Research Officer

Salary: £29,605 to £30,487 with progression to £32,982 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 11 February 2024

The Role

The Finance Hub is a large team of skilled and experienced colleagues who manage the financial business activities of the University. We provide a professional and proactive service to our students, colleagues and stakeholders. We are committed to supporting the personal and professional development of our team. 

Based in the Faculty of Medical Sciences Pre-Award Research Finance Team, the Research Officer works closely with colleagues across Finance, Research and the Faculty. You will support academics by providing an effective and efficient research administration service for research grant application and submission processes. 
 
We are looking to appoint an enthusiastic team player with good levels of literacy, numeracy and IT skills.  You will also have excellent attention to detail and be able to communicate effectively with people at all levels.  If this you, we would love to hear from you – please contact Wayne Younger (Deputy Head of Faculty Finance) via email on Wayne.Younger@ncl.ac.uk 

Please ensure you upload a covering letter with your CV when applying for this vacancy. Only applications received via the Newcastle University website will be considered for shortlisting purposes.
 

The Person

Key Accountabilities

• Act as first point of contact for academic, research and professional services staff, providing advice and guidance on the grant application process and applying knowledge of University and Faculty policies and signposting to appropriate specialist support
• Assist with the development of complex, multi-centre grant proposals by liaising with relevant stakeholders within and external to the University, ensuring the timely and efficient submission of applications
• Utilise the Project Initiation Form (PIF) and NU Projects system to prepare the costing and submission of research grant applications
• Maintain a comprehensive and up to date knowledge of guidelines, requirements and bidding procedures for major UK, EU and international funders
• Develop effective two-way communications with the Institute and School management teams to understand and inform the operational delivery of the research strategy
• Support the Faculty Peer Review process for grant applications offering advice to academic and research colleagues. Oversee the follow up of submitted applications with Principal Investigators (PIs), signposting support for the response to reviewers and the compilation of reviewers’ comments on unsuccessful applications
• Liaise with the Joint Research Office (JRO), Contract Financial Management (CFM), Accountancy Assistants (Post Award Project Support) and Institute and School support staff to ensure the timely setup of research accounts. Work effectively together to resolve any issues arising once awards are active
• Support the Institute and School Management teams, the Faculty Research Manager, Research Funding Development Managers and Faculty Data Manager to gather, collate and disseminate management information on application and award metrics
• Support compliance with the Research Excellence Framework (REF) and funders’ research reporting requirements such as ResearchFish and Open Access
• Contribute to the development of a collaborative, collegiate and inclusive culture by facilitating the sharing of information and good practice with others

Knowledge, Skills and Experience 

• Experience of providing administrative support working in a University environment with an understanding of University processes relating to costing grant applications (including full economic costing) 
• Possess strong communication and negotiation skills (written and verbal)
• Able to work quickly and accurately to time with great attention to detail and meet strict deadlines
• Excellent interpersonal skills (including listening, negotiating and influencing)
• High degree of literacy and numeracy in order to interpret written and  financial data and adapt to the research costing environment (essential)
• High degree of IT literacy 
• Experience of maintaining records and databases (desirable)

Attributes and Behaviour

• Works in a planned and structured way and uses own and others’ time efficiently.  Sets own priorities in conjunction with team and academic unit objectives.  Willing to share workloads when other team members need help
• Ability to problem solve and use own initiative
• Remains calm when responding to challenging situations
• Sees other departments and colleagues as customers and follows through on their enquiries and requests.  Strives to deliver high quality results and has a positive attitude for adopting better ways to work
• Uses both face-to-face and written modes of communication and tailors content to meet the needs of the audience.  Able to put forward a view and also to listen to the opinions of others
• Gathers a wide range of relevant information from internal and external sources.  Is thorough in investigating an issue and has an eye for detail, spotting errors and ensuring accuracy of information

Qualifications

•     Educated to at least A-level standard (minimum 3x grades A-C) or equivalent standard by experience.  

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a silver Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.  We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.  We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 26600