Programme Manager

Salary: £47,389.00 - £56,535.00  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: 07 May 2026

The Role

Newcastle Health Research Partnership (NHRP) – an Academic Health Science Centre (AHSC) – is seeking an ambitious, dynamic Programme Manager to provide programme and strategic project management across a partner wide portfolio of activity.

NHRP is a collaborative partnership between Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle City Council, and Northumbria University. Our collective mission is to drive change in the health, wealth, and wellbeing of over 3.2 million people living in the North East of England and North Cumbria.

As a pioneering AHSC, we bring together health research, clinical excellence, education, and innovation to tackle some of the region’s most significant health challenges. We are committed to fostering a collaborative culture that supports research, accelerates adoption, and strengthens patient and public involvement. Our NHRP Academy stands as a recognised model of success in developing local academic careers, expanding capacity, and enhancing capability in training and education.

You can find out more about Newcastle Health Research Partnership here.

Reporting to the NHRP Chief Operating Officer (COO) and part of NHRP core team, you will lead on programme and strategic project management across NHRP’s programme areas, developing and overseeing a range of cross partner projects in priority areas. You work closely with the programme leads to ensure agreed objectives are met and to bring consistency, central control and oversight across the partnership.

This is an exciting opportunity to work at the forefront of health and research transformation in the North East. We are committed to building and maintaining a fair and inclusive working environment.  The position is available immediately, is offered on a full-time basis until 31st March 2028 but part time would be considered.

For a confidential conversation in the first instance, please contact Martin Dixon (martin.dixon@ncl.ac.uk)

To apply please submit your cover statement outlining how you meet the essential criteria of this role (no more than 2 A4 sides) along with your CV.

 Key Accountabilities

• As a senior member of the NHRP team, support the COO with the day-to-day operations and how they meet strategic objectives, fostering a culture of excellence across NHRP
• Work closely with the NHRP COO and workstream leads to create and deliver annual operating plans
• Responsible for monitoring, analysing and reporting on NHRP performance to individual workstream leads, NHRP Oversight Committees and NHRP Board. Ensuring regular monitoring of progress against key milestone and performance measures across all areas of NHRP delivery
• Mange, monitor, control and report budgets for the programme working closely with COO and partner finance teams to ensure that projects come in on time and target
• Ensure effective quality assurance and the overall integrity of the programme(s), focusing on the consistency of the programmes’ component projects, finding innovative solutions to resolve any conflicting priorities and potential overlap or gaps in provision
• Develop, lead and implement a wide range of strategic projects working in partnership with a wide variety of stakeholders. These projects will be wide ranging including but not limited to research, capacity building and public partnerships
• Provide line management for members of the NHRP Core team, overseeing the delivery of key cross cutting areas including project management, communications and events.
• Represent NHRP at internal and external meetings as required
• To deputise for the NHRP COO as required
• Any other duties within the scope and general nature of the grade which may be required.

The Person

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Significant experience of programme and project management and demonstrable ability to deliver results on time and within budget
• Proven high level of decision making and problem-solving skills and a demonstrable ability to lead initiatives, prioritise and plan appropriately
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills across diverse stakeholder groups
• Success in developing effective working relationships with colleagues at all levels and across a range of disciplines and partner organisations and providing authoritative advice to senior colleagues
• Ability to work independently, and to make decisions on complex or overlapping matters
• Strong digital literacy skills and ability to communicate and collaborate easily using digital tools
• Well developed understanding of funding and financial management procedures
• Knowledge of the UK research funding landscape
• Proven ability to manage competing priorities and deliver under pressure

 Desirable

• Experience of working collaboratively with academic, professional and managerial staff at a senior level, within healthcare, academic, research or Local Authority setting

 Attributes and Behaviour

• Able to effectively collaborate and communicate with a variety of colleagues and stakeholders. Acts in a collaborative, inclusive , transparent and open manner, acting with integrity and able to build high levels of trust
• Able to see the ‘big picture’ think strategically and to consider the detail in complex situations, including where there are conflicting priorities
• Ability to think creatively to come up with new ideas, good problem solving skills and ability to imagine beyond the status quo
• Uses benchmarking to analyse external practices, gain a deeper understanding of issues and to identify opportunities
• High drive and initiative, able to demonstrate professional resilience
• An articulate, confident and politically adept communicator, ready and able to deal with difficult situations and to challenge where necessary
• Works collaboratively with others, plays a positive role in teams and establishes and grows relationships across NHRP partners where different skills, expertise and opinions are values
• An energetic and “can do” approach which will inspire and enthuse others, ready to take the lead in driving forward initiatives

Qualifications

• Degree or equivalent level qualification plus experience in a similar role or significant vocational experience

Desirable

• Project and/or Programme Management qualification 

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 Gold 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: 29275