Job title: Project Manager (Research) – School of Education – 103174 – Grade 7
Company: University of Birmingham
Job description: Job Description:
Position Details
School of Education
Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
As this vacancy has limited funding the maximum salary that can be offered is Grade 7, salary £34,980
Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to March 2027
Closing date: 1st February 2024
Our offer to you
People are at the heart of what we are and do.
The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.
We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide-range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University.
We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.
Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries.
The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.
Find out more about the
Background
This post sits within the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues, which is part of the Department of Education and Social Justice in the School of Education. The Jubilee Centre is a leading international interdisciplinary research centre, the biggest of its kind in the world, dedicated to research into, and developmental work in the areas, of character and virtues, in schools, professions and society at large.
It is vital that post holders have a strong commitment to the vision, aims and goals of the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues,
Role Summary
The post holder will be responsible for managing designated Jubilee Centre and related projects. They will:
- Work within a specified research grant and project and contribute to writing funder reports and funding bids.
- Operate within the requirements of the project, but also contribute to the wider work and ethos of the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues.
- Set up and manage online and in-person conferences and other events.
- Offer capacity building support and advice to linked projects and maintain good communication with project leads and other staff.
- Coordinate activity relating to academic consultants and advisors working within the project(s).
- Proactively seek to ensure that the Jubilee Centre’s activities address and respond to the relevant needs of those being supported, and keep up to date with issues and developments.
- Maintain good communication with funders and report on the work of the Jubilee Centre.
- Manage wider Jubilee Centre administration – e.g. website, newsletter and general admin support.
Main Duties
- Responsible for the delivery of one or more projects through the provision of significant and high level project management support. This may include some or all of the following:
- supporting project leads to develop 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, funders, 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
- Organise and manage expert panels to review project plans and outputs.
- Coordinate the organisation of conferences/ meetings/ workshops/ dissemination events
- Develop and deliver communication strategies for the projects, 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.
- Promote equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
- Support the University’s sustainability agenda through resource efficient working.
- Management and administration of online portals/websites.
- Ongoing management and administration support for the Jubilee Centre and its wider work relating to research, impact and dissemination – including website maintenance, conference and newsletter administration.
- 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 management tools/digital systems
- 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
- 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 Paul Watts, email:
View our staff values and behaviours
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. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone .
Expected salary:
Location: United Kingdom
Job date: Fri, 19 Jan 2024 01:56:14 GMT
