Post Award Finance and Project Officer

Durham University

Durham University is one of the world's top universities with strengths across the Arts and Humanities, Sciences and Social Sciences. We are home to some of the most talented scholars and researchers from around the world who are tackling global issues and making a difference to people's lives.

The University sits in a beautiful historic city where it shares ownership of a UNESCO World Heritage Site with Durham Cathedral, the greatest Romanesque building in Western Europe. A collegiate University, Durham recruits outstanding students from across the world and offers an unmatched wider student experience.

Durham University seeks to promote and maintain an inclusive and supportive environment for work and study that assists all members of our University community to reach their full potential. Diversity brings strength and we welcome applications from across the international, national and regional communities that we work with and serve.

It is expected that all staff within the University:

• Contribute to our learning culture by engaging in mentoring, training and coaching.
• Positively contribute to fostering a collegial environment; as well as demonstrating commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.
• Have due regard to Health and Safety requirements appropriate to grade and role.

Family key attributes

• Roles in this family provide a comprehensive service and deliver the efficient administration and governance of the University.

Overall family purpose

• Deliver direct and indirect services to stakeholders.
• Provide advice and answer queries as part of an enquiry-desk/help-desk function.
• Respond to and manage requests for information and resources.
• Deliver services to meet regulatory requirements and procedures.
• Plan and deliver a joined-up approach to University business and people services.
• Align business processes and services to meet operational and strategic policy objectives. 
• Deliver business processes to ensure effective management, governance and the economic viability of the University.
• Encourage, collaborate and participate in the development of productive cross-institution relationships and working.
• Provide excellent professional services that meet strategic and operational goals and business needs.
• Carry out monitoring, analysis, development and planning to design new services and service updates for continuous improvement whilst meeting changes in regulations.
• Engage with specialist professionals, consultants, and suppliers to exchange knowledge and facilitate partnership working.
• Work collaboratively and network across the University with staff in other families to ensure a smooth, timely and high-quality delivery of service.
• Align and deliver programmes and activities to meet operational and strategic objectives to enhance the stakeholder experience.
• Engage and encourage participation with external professionals, schools, alumni and donors.

Link to key strategic plan

• An economically sustainable approach to delivering Professional Services across the University;
• A joined-up approach to University professional services, regardless of location or line management;
• A culture and practice of continuous improvement;
• Design services that meet business need;
• A stakeholder-focused orientation, offering satisfying careers to all staff;
• Support and facilitate programmes that offer intellectual challenge, cohesiveness and a strong sense of progression;
• Ensure that an increasingly diverse workforce is treated equally, fairly and with respect, and that all staff are demonstrably valued and actively engaged.

When appointing to this role the University must ensure that it meets any applicable immigration requirements, including salary thresholds which are applicable to some visas.

The Department and role purpose:    

Research and Innovation Services (RIS) provides guidance, expert advice and hands-on support for all aspects of research and research-related work, including securing funding, working with partners, undertaking knowledge exchange, demonstrating impact, commercialising outputs, ensuring good research practice and supporting professional development.

As a Post Award Finance and Project Officer with a specialist focus on Regional and Economic Development, you will play a key role in providing high quality support and advice to academic staff. You will take an active project management approach to the portfolio of projects you are responsible for, developing good working relationships with project staff, attending regular meetings to discuss progress against financial and reporting deliverables and will act as a source of expertise and advice to these teams assisting them in the delivery of their projects. You will be based in the central office but will also be expected to spend time in the academic departments you support to provide a key link role between the academic community and the Research and Innovation Services Division.

Core responsibilities:

• Experienced service practitioner responsible for actively planning, managing and co-ordinating a portfolio of projects and work streams with inter-related activities.
• Plan and organise own workload with minimal supervision.
• Provide specialist post award financial support to grant holders with problem solving and query handling in a professional and efficient manner.
• Develop and maintain relationships with research funding organisations and participate in networks internally and externally to build and update knowledge and skills and facilitate the active engagement of the University’s research community with funders.
• Engage with external peers and specialists to exchange knowledge and information, to include attending national, and where appropriate, international events and meetings.
• Implement and monitor protocols, procedures, processes and regulations.
• Take responsibility for day-to-day decision making within own area of responsibility for the operational aspects of the post award service delivery, translating external compliance requirements into practical application and advice for award holders.
• Implement and monitor recognised procedures to ensure the financial management of awards to ensure funder compliance.
• Contribute to business meetings, working groups and committees to help shape Post-Award service delivery and stakeholder expectations.
• Be accountable for managing/maintaining financial and budget records and reconciling expenditure queries for the portfolio of awards, providing advice and proactively identifying courses of action in the event of a budget shortfall.

Role responsibilities:

• Provide professional guidance and advice to award holders, department administrators and faculty accountants on grant conditions and provide financial forecasting and planning for awards in their portfolio, anticipating any future under and overspends and advising principal investigators and departmental administrators on the implications.
• Ensure research projects, activities, budgets and reporting documents comply with internal University and external regulation, policy and procedures.
• Record data and information accurately, provide reports copies of project records and distribute information to key stakeholders both internally and externally, for example for the preparation of external funder audits.
• Use a range of tools to communicate with a diverse range of key stakeholders, both verbally and in written format who may need to access information across different geographic and time zones.
• Develop, plan and deliver funder/scheme specific information events and grant delivery workshops for stakeholders, working with other colleagues as appropriate to include organising and hosting visits from funding bodies.
• Establish, maintain and develop productive and ongoing relationships with grant holders, and departmental administrators and other professional support departments, to ensure an integrated and cohesive service with an emphasis on partnership working.
• Co–ordinate and/or participate in collaborative grant administration arrangements with other institutions, both within the UK and overseas, collating, verifying and consolidating financial reports, providing advice to partner institutions on the interpretation of sponsor guidance and distributing funds.
• Manage and organise professional business and administrative service processes, activities, events and/or resources to achieve defined targets and outcomes. 
• Develop, implement and enforce recognised procedures to ensure compliance, co-ordinate effort and contribute to team goals. 
• Any other reasonable duties.

Specific role requirements

There may be a requirement for occasional travel.

Working Arrangements

At Durham we recognise that our staff and students are our greatest asset and we want to support the health and wellbeing of all.  Hybrid working supports this ethos and provides many benefits to our colleagues, including empowering people, where their role allows, to work in a manner which is more suitable for them, whilst encouraging our commitment to environmental sustainability.

Depending on the needs of the business and the job role, Durham University is piloting hybrid working for all Professional Services colleagues in the academic year 2021/2022, which may include the opportunity to work both on and off campus and to flex working hours. If appointed to the post, your line-manager will discuss the specific arrangements with you.  Any hybrid arrangements are non-contractual and may change within the pilot and when the pilot ends.

Reward and Benefits

To support the delivery of the University's People Strategy to attract, retain and reward the very best, we offer a fantastic range of rewards and benefits to our staff, including:

• 27 days annual leave, plus 4 customary days and 8 bank holidays (pro-rata for part time) and the option to purchase additional leave;
• Automatic enrolment into a pension scheme;
• Corporate and local discounts;
• Wellbeing resources and discounted health benefits;
• Health discounts on sports and activities at Maiden Castle Health and Activity Centre;
• Reward and Recognition Schemes;
• Personal and career development;
• And SO much more, with further information available here

Recruiting to this post

In order to be considered for interview, candidates must evidence each of the essential criteria required for the role in the person specification. In some cases, the recruiting panel may also consider the desirable criteria, so we recommend you evidence all criteria in your application.  

Please note that some criteria will only be considered at interview stage.

Please note: Candidates applying via Redeployment are only eligible to apply for a post at the same Grade or one Grade lower. 

How to apply 

We prefer to receive applications online.

Please note that in submitting your application Durham University will be processing your data. We would ask you to consider the relevant University Privacy Statement https://www.dur.ac.uk/ig/dp/privacy/pnjobapplicants/ which provides information on the collation, storing and use of data.

Information if you have a disability

The University welcomes applications from disabled people. We are committed to ensuring fair treatment throughout the recruitment process. We will make adjustments to support the interview process wherever it is reasonable to do so and, where successful, adjustments will be made to support people within their role.

If you are unable to complete your application via our recruitment system, please get in touch with us on [email protected] .

What you are required to submit

1. A CV;

2. A covering letter which details your experience, strengths and potential in the requirements set out above;

3. Examples within a word document of how you satisfy each essential criteria within the personal specification section of the job description. Please ensure you give detailed examples of how you meet each criteria and bullet point your answers.

Please ensure that you submit all documentation listed above or your application cannot proceed to the next stage.

Contact details

For further information regarding this post, please contact; Leila Cole, Senior Research Finance Compliance Manager, [email protected]

Contact information for technical difficulties when submitting your application

If you encounter technical difficulties when using the online application form, we prefer you send enquiries by email.  Please send your name along with a brief description of the problem you’re experiencing to [email protected]

We will notify you on the status of your application at various points throughout the selection process, via automated emails from our e-recruitment system.  Please check your spam/junk folder periodically to ensure you receive all emails.

At Durham University, our aim is to create an open and inclusive environment where everyone can reach their full potential and believe our staff should reflect the diversity of the global community in which we work.  We welcome and encourage applications from members of groups who are under-represented in our work force including people with disabilities, women and black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.

As a University we foster a collegiate community of extraordinary people aligned to the University’s values .  Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) are a key part of the University’s Strategy and a central part of everything we do.  At Durham we actively work towards providing an environment where our staff and students can study, work and live in a community which is supportive and inclusive, and in doing so, recruit the world’s best candidates from all backgrounds and identities. It’s important to us that all of our colleagues are aligned to both our values and commitment to EDI.

Person specification - skills, knowledge, qualifications and experience required

Essential Criteria

Desirable Criteria