Description Position Details College of Life and Environmental Sciences Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK Full time starting salary is normally in the range £32,546 to £35,116 with potential progression once in post to £39,355 Grade: 6 Part Time (18.75 hours per week) Fixed Term contract up to September 2028 Closing date: 17th April 2025 Are you considering a career at the University of Birmingham? Our Recruitment Team is hosting one-to-one conversations to help you understand the application process, provide updates on existing applications, and answer general questions about working at the University. Our next appointments are available on Friday 28th March; click here to book. Further dates and opportunities to connect with us in person will be advertised on future job listings. 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 benefits of working for the University of Birmingham Role Summary You will oversee, and assist in, the administration management of several externally funded doctoral training projects across a School, College or professional service area. You will devise and deliver on project plans to better join up the service delivery in this area by several different functions, namely PGR administration, research operations and doctoral training finance teams. To achieve these responsibilities, you will indirectly manage work of teams of Professional Services staff and will work closely with key senior academic leads and the Professional Services network across your designated service area. Main Duties Project Officers will manage smaller projects in their entirety or manage elements of larger projects or assist in the management of one or more larger projects through the provision of well-developed and timely project management support. You will be expected to work proactively, and use your initiative and planning skills to set your own priorities to ensure progress is maintained as expected, identify any issue and propose solutions. To support all elements of externally funded Research Project delivery as required and commensurate of the grade of the post. This may involve working in groups within an overall project or manage elements of larger projects or smaller projects on your own. Support may include some or all of the following: carrying out project planning activities, to include proactive reporting to external funders; to do this, identify milestones which will need to be adhered to; data collection and analysis; milestone tracking/key performance indicator tracking; developing and proposing solutions for any issues, within and externally to the PGR administration team; recommending improvements to finance reporting; preparing progress reports for project boards or other meetings; assisting in budgetary monitoring and management, including internal and external reporting; assisting with stakeholder management, developing and maintaining regular contact with internal and external stakeholders to understand requirements; assessing and escalating issues and risks as appropriate. Contribute to developing communications plans on the roles and responsibilities of all the teams directly involved in PGR finance reporting. Maintain an up-to-date knowledge of project management and finance reporting methodologies. Determine short term priorities for own work, ensuring you maximise quality, efficiency and continuity. Assist in the evaluation and review of projects. You may be asked to manage other colleagues working on the project/s and this will include allocating work to those within a matrix management system. Supports the University’s sustainability agenda through resource efficient working. Promotes equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture. Any other duties commensurate with the grade. Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience Educated to Degree level (or equivalent qualifications). Where no equivalent qualification is held, significant practical relevant experience and expertise in a similar role will be required. Significant practical experience in a similar role, experience of using finance reporting tools. Evidence of literacy and numeracy, with the ability to write clearly, and to analyse information and data. Highly proficient IT skills, including MS Office 365, to be proven at interview. Ability to understand policy, processes and procedures, and recommend improvements and implement changes. Excellent analytical skills used to produce reports, identify issues and resolve them decisively. Excellent interpersonal skills. The post holder must inspire confidence and command authority with a range of colleagues and always provide excellent customer service. A high degree of professionalism, tact, and diplomacy, and the ability to exercise discretion regarding the handling and management of sensitive information/issues. A high degree of initiative, personal judgement, resourcefulness, flexibility, and a self-motivating approach. Ability to work effectively in a large, complex organisation, and to develop a good understanding of how the University and higher education institutions work. 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. Role context Roles at this level will require expertise and a detailed understanding of methods, systems and procedures in an administrative or professional area. You will either use specialist knowledge or have more of a planning/co-ordination/project role or a role which is supervisory in nature where you may manage a team doing similar kinds of work. You will have the opportunity to exercise a high degree of personal responsibility and initiative which you will use to resolve queries; you will use your judgement to deal with unforeseen problems and circumstances, all with limited guidance/supervision. Core competencies/transferable skills Working at this level you will be able to develop and successfully use the core competencies/transferable skills outlined in each of the areas shown below. As appropriate for the level, our Birmingham Professionals will take ownership for getting things done. You will be expected to be flexible as required in supporting your department and wider University. Planning and organising prioritise and schedule work and resources to ensure on time and (where applicable) on budget delivery; set priorities and quality standards for a wide range of tasks and duties; manage a team of staff who are carrying out similar kinds of work; contribute to written documents, for example guidelines internal to the area, taking account of audience; operate with limited supervision as they will have considerable scope for initiative, within established work procedures. Problem solving and decision making anticipate and identify issues in own area based on experience; make appropriate suggestions for improvements and implement these when agreed in own area; facilitate change, and articulate the implications and benefits of change to others; focus on determining short-term priorities of work area, and how to maximise quality, efficiency and continuity. Organisational understanding quickly develop an understanding of their working area and how it contributes to the success of the University; display an interest in how the University operates beyond own working area; develop and share this knowledge with others. Relationships and communication develop and maintain excellent working relationships in own area, and more widely as required for collaborative working opportunities; communicate clearly and openly with others both within and external to the University, and use a range of communication skills and strategies to gain commitment to a course of action; demonstrate collaborative working at all times, including with others outside the immediate work area. Informal enquiries to Kari Bottolfsen, email: k.bottolfsenbham.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 .