Policy and Project Manager (HE Engaging with the Economy)

Full-time, Fixed Term 2 year Contract

Grade 7 £30,728 – £36,661

Secondments will be considered and welcomed

Background

Yorkshire Universities (YU) is a membership organisation working with all the universitiesin the region: Bradford, Huddersfield, Hull, Leeds, Leeds Metropolitan, Leeds College of Art, Leeds College of Music, Leeds Trinity University, York and York St. John, Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam.

Higher Education (HE) has a major role to play in building Yorkshire’s economic strength and in helping its communities - cities, towns and rural areas - to develop. HE’s contribution to Yorkshire can be measured in development and growth, income generation, job creation, world leading research, innovation and knowledge exchange, business start-ups, and record numbers of graduates from the UK and overseas.

Yorkshire Universities helps HE play this major role by innovating, attracting funding, creating opportunities, exerting influence and showcasing Yorkshire’s HE achievements on behalf of its members.

HE is increasingly seen as a major contributor to economic development and this will continue to be a major focus of YU’s activity over the next three years.

As policy and project manager for YU’s strategic theme ‘HE Engaging with the Economy’ you will lead on the delivery of a number of diverse and interesting projects and other collaborative actions of relevance to HE’s contribution to the economy. An important component of this work is YU’s HE LEP project – a collaboration between Yorkshire’s higher education institutions and local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) – to strengthen links between the universities, business and the LEP infrastructure. You will play a critical part in making this HE LEP project collaboration successful; leading on project development and delivery and providing other operational support as appropriate.

In this wide ranging role, you will liaise with YU’s member universities and its committees, groups and stakeholders; undertake research and projects and provide policy briefings and updates.

You will have an interest in, and in-depth knowledge of, the policies and drivers around the HE sector and its major contributions to the UK and its economy. Excellent written and oral communications, attention to detail and a capacity to work on a number of projects at the same time, seeing them through to completion are keys to success in this role. Strong facilitation and brokerage skills arealso essential for fosteringsuccessful collaborations between partners.You will be comfortable both working in a small team and autonomously.

You will be employed by Yorkshire Universities and based at the University of Leeds.

Job description

You will be managed by the YU Director with a direct report line to the HE LEP Project Director for related activity.

The Policy and Project Manager will lead on policy and project development and delivery for YU’s HE LEP Project and for other YU objectives and priorities which stem from its ‘HE engaging with the economy’ strategic theme.

Main duties andspecific responsibilities

Project development and management

  • Lead on the development and delivery of new projects, new products and new approaches which respond to the objectives and priorities of YU’s HE LEP project and more broadly to YU’s ‘HE engaging with the economy’ strategic theme. As a senior member of the YU team, this work will contribute to the strategic direction of YU’s activities; using analysis of policy, research and data, and consultation withYU members and stakeholders to informYU’s development of its strategy and activities.
  • Producing and maintaining key project management documents (project plans, midterm reports and the final project report) and the co-ordination and management of all project work, including monitoring progress of deliverables and performance, and regular reporting of these to the YU board, stakeholders and members.
  • Provide a first point of contact for LEP officers for theYU’s HE LEP project and more generally for YU’s ‘HE engaging with the economy’ strand of activity, referring any critical issues, signposting and liaising as necessary.
  • Assume day to day responsibility for all aspects of delivery of YU’s HE LEP project ensuring successful delivery of its objectives and priorities working in partnership with HE KT, LEP and other stakeholder colleagues.

Researchand policy support

  • Provide research and data analysis support to the YU team to identify the Yorkshire HE contribution to opportunities for collaborationof particular relevance to HE’s economic impact.
  • Keep up-to-date with changes of policy in relation to the role of HE and economic growth; help YU to respond to such changes for example through desk research and by working with YU colleagues and groups including the drafting of responses to government.
  • Provide policy briefings and updates to the YU team and members.

Secretariat support to YU groups

  • Provide secretariat and other operational support to the YU KT Directors’ Group, HE LEP Project KT Directors and other YU interest groups relevant toYU’s HE LEP project and its strategic theme ‘HE engaging in the economy’; in particular working with the YU team and liaising with the group chairs and members to ensure effective communications.
  • As part of the support to YU groups, the role will involve setting up meetings, developing/drafting agendas in dialogue with group chairs, taking notes and following-up actions outside the meetings as well as other office-related tasks.

Communications

  • Develop new content for the YU website, other YU information resources (e.g. member newsletters) and online media of relevance to the role and its policy focus on HE’s economic impact; liaising with the YU team, YU members and stakeholders and with YU’s website host company as appropriate.
  • ManageYU’s Twitter account using this as an important communications channel for promoting YU’s activity anddisseminating projectfindings and impact.

General

  • Act as a representative of YU to a range of external stakeholders including government, academics, think tanks, charities and professional bodies.
  • Contribute towards the general support and development of the organisation.
  • As a YU staff member, the role may involve some level of support from time to time for YU’s YUTA Project which is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund.

Person specification

Essential / Desirable
Qualifications / First degree / Higher degree
Experience / Excellent understanding of the HE agenda especially as it relates to innovation, enterprise, knowledge exchange, economic development and higher level skills
Proven track record of supporting and delivering complex collaborative projects
Experience in a similar policy and project development role communicating and working with senior colleagues in HE or similar levels in another sector or work environment (at the level of KT Directors, pro- and deputy-vice chancellors and vice-chancellors)
Good understanding of the UK’s economic architecture and sources of funding for knowledge exchange, business innovation and growth (including European and research funding)
Skills & qualities / Credibility with HE staff, partners and stakeholders at all levels
Proven excellent written, oral communication, facilitation and presentation skills
Excellent influencing, negotiation and interpersonal skills
Sound judgement and ability to spot key issues and opportunities, and to solve problems
Drive, energy and enthusiasm to develop and deliver collaborative projects and initiatives
Excellent research and analysis skills - able to assimilate information from a range of sources and to produce succinct and focused reports for a range of audiences
Good social media skills (e.g. Twitter)
Flexibility and ability to work independently to own initiative and in a small team and to operate effectively in a fast-paced environment, with frequent change
Self-motivated and hard-working with attention to detail
Excellent computer literacy - high degree of familiarity with MS office programmes (Outlook, Word, Excel, etc.)