Salary: £26,942 - £27,644 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: 22 April 2025
The Role
The University’s Vision and Strategy sets out an ambitious and exciting journey, to be a people focused, world-leading university that harnesses academic excellence, innovation and creativity to advance knowledge and provide benefits to individuals, to organisations and to society as a whole.
The purpose of this role is to provide a comprehensive financial and administrative service in support of the Centre’s operational business and strategic goals which in turn supports the achievement of the Faculty’s strategic aims and objectives.
You will be located in the Comparative Biology Centre (CBC), Newcastle University’s facilities for all research work which involves the use of laboratory animals. Newcastle University has a policy of using animals in research only if there are no realistic alternatives and in projects of major importance. UK standards of care are among the highest in the world, and we strictly enforce them.
Newcastle University’s policy on animal research can be found here:
For informal enquiries contact ac.uk or Michelle.ClaytonWood@ncl.ac.uk
Please note that if you are successful to this role, you will require medical clearance before you can commence in the role
Key Accountabilities
* Support the CBC Administration and Compliance Reporting Manager and the Senior Management Team in the delivery of financial and administrative activity
* Manage records relating to the functions of the CBC, to include taking responsibility for maintaining database(s) of information; gathering data from multiple sources, extracting reports on data as required and ensuring the integrity of data entered/recorded
* In relation to the sales and procurement of goods and services to act as department nominee and expert buyer. To assist in the resolution of invoice, coding or expenses queries, to provide an efficient service to colleagues in the CBC in adhering to the University’s Procurement Regulations and providing training to colleagues in this respect
* Responsible to manage and process the departmental daily absence reporting system and monthly overtime submission
* Responsible for the processing and management of the departmental inhouse cost recovery system and monthly billing process, ensuring compliance with university financial policy and resolving queries with departmental users
* Proactively receive, resolve and respond to enquiries received into the office to ensure that an effective service and clear advice is provided to colleagues and customers
* Contribute to the effective and efficient running of the designated office through a team approach, providing supervision and assistance to colleagues as appropriate
* Assisting with the management of the security of the CBC though adherence to the visitor policy and monitoring of the security and access system
* Supporting the administration on the University’s Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body
* Undertake an active role in the health and safety management of the designated office, contributing to the maintenance of a safe working environment for colleagues and visitors, and in particular undertaking the role of a Display Screen Equipment (DSE) assessor or Fire Warden
* Responsible for coordinating and supporting designated internal and external events, committees, sub-committee or working groups, including arranging meeting and room bookings etc., coordinating papers, drafting agendas; taking minutes; maintaining and proactively managing the actions
* Be active in identifying, improving and engaging with activities which improve the sustainability of the CBC in support of the University’s overall sustainability goals
* Any other duties within the scope and general nature of the grade as required by the line manager
The Person
Knowledge, Skills and Experience
* Working knowledge of relevant systems, equipment, processes and procedures including standard software packages
* Understanding of relevant policies and procedures, as they affect the role, and the quality standards and outputs required
* Demonstrable experience of financial processes and UK or University financial, procurement, sales and VAT
* Familiarity with using initiative and judgement to resolve problems independently
* Familiarity with work priorities and those of colleagues
* Excellent IT skills with proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office products and aptitude for development in and use of core software and data systems (preferably SAP)
* Experience of managing confidential and/or sensitive information with tact and discretion, and a working knowledge of GDPR
* Excellent organisational, interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to triage queries and issues
* Experience of prioritising workload and handling conflicting priorities
* Experience of working in a diverse team and with senior managers in a large organisation
* Experience of acting as a secretary in meetings, producing agendas, minutes and following up actions
* Where relevant, ability to train/develop and manage other staff
Attributes and Behaviour
* Understands the University values and guiding principles
* People orientated, is approachable and willing to help others and share workloads
* Sees other areas and people as ‘customers’ and follows through on enquiries and requests
* Has a positive ‘can do’ attitude towards continuous process improvement
* Able to manage conflicting priorities
* Works in partnership with others and has excellent communication, interpersonal and collaboration skills
* Demonstrates resilience to the demands of the role and pace of change
* Promotes a culture of mutual respect
* Able to work in a matrix organisational model
Qualifications
* Grades A-C in English Language and Mathematics GCSE (or equivalent) or vocational qualifications, plus work experience in a relevant role; or substantial relevant work experience in a comparable setting
* A qualification in or working towards a qualification in a finance discipine or relevant professional experience
Other
Successful Candidate Information:
* Appointment is subject to receipt of a satisfactory security screening check
* You will be contacted by our provider to request permission to facilitate these checks. You will be asked to complete a questionnaire and upload identification as part of this process
* Appointment is subject to Occupational Health Pre-Placement check
* You will be contacted by our Occupational Health team to arrange laboratory animal/bird and insect checks
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: 28045