Business Operations Manager

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About You

The School of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Medicine & Sciences (SCMMS) provides an outstanding multi-disciplinary environment for the pursuit of cutting-edge cardiovascular and metabolic research ( https://www.kcl.ac.uk/scmms ).

We study the fundamental molecular, cellular, and physiological processes that underly normal and abnormal cardiovascular and metabolic function and we drive the translation of this strong basic science into advances in clinical practice to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment. This activity provides a high-quality research and training environment for non-clinical and clinical scientists.

The School occupies facilities across the Guy's, St Thomas' and Denmark Hill campuses of King's College London and comprises over 65 academic groups, hosting 300 staff and over 100 PhD students.

The post is based within the School of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine & Sciences at the James Black Centre (King's Denmark Hill campus) as part of the King's College London BHF Centre of Research Excellence and the MRC/BHF Centre for Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics (REACT). The School and these Centres provide an outstanding highly multidisciplinary environment with state-of-the-art equipment, facilities and technical support for both laboratory work and animal studies.

About The Role

This role is essential to the smooth running of a research active School in the Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, managing human resources and finance activity whilst supporting academic staff in managing their staff who are often appointed on fixed term funding.

Key areas of responsibility include:

• Lead, manage and deliver the School's human resources and finance operations
• Act as the primary point of contact for all human resources and finance matters in the School, including affiliate appointments, such as visiting, honorary and emeritus appointments.
• Take independent decisions in a timely manner to solve problems that impact on the service for up to a year, and contribute to collaborative decisions that have far-reaching and long-lasting impact
• Be responsible for a large volume of fixed term appointments in a busy research environment
• Coordinate and contribute to diversity and inclusion activities in the School
• Work with colleagues in the Faculty Office and in the central Directorates to ensure the accuracy of data/records in the central HR and finance systems
• Coordinate and contribute to diversity and inclusion activities in the School
• Keep informed about developments in HR and financial management and adopt and adapt new approaches/ methodologies to meet local needs
• Deputise for the School Manager as required, representing the School/ Faculty at university-level meetings

The post holder will report to the School Manager and is responsible for three members of staff (Grade 5 Senior Business Operations Officer)

This is a full-time post (35 hours per week), with hybrid working and you will be offered an indefinite contract.

About You

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1. Significant knowledge and skills of complex business operations and systems acquired through relevant work experience, demonstrating development through progressively more demanding work/roles, and the acquisition of appropriate professional or specialist knowledge
2. Experience of working in a highly regulated area of work, where accuracy and attention for detail is required in order to ensure compliance with regulations and policies
3. Experience of managing, developing and coaching staff, providing feedback on performance
4. Excellent spoken and written communication skills, with strong comprehension, interpersonal and influencing/behavioural skills, with the ability to receive, understand and relay information (in writing and/or verbally) of varying complexity to diverse audiences
5. Experience of producing reports, documentation, information for senior management to inform and underpin strategic decisions - including the manipulation and presentation of complex data
6. Experience of working with a range of stakeholders to solve complex problems. Exceptional project management and analysis skills and ability to work under pressure in a busy environment with a record of delivering on time and within budget
7. Proficient IT skills - in particular Microsoft Office 365 applications (including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, SharePoint, MS Forms, Power BI reporting, Power Automate, CoPilot) and experience of utilising digital technology in day-to-day work
8. Experience of implementing process change and leading on process improvement projects that have made an impact, using a systematic approach to assess the impact of a proposed change (including identifying risk and opportunities) to assess its viability

Desirable criteria

1. Formal management, HR or financial qualification(s) and/or evidence of ongoing professional development relevant to the post.
2. Experience of servicing committees to high standard.
3. Comprehensive knowledge of regulations and best practice governing area of operations and applying these in a large organization.
4. A full understanding of the UK Data Protection legislation and best practice based on this.
5. Keen interest in higher education business operations in the UK and an awareness of current challenges in the sector.

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the page. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Further Information

At King's, we believe that the diversity of our community and a culture that is welcoming, open, inclusive and collaborative, are great strengths of the university.

The Equality Act of 2010 protects the rights of our students and staff and provides a framework to fulfil our duties to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and in addition, to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. At times, this will include balancing rights and beliefs that can feel in tension.

We are committed to free speech and to academic freedom, believing that our foundational purpose as a university, is to create spaces where a wide range of ideas, including ideas that are controversial, can be discussed and debated, and where members of our community can express lawful views without fear of intimidation, harassment or discrimination.

When engaging in the robust exchange of ideas, we ask that our community is mindful of our Dignity at King's guidance.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the person specification section of the job description. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ' How we Recruit ' pages.