Position Details

School of Computer Science

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £34,980 to £44,263 with potential progression once in post to £46,974

Grade: 7

Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to August 2027

Closing date: 20th October 2024

Background

This is an exciting opportunity to manage and provide leadership to the UK’s research and innovation network in Financial Services, called UKFin. This £2.5m network is funded by the UK Research Councils to initiate research collaboration between universities and the Financial Services Sector.

Role summary

In this post, you will be able to forge partnerships between universities and companies, charities and government related to Financial Services. You will manage the commissioning of research, education and engagement activities and lead a lean administrative team. You will also be a leading member of the Decentralised Systems Lab, led by UKFin’s Principal Investigator Prof Aad van Moorsel, to provide management and leadership capability to its research and engagement efforts, including the £3.5m EPSRC-funded AGENCY project. The Decentralised Systems Lab is an interdisciplinary research lab at the intersection of digital and other sciences and disciplines, which recently joined the University of Birmingham. You will be able to benefit from leadership and other training and development opportunities provided by the University and you will be integrated within the career structure of the University.

Main duties

Responsible for the delivery of one or more projects or for contributing to larger University projects, through the provision of significant and high level project management support. This may include some or all of the following:

• developing project plans, identifying (as appropriate) key performance indicators and milestones
• reviewing and auditing progress on projects to identify and act on improvements to effectiveness, efficiency and delivery
• reporting on progress including the development of reporting mechanisms, writing reports (eg on project budgetary management), and presenting to appropriate meetings such as Project Board or to other key stakeholders
• providing executive support to Project Boards, work streams and working groups as required; setting agendas, collating and distributing papers and minutes and ensuring follow up action is taken
• assessing and escalating as you deem appropriate issues and risks, including monitoring risk registers
• Stakeholder management, ensuring effective liaison with project partners, funders, Project Boards as appropriate.
• managing project resources efficiently and effectively, including budgets, and ensure project documentation is maintained.
  • Coordinate the organisation of conferences/ meetings/ workshops/ dissemination events if required.
  • Develop and deliver communication strategy for the project(s), which may include developing, for example, newsletters, briefings for stakeholders and/or websites or other social media.
  • Ensure that priorities are balanced, taking action to deliver agreed deliverables against timelines.
  • Maintain an up to date knowledge of project management methodologies.
  • Source, analyse and develop insights from the data to inform evaluation and review of projects.
  • Promotes equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
  • Supports the University’s sustainability agenda through resource efficient working.
  • Any other duties commensurate with the grade.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Qualified to Degree level or equivalent plus practical managerial experience or significant relevant experience demonstrated through increasingly more demanding roles evidencing the experience necessary for this role
• Proven track record of successful project management, preferably using one or more project management tools such as Prince2
• Evidence of literacy and numeracy, with the ability to write clearly, and to produce and analyse information and data.
• Excellent people-management skills
• Excellent budgetary management skills and experience
• Highly proficient IT skills, including the MS Office and website editing software. You should be confident and able to quickly learn new IT skills and software packages as required.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, relationship building and influencing skills with the ability to deal confidently with a range of internal and external stakeholders/contacts
• Excellent organisational and multi-tasking skills with a methodical approach to work and the ability to prioritise workloads in order to meet deadlines
• Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day to day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly.

Dimensions

Roles at this level will require a broad understanding and practical experience of an administrative or professional field which will be used to plan the running and development of services and/or lead shorter term projects or contribute to larger projects. You will work with information which needs interpretation and analysis; you will use your judgement to identify the best solution to differing problems and issues, offering recommendations for managing more complex situations. You are likely to be responsible for managing a team of staff, being accountable for recruiting and developing them and for managing performance. You may also need to liaise and/or co-ordinate activities across a number of different sections within the department or possibly with wider department or external bodies as appropriate.

Planning and organising

• plan the running and development of service(s), overseeing resources and inputting into resource planning as appropriate;
• develop, agree and implement standards for delivery for own area;
• manage a team of staff and review, develop and motivate them;
• plan relevant training and development;
• provide professional advice, guidance and support to others within and outside their immediate work area;
• oversee resources and make recommendations about future resource requirements.

Problem solving and decision making

• review, develop and propose solutions for problems with (for example) staff, budgets, services and/or systems;
• deal effectively with unexpected issues, such as changing priorities;
• deal with sensitive people matters/issues;
• provide specialist advice and recommendations to support decision–making of others.

Internal and external relationships

• understand their own and closely-related working areas and how they contribute to the success of the University.
• has an understanding of how the University operates; actively seeks to share this knowledge with others.
• developing empathy with the academic endeavour.
• influence decision makers and win support for proposals;
• develop excellent working relationships within and outside of own area and potentially with external stakeholders;
• co-ordinate activities across a number of areas.

Informal enquiries to Emily Loftus, email: e.l.loftus@bham.ac.uk

View our staff values and behaviours here

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.