Research Operations Manager

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About Us

The purpose of the role is to administer processes linked to the lifecycle of international research grants for the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, from application to final reporting. Working as part of a specialist grant management team situated in the Faculty Office, the role holder will collaborate closely with principal investigators and will be responsible for providing cradle to grave support for all externally funded international research grant activity. The postholder will liaise with Research, Management & Innovation Directorate (RMID) staff and other College Research Management teams to ensure effective delivery of a seamless research grant support service with the aim to ensure a successful and funder compliant project delivery.

About The Role

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain high level knowledge of funder policies and university processes encompassing research grant administration with a specific focus on international funders/
• Develop and maintain good understanding of University's grant information and finance systems i.e. Unit4 Business World and Worktribe, assisting academic and professional services colleagues where required.
• Manage increasingly complex grant applications, providing advice and guidance to academics and the research support team on these funders.
• Implement and monitor local strategies for maximising overhead recovery on grants and reducing ineligible spend.
• Monitor, report and forecast financial grant information, providing advice and support to academic and professional services colleagues.
• Proactively oversee pre and post award activity in department/school/faculty, providing high level support and guidance to academics.
• Promote research funding opportunities across the relevant business unit.
• Provide advice on staff resourcing to appropriate senior staff to effectively manage grant volume peaks across Departments.
• Actively promote a positive research culture in-line with wider University initiatives.
• Inform the Research Operations Managers (Cluster) about the project pipeline, highlighting resource implications of grants (space needs, new posts, administrative requirements etc.).

General Duties

• Support faculty-level research management staff with research data collection, analysis, and reporting.
• Deputise for Senior Research Operations Manager as required.
• Line management of Senior Research Support Officer/s.
• Identify improvements in processes and ensure effective systems in place to deliver high quality service.
• Keep up to date with relevant training, policies, and processes.
• Establish strong working relationships across the Faculty and Research Management and Innovation Directorate (RMID).
• Work autonomously and collaboratively across the PS research support team, delegating and allocating work effectively and setting standards for administrative procedures and processes.
• Actively contribute to relevant department/school/faculty committees, meetings and networks as required.
• Facilitate an inclusive culture and ethos working across the faculty's research community.
• To undertake any other duties as required by line manager and other appropriate senior colleagues.
• To add content to and maintain data on the relevant information platforms - intranet, internet, SharePoint etc.
• To develop a good understanding of Open Access, Open Research and research data management policies, and liaise with the library as required.
• To support REF related activities as required.

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.

About You

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

Essential criteria

1. Knowledge of the Higher Education research environment.
2. Understanding of grant application processes including costing and funder guidelines.
3. Ability to interpret complex guidelines and prepare reports and budgets in line with the requirements set out.
4. Excellent oral and written communication skills with the ability to communicate at all levels.
5. Excellent organisational and planning skills and the ability to work to tight deadlines.
6. High degree of numeracy.
7. Significant experience of relevant research administration or project management experience in a similar or related role.
8. Proven ability to work as part of a team, understanding responsibilities as well as areas of expertise and drawing on others where appropriate.

Desirable criteria

1. Ability to work flexibly and adapt to changing environments.
2. Ability to exercise initiative.
3. Ability to assess risks and financial implications.
4. Experience in delivering a customer focussed service.
5. Experience in change management.

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 next page after you click "Apply Now". This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Further Information

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's. 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 advert. 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.