Research Project Manager

Salary: £33,966 to £36,024 with progression to £44,263 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 October 2023

The Role

We have an exciting opportunity to join a vibrant group of research project managers (the Project Management Team) in the Faculty of Medical Sciences.  You will have the opportunity to connect with the wider Project Manager Community across the Faculty of Medical Sciences, as well as have access to in-house training and relevant peer support.  

The team provide professional project management support to the Faculty of Medical Sciences’ research portfolio, including complex milestone driven, multi-site and cross-disciplinary research projects.  They report to the Special Projects Manager and currently manage ~36 projects with a value in excess of £130m. These include early phase clinical trials, experimental medicine research, trials and research involving the development of devices, gene and other therapies.

You will be allocated research projects from the team’s portfolio and will work closely with investigators, collaborators, the research team, University Research Institutes and professional services staff to deliver the projects, including ensuring progress against milestone and financial targets, highlighting and managing risks as appropriate, and in doing so becoming an integral part of the project team.  

We are looking for self-starters with excellent problem-solving and project management skills, together with a positive ‘can-do’ attitude.  You will have a degree (or equivalent professional qualification) in a relevant discipline or significant experience of working in project management, excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to communicate clearly and concisely in writing and verbally as well as excellent organisational and time management skills.

There are two Research Project Manager positions. The posts are full time and fixed term until 31 August 2025.

For more information and an informal discussion, please contact Emma Burton (emma.burton@ncl.ac.uk) or Phil Mawson (phil.mawson@ncl.ac.uk).

Key Accountabilities

• Act as the main point of contact for all parties involved in each project on a day-to- day basis, communicating clearly with investigators, project teams, collaborators and stakeholders and University professional services staff
• Prepare detailed study/research timelines and milestones, monitoring progress on a continuous basis, with a clear understanding of any impact on the critical path
• Co-ordinate and contribute to reports e.g., to funder, as required
• Actively manage project progress in association with the research, support and clinical teams to achieve milestones within set timescales.  This may involve collaboration with other organisations e.g., funders, Universities or NHS Trusts
• Day-to-day management of project team support staff and coordination of staff recruitment e.g., data managers
• Develop an understanding of clinical governance and good clinical practice (GCP) to facilitate the management of low-risk clinical trials
• Ensure the early identification of potential risks to meeting required objectives and coordinate the development of plans to recover the situation where possible, liaising with the funding body as appropriate, keeping the Investigator and research team fully appraised throughout
• Manage the project finances including: forecasting; liaison with the University’s Contract Financial Management Team to ensure financial transactions and reporting are managed in line with the contract; and holding regular meetings with project leads to ensure effective budget management
• Organise regular project update meetings, maintaining appropriate communication with all stakeholders and ensuring actions are created in line with the project objectives/timeline.  Ensure agreed actions are undertaken by those assigned responsibility
• Establish, organise and contribute to project management groups as required to support the project e.g., Advisory Boards, Steering Groups, inter- disciplinary working groups
• Develop an understanding of the scientific, regulatory and technical elements of the project in order to cross communicate between different work packages
• Manage the relationship with the funder and ensuring compliance with reporting requirements
• Preparation for, and facilitation of, audits and/or inspections
• Take responsibility for identifying own learning needs, including identifying appropriate courses to ensure up to date knowledge in the funding streams available to support translational research, as well as developing an awareness of the regulations governing clinical research and research data
• Work as part of the Faculty Project Management team to develop common ways of working and promote the use of best practice in project management

The Person (Essential)

Knowledge, Skills and Experience 

• Advanced knowledge of project management and relevant business operating procedures
• Knowledge of project management methodology
• Experience of working in a project management role
• Experience of working in a research environment
• A proven ability to manage projects to defined deliverables and meet audit requirements
• Effective report writing skills and the ability to research and present information clearly
• Knowledge and experience of carrying out risk assessment and risk management
• Excellent interpersonal skills including the ability to communicate clearly and concisely in writing and verbally
• Excellent organisational and time management skills
• Excellent financial management skills
• Excellent IT skills, including competent use of Microsoft Office including MS Project, Excel and Access

Attributes and Behaviour

• An ability to work to deadlines, organise own workload and work independently
• The ability to work across department and cross-organisational boundaries to build effective relationships both internally and externally
• Ability to make decisions on a daily basis, with consideration of when appropriate to involve other appropriate senior managers
• Plays a positive role in teams and establishes and grows relationships across the organisation where different skills, expertise and opinions are valued 
• Attention to detail
• A proven ability to be adaptable, innovative and proactive in project work
• A positive and supportive attitude; ability to work flexibly and cooperatively with others
• Ability to work independently where needed
• Enthusiasm to undertake training and learn new skills.
• Flexibility with respect to working hours
• Willingness to travel outside of the Newcastle area

Qualifications

• 1st degree (or equivalent professional qualification) in a relevant discipline, or significant experience of working in a project management role.
   

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.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 26116