolute minimum of supervision. Thinks and plans strategically and able to produce cognate and analytical reports to a high standard.
Technical skill: good keyboard skills, knowledge of word processing, desktop publishing and spreadsheet applications.
Physical: the postholder must be able to undertake all the physical requirements of the job such as extensive use of display screen equipment, according to health and safety guidelines.
Desirable:
A familiarity with higher education, its aims and objectives; an understanding of the higher education environment.
Knowledge of good recruitment and selection techniques, including interviewing.
Committed to developing information technology systems.
Knowledge of safe working practices in an office environment.

This job description sets out the duties of the post at the time it was drawn up. Such duties may vary from time to time without changing the general character of the duties or level of responsibility entailed. Such variations are a common occurrence and cannot of themselves justify a reconsideration of the grading of the post.

Ref:SJB/final 3rd November 2011