Research Administration Manager

Job Purpose

The College of Arts and Law consists of five Schools and brings together a number of arts and humanities disciplines with wide ranging areas of research. There is approximately 350 academic staff in the College and support for their research endeavours is led by the College Director of Research and Knowledge Transfer, supported by the Research and Knowledge Transfer Office.

The Research Administration Manager is critical to the smooth running of the College research support and manages significant areas of operational activity eg Study leave administration, financial monitoring of research support budgets, Research Excellence Framework preparatory work, committee management and research outcomes capture). The post holder will work without direct supervision & exercise a high level of discretion. He or she will have a good understanding of the University’s policies & procedures and be able to advise staff within the College accordingly.

The post holder has line management responsibility and reports to the Research Support Partner for the College.
Informal enquiries about the role may be made to Sheena Robertson, Research Support Partner (s.a.robertson@bham.ac.uk)

Person Specification

Essential:

1. Extensive HE administrative experience in an academic setting
2. Educated to degree level or equivalent
3. Proven ability to develop, manage and motivate a team of professional staff, managing own time effectively and also the time of others to deliver work to the highest quality standards
4. Proven ability to work flexibly to solve problems and propose and implement solutions at a senior administrative level
5. Proven experience of drafting documentation for the approval of others
6. Excellent IT skills such as (Excel/Word/Powerpoint /Databases etc)
7. Previous experience of working in close partnership with academic staff and senior professional services staff to deliver significant strategic objectives
8. Experience of supporting committees which includes advising on and drafting agendas and paperwork where necessary, writing minutes and taking follow-up action
9. Excellent Interpersonal skills and proven ability to establish effective working relationships at all levels.
10. Proven ability to negotiate and influence others.
11. Proven ability to handle several demanding tasks concurrently and to prioritise workload, working to tight deadlines whilst also maintaining accuracy.
12. Flexible, positive and creative approach to work and meticulous attention to detail.
13. Proven financial/accounting experience which includes setting and monitoring spend against budgets
14. Project management experience within the HE sector
15. Involvement in academic workload planning and an understanding of the issues related to it.
16. Proven experience of reengineering business processes to improve efficiency and the customer experience

 

Desirable:

• Experience of supporting a research support service.
• Experience of providing administrative support for academic staff recruitment.