Assistant Project Co-Ordinator

Job details

Posted 10 February 2025 Salary Grade 6, £33,232 - £36,924 per annum End date 10 March 2025 Location: Glasgow Job Type: Management Professional & Administrative Reference: 166251

Job Description

Job Purpose
To be the main point of contact and support for a number of Principal Investigators (academic research leads) across the college for pre- and post-award research management, including application and costing support and post award project tracking, reporting and problem solving.

To liaise with other teams within the College Research Support Office and University Services to ensure that effective communication takes place and a seamless research management support service is delivered to Principal Investigators.

To work with other college Project Coordinators & Research Support Administrators in relation to college-wide research management support activity, as well as interdisciplinary activity between colleges and with external partners.

Main Duties And Responsibilities

• Provide effective oversight and financial management of all research grant budgets within designated portfolio(s) within Schools and across the College working closely with the Project Co-ordinators and Research Support Administrators, to resolve issues, provide specialised advice in line with the terms and conditions of funding bodies.
• Provide pre-and post-award advice and support to Principal Investigators, as required, from the initial identification of the funding opportunity through to the closure of the project. This will include application development, costing, bid writing support where appropriate, milestone planning and post-award reporting and financial management.
• Liaise with College research development staff to identify and actively manage the pipeline of funding opportunities and with the University Services Research Support Office regarding funder terms and conditions and other specialist advice, e.g., for legal, insurance and contractual matters.
• In cooperation with Project Coordinators, undertake risk and feasibility assessment of proposed funding applications to mitigate risk and optimise funding.
• Responsible for planning and prioritising work towards submission of grant applications and associated contractual documents, to achieve short- and medium-term targets and deadlines.
• Progress application outcomes and process awards from funders, sourcing feedback where available and updating system accordingly. Maintain and ensure the integrity of all relevant project data on university systems.
• Provide post-award support, including that for ethics applications, project co-ordination, portfolio management (where appropriate), financial management and project change processes and control.
• Support audits, ensuring adequate audit records are maintained and attend meetings with auditors, as required.
• Provide management information and analyse data to inform both day-to-day decision making and college research budgeting and strategy. Support the input to future College submissions to the Research Excellence Framework (REF).
• Be actively involved in appropriate cross-college collaborative working to build networks, share best practice, develop web-based resources and provide training.
• Work with Principal Investigators and other College teams to ensure that the College maintains an accurate and complete record of staff publications. Promote an understanding of Open Access and support the process for obtaining open access rights for all possible publications.
• Work with Research Support Administrators, delegating tasks as appropriate and providing support and coaching to ensure effective research administration support to Principal Investigators.
• To undertake any other duties as required by the line manager.

Knowledge/Qualifications
Knowledge, Qualifications, Skills and Experience
Essential:

1. A1 Ability to demonstrate the competencies required to undertake the duties associated with this level of post having acquired the necessary knowledge and skills in a related role OR Degree or equivalent in a relevant discipline/business area with evidence of continued professional development in an area relevant to the role.
2. A2 An understanding of funding processes including application processes and interpreting guidelines across a broad range of different types of funders.
3. A3 Knowledge and understanding of data integrity and its importance.

Desirable:

1. B1 Knowledge and experience in a subject relevant to the College.
2. B2 Knowledge of the regulatory framework which governs research in a particular College area.
3. B3 Knowledge of the Higher Education research environment.
4. B4 Experience in management of financial accounts in University, private and/or public sector.

Skills
Essential:

1. C1 Project management - both short-term deadline driven and longer term involving multiple conflicting deadlines and coordination across multiple organisational units.
2. C2 Excellent oral and written communication skills with the ability to communicate at all levels.
3. C3 Excellent organisational and planning skills and the ability to prioritise work for multiple/simultaneous deadlines.
4. C4 High degree of numeracy.
5. C5 Excellent eye for detail and accuracy.
6. C6 High level of influencing and negotiating skills.
7. C7 Highly developed IT skills, particularly database and Excel related.
8. C8 Ability to network effectively.
9. C9 Ability to exercise initiative and work independently but also as part of a team.
10. C10 Ability to work flexibly and adapt to changing environments.
11. C11 Ability to interpret complex guidelines and prepare reports and budgets in line with the requirements set out.
12. C12 Ability to assess risks and financial implications.
13. C13 Ability to plan and manage own activities and the workload of others.

Experience
Essential:

1. E1 Experience of relevant financial administration in a similar or related role.
2. E2 Experience of processing, analysing and presenting data.
3. E3 Experience of successfully overseeing the work of staff.
4. E4 Experience of preparing costing models and tracking budgets.
5. E5 Experience in delivering a customer focused service.
6. E6 Experience of working successfully in a complex matrix organisational structure.

Desirable:

1. F1 Experience of Higher Education environment and supporting the work of academics.
2. F2 Experience of research in academia.
3. F3 Experience of providing high-quality advice and guidance on research management.

Terms and Conditions
Salary will be Grade 6, £33,232 - £36,924 per annum.
This post is full time (35 hours per week) and open ended (permanent).
Closing Date: 10 March at 23:45.