Research Support Manager

Job Purpose
The postholder will lead, manage and develop a College team providing a professional pre- and post-award research support service to Principal Investigators across the College.  In addition, the postholder will establish a culture of continuous improvement for the effective and efficient research management service in the College by managing support activities in fulfilment of the College's research strategy.  The postholder will liaise with University Services Research Support Office staff and other College Research Management teams to ensure that effective communication takes place to deliver a seamless research support service to Principal Investigators.

Main Duties and Responsibilities
1. Line Management for a team of research support staff servicing a number of Schools. Ensure staff are deployed flexibly according to need. Where applicable, working closely with other Research Support Managers to ensure cover can be provided across Research Support Teams as required.
2. Oversee the work of the Senior / Research Support Administrators, providing support and guidance to ensure effective research administration support to Principal Investigators.
3. Provide specialist pre-and post- award advice and support to Principal Investigators, with direct responsibility for overseeing complex applications involving, for example, multiple partners, international collaboration, commercial sensitivities and regulatory considerations.
This will include application development, risk assessment and mitigation, costing, bid writing support where appropriate, milestone planning and post-award reporting and financial management, liaising with the University Services Research Support Office and other expertise, as required.
4. Develop and maintain strategic relationships with the key funders for the portfolio of Schools, acting as point of contact for the funder and providing expert advice to prospective applicants.
5. Liaise with College research development staff for funding opportunities and University Services Research Support Office regarding funder terms and conditions if required.
6. Coordinate, plan, prioritise and execute application, costing and submission activities for grants and contracts, resulting in robust applications for approval and submission to funders. Seek advice as needed from the University Services Research Support Office, to ensure costings are aligned with funder rules and expectations.
This will include oversight of all applications within the team of Project Coordinators as well as those being managed directly by the post holder.
7. When acting as the Project Coordinator on individual projects:
• Liaise with external partners on behalf of the Principal Investigators to collate required information to support applications and post-award reporting and project management and provide information to Contracts Specialists, where required.
• Progress application outcomes and process awards from funders, sourcing feedback from funders where available and updating system accordingly.
• Provide post-award support including portfolio management (where appropriate), financial management and change management and liaise with the University Services Research Support Office to ensure that eligible expenditure is claimed appropriately
• Provide advice and guidance and where applicable, actual bid writing support for funding applications, in line with College strategy.
8. Responsible for ensuring data integrity for the Team portfolio, arranging regular audit and investigating and resolving identified issues.
9. Responsible for reviewing and resolving any matters requiring escalation within the research management team.
10. Responsible for the production of audit records for regulatory or funder audits. Working with other support teams within the College and University Services Research Support Office as appropriate to ensure a good inspection outcome and meeting with the inspectors as required.
11. Provide management information and analyse data to inform both day to day decision making and also college research budgeting and strategy, and for input to future College submissions.
12. Be actively involved in appropriate cross-college collaborative working to build networks, share best practice, and provide training.
13. Work with senior management within Schools/College to support the delivery of School/College level research strategies.
14. Contribute to the ongoing development and implementation of systems and procedures to ensure continuous improvement in the performance of the College Research Support Office service. Investigate project specific issues and identify those with wider implications, developing systems, processes and procedures to ensure such issues are resolved.
15. In liaison with college HR, other College Research Managers (if appropriate) and Principal Investigators, assist in the workforce planning across different awards to maximise the efficient use of research resources.

Knowledge, Qualifications, Skills and Experience

Knowledge/Qualifications  

Essential 
A1 Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework level 9, 10 or 11 (Ordinary/Honours Degree, Post Graduate Qualification), or equivalent, including being professionally qualified in relevant discipline, with a broad range of professional experience in a management role(s).
Or: Ability to demonstrate the competencies required to undertake the duties associated with this level of post having acquired the necessary professional knowledge and management skills in a similar or number of different specialist roles.
A2 Knowledge of the Higher Education research environment.
A3 An understanding of grant application processes including costing and funder guidelines.
A4 Knowledge and understanding of interrogating and maintaining databases.
A5 Knowledge and understanding of data integrity and its importance.

Desirable
B1 PhD with knowledge and experience in a subject relevant to the College.
B2 Knowledge of the regulatory framework which governs research in a particular College area.

Skills

Essential
C1 Expertise in management of teams.
C2 Project management - both short-term deadline driven and longer term involving multiple conflicting deadlines and coordination across multiple organisational units.
C3 Excellent oral and written communication skills with the ability to communicate at all levels.
C4 Excellent organisational and planning skills and the ability to work to tight deadlines.
C5 High degree of numeracy.
C6 Excellent eye for detail and accuracy.
C7 High level of influencing and negotiating skills.
C8 Ability to network effectively.
C9 Ability to exercise initiative.
C10 Ability to work flexibly and adapt to changing environments.
C11 Ability to interpret complex guidelines and prepare reports and budgets in line with the requirements set out.
C12 Ability to assess risks and financial implications.

Experience

Essential
E1 Significant experience of relevant research administration or project management experience in a similar or related role.
E2 Experience of providing high quality advice and guidance on research management.
E3 Experience of processing, analysing and presenting data.
E4 Experience of successfully overseeing the work of staff.
E5 Experience of preparing costing models and tracking budgets.
E6 Experience in delivering a customer focused service.

Desirable
F1 Experience of Higher Education environment and supporting the work of academics.
F2 Experience of research in academia.

Terms and Conditions
Salary will be Grade 8, £48,350 - £56,021 per annum.

This post is full time (35 hours per week) and open-ended (permanent).

As part of Team UofG you will be a member of a world changing, inclusive community, which values ambition, excellence, integrity and curiosity.

As a valued member of our team, you can expect:
1 A warm welcoming and engaging organisational culture, where your talents are developed and nurtured, and success is celebrated and shared.
2 An excellent employment package with generous terms and conditions including 41 days of leave for full time staff, pension  , benefits and discount packages.
3 A flexible approach to working.
4 A commitment to support your health and wellbeing, including a free 6-month UofG Sport membership for all new staff joining the University. 

We believe that we can only reach our full potential through the talents of all. Equality, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of our values. Applications are particularly welcome from across our communities and in particular people from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community, and other protected characteristics who are under-represented within the University. Read more on how the University promotes and embeds all aspects of equality and diversity within our community here .

We endorse the principles of Athena Swan   and hold bronze, silver and gold awards across the University.

We are investing in our organisation, and we will invest in you too. Please visit our website https://www.gla.ac.uk/explore/jobs/ for more information.