Project Manager, EDI+network

Department of Anthropology

Grade 7: - £34,304.00
Fixed Term - Full Time
Contract Duration: 4 years
Contracted Hours per Week: 35
Closing Date: 21-Jun-2022, 6:59:00 AM

Job Family: Business Process and People Services

OUR CHARACTERISTICS: We are a globally outstanding centre of teaching and research excellence, a collegiate community of extraordinary people, in a unique and historic setting.

OUR VALUES: We are inspiring, challenging, innovative, responsible and enabling.

Durham University

Durham University is one of the world's top universities with strengths across the Arts and Humanities, Business, 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 in 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.

The Department and role purpose

Have you ever wanted to try a different approach to driving change in EDI practices?

The EDI+ network team are looking to recruit an individual with a passion for EDI who is able to bring together colleagues from diverse backgrounds to create an environment which facilitates and encourages the development and testing of new ways of making meaningful change in EDI within organisations. You will be based in the Anthropology Department at Durham University but will work with colleagues across the university as well as with individuals and teams in energy research related organisations across the country. As the project manager, you will spend the majority of your time communicating with key stakeholders to keep the project on track across multiple work strands. You will use your skills in project management to guide an inter-disciplinary, multi-organisation team of developers and participants towards the successful design, implementation and refinement of a flourishing network that champions meaningful change in EDI practices. Careful planning and monitoring of progress, along with keeping the team updated and engaged will be a key part of your role. As well as the day to day project management, you will also be involved in working directly with the fellows, delivering a selection of training sessions and facilitating network activities. Coordinating formal reporting to funders and advertising and disseminating network activities will also form an important part of your role.

EDI+ is seeking to address key challenges and equip a cohort of researchers and their organisations to make lasting changes toward a diverse, equitable, inclusive and accessible research community. We are aiming for the EDI+ network to have an impact beyond academia and set a precedent, offering the means to tailor EDI action among the diverse organisations participating in energy research. Colleagues from across academia, industry, business and government are welcome to be part of the network.

The network has two strands. The first of which takes the form of a fellowship programme, which will recruit EDI champions from diverse energy research institutions; train them in understanding and identifying EDI challenges, research methods for analysing organisational contexts, how to make organisational changes, and how to implement and evaluate plans of action; and supports them to publish their results. Cross-institutional reciprocal mentoring will also form part of the network, with senior leaders from across the network forming a mutual mentoring partnership with fellows from different organisations. Crucial to the design of the network is the formation of a mutually supportive professional learning network for the fellows. It is hoped that through flourishing collaboration within the network, fellows will continue to support and collaborate with one another in a lasting alumni partnership.

The second strand of the EDI+ network is open to a wider community than just the fellows. Selected training events will be open to the wider energy research community, who will also have access to a toolkit on EDI actions in context and all other network publications. EDI+ will also host workshops and presentations to coincide with existing conference and research events, to maximise the reach of the network. Findings will be shared and promoted through a 'network of networks' approach across the energy research community nationally, and internationally.

Core responsibilities:

• Recognised professional practitioner and project management specialist.
• Provide specialist expertise and support with the complexity of data and information sources, interpretation and analysis.
• Collect and analyse stakeholder feedback to help define needs and requirements and the design and planning of work package deliverables.
• Internal and external relationship development and partnership working, networking and participation to engage and influence future services and the reputation of the Universities.
• Develop a training programme and deliver a selection of training sessions in collaboration with the project team and external consultants.
• Maintain an awareness of current policy for University business goals such as widening participation and access, and provision of advice using specialist knowledge.
• Contribute to and lead business meetings, working groups and sub-committees within the University and across the consortium.
• Work with the Project Sponsor to manage operating budgets and monitor project expenditure, reporting accurate expenditure forecasts to the Project Sponsor and Advisory Board.
• Proactively manage changes in project scope, identifying potential risks and devising contingency plans.
• Design and facilitate a professional learning network in collaboration with the project team and external consultants.
• Provide effective project management, utilising the most appropriate project management methodologies and monitoring mechanisms, producing comprehensive quality and risk plans through which performance and delivery are monitored and controlled.

Role responsibilities:

• Provide management for stakeholder service areas and/or processes ensuring a high-quality and timely service to all stakeholders, including all consortium partners, the funding body and the Project Board.
• Contribute to operational leadership teams and decision making to shape the nature and level of support services.
• Analyse service data and provide reports to the Project Sponsor, Project Board and Workstreams, making recommendations for improvement as appropriate.
• Provide proactive and comprehensive input and support to the Project Sponsor and Stakeholder Group, coordinating work across all work packages to ensure they operate smoothly and to project timelines.
• Provide advice to stakeholders in relation in relation to funding body requirements and in relation to GDPR and ethics.
• Ensure the review and improvement of systems and procedures in line with Durham University frameworks and the requirements of the funding body.
• Distribute service information and provide advice to stakeholders regarding compliance and regulations,  liaising with Legal and Research colleagues across the partnership.
• Ensure regulations and procedures are updated to take account of internal and external changes.
• Coordinate and oversee committee working and deal with complaints.
• Provide training and/or instruction to stakeholders.
• Awareness of the external environment and sector best practices to support high-quality services.
• Identify interdependencies between project elements to support wider delivery of programme objectives.
• Communicate progress against activity through relevant channels to stakeholders and through wider social media outlets.
• Drafting reports and documents for a range of audiences including the Project Board, funding body and other stakeholders.
• Any other reasonable duties.

Specific role requirements

The post holder will occasionally be required to work outside normal office hours, undertaking regional and occasionally national travel, to support effective partnership working.

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 above

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 the interview stage.

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.

What you are required to submit

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

Contact details:

For further information please contact: Prof Simone Abram ([email protected] ).

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 workforce including people with disabilities, women and black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.

We will notify you of 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

Person specification - skills, knowledge, qualifications and experience required

Essential Criteria

• Excellent oral and written communication skills and the ability to develop excellent working relationships both internally and externally.
• Proven IT skills, including the use of Microsoft Office.
• Educated to degree level (or equivalent experience).
• Experience of managing complex, development projects with multiple stakeholders across a range of organisations.
• Continuing professional development is required to maintain professional recognition.
• Experience of implementing policy and procedures and involvement with future changes for a service area.
• Knowledge and experience of ensuring compliance with regulatory and organisational policy and guidelines.  
• Experience of providing specialist advice and guidance to a range of customers and colleagues, including more senior colleagues.
• Experience of being able to network effectively and develop strong and productive working relationships, to influence perceptions of the University.
• Experience of delivering training sessions to a range of customers and colleagues, including more senior colleagues.
• Ability to influence, negotiate and motivate a range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Working knowledge of, and interest in EDI issues and initiatives. 
• Knowledge of the Race Equality Charter and wider HE sector initiatives to support Black and Minority students to progress within a higher educational setting 
• Supervisory or team leadership experience

Desirable Criteria

A professional practitioner with knowledge and expertise used to contribute to the delivery and development of services, events and activities within the organisation.

DBS Requirement: Not Applicable.