Research and Graduate Studies Team Manager

17272BR

Cardiff School of Social Sciences

Managerial, Professional and Specialist Staff – MPSS

Advert

Research and Graduate Studies Team Manager

Cardiff University School of Social Sciences is seeking to recruit a Research and Graduate Studies Team Manager.
In this role you will lead and manage the Research Team in order to provide an effective and efficient research support service to the school. Take responsibility for ensuring that all research related activities are professionally managed and the needs of the school’s staff, students and funders are met.

This post is full-time (35 hours per week), is open-ended and is available from Monday, 23rd October 2023.

Salary: £39,347 – £44,263 per annum (Grade 6), with 4 annual increments up to £44,263 per annum (final salary at top of grade).

Cardiff University offers many excellent benefits, including 45 days annual leave (including bank holidays), blended working (meaning you will be able to work from home for some of your time), a cycle to work scheme and other travel initiatives, annual increments up the pay scale, and more. It is an exciting and vibrant place to work, with many different challenges and is a proud Living Wage supporter.

Responsible to Ms Louise Jones, School Manager

For an informal discussion about the role please contact Louise Jones, [email protected] Telephone 029 2087 4530

As the biggest university in Wales – and a major employer, with more than 7,000 staff – we are an ambitious and innovative university located in a beautiful and thriving capital city. We can offer you the chance to work in a vibrant organisation, with great benefits and opportunities for progression.

This role is eligible to be offered on a blended working basis, meaning that as well as spending time working on campus you may spend some time working from another location, e.g. your home. The University is committed to offering this flexibility, wherever the role and business need allows, supporting work-life balance.

Date advert posted: Thursday, 7 September 2023

Closing date: Sunday, 24 September 2023

Please be aware that Cardiff University reserves the right to close this vacancy early should sufficient applications be received.

Cardiff University is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse range of staff from many different backgrounds who have the ambition to create a University which seeks to fulfil our social, cultural and economic obligation to Cardiff, Wales, and the world.  In supporting our employees to achieve a balance between their work and their personal lives, we will also consider proposals for flexible working or job share arrangements.

Job Description

Key Duties

• Manage the operation of the Research Team, planning, organising and delegating work.
• Monitoring the progress and day to day work of the research and PGR teams, intervening as required and ensuring a high level of performance within the team.
• Take responsibility for funded project budgets, supporting staff in planning bids, setting budgets, monitoring, review, closure and reporting to the funders.
• Lead the support for proposals and applications for funds, including business plans complete with full economic costing, ensuring that documents are produced in the form required by the School, University administration and other funding bodies.
• Develop relevant guidance for academics on the Research Excellence Framework to ensure an understanding of the requirements and also to develop good practice in relation to REF Impact case studies for sharing within the institution.
• Take responsibility for the management of support staff involved in the organisation of research related international and national conferences, workshops and seminars, ensuring the preparation of accurate budgets.
• Take a leading role in the delivery of management information for the Research Excellence Framework exercises, Research Committee and for the Senior Management Team to assist in the setting of strategies and priorities for the School.
• Identify the key indicators relating to the monitoring/recording of research income/funding sources and maintain an appropriate management information system in collaboration with central teams.
• Take responsibility for the management of PGR student administration, including recruitment, progress monitoring, reporting and examinations as well as the accurate and efficient administration of studentship awards.
• Maintain detailed knowledge of the school’s research activities and University strategies, making recommendations for developments of established processes and procedures.
• Provide administrative support to the School’s Research Committee, Research Ethics Committee, Contract Researchers Forum and other ad-hoc meetings.
• Manage the recruitment, performance, induction and development of the team. Support and guide team members in welfare issues, escalating as necessary to specialist support areas.
• Develop, lead on and ensure delivery of service level agreements for the team, adapting them according to changes in the internal or external research environment.
• As a senior member of the professional services of the School, to contribute to the overall management of the School, interpreting School strategies into work policies.
• Represent the School at research related working groups across the University.
• Liaise with other members of the team including the Doctoral Training Centre Manager, Graduate Studies Team Leader, Research Centre Managers and Administrators in order to deliver a complete research support service.
• Train and guide other staff in research procedures, bid making, budget monitoring, project reporting and other areas of the team’s work.
• Gather and analyse data to inform decisions, establishing basic trends and patterns in data and creating reports as appropriate.
• Make recommendations for developments of established processes and procedures.
• Gather and analyse data to inform decisions, establishing basic trends and patterns in data and creating reports as appropriate.

General Duties

• Develop networks across the School, College and University to ensure the success of the team’s objectives and long term plans.
• Undergo personal and professional development that is appropriate to the role and which will enhance performance.
• Ensure that an understanding of the importance of confidentiality is applied when undertaking all duties.
• Perform other duties occasionally which are not included above, but which will be consistent with the role.
• Abide by University policies on Health and Safety and Equality and Diversity.

Person Specification

Essential Criteria

Degree/NVQ 4 or equivalent work related experience.

Substantial experience of managing a team.

Specialist knowledge and understanding of research which may include the impact agenda, Research Excellence Framework (REF), research funding and project management, and postgraduate research student administration.

Proven experience in developing new processes and procedures and implementing them in the team.

Ability to communicate detailed and complex information effectively and professionally to a wide range of people.

Proven ability to develop networks in order to contribute to long term developments.

Experience of dealing with performance and welfare issues.

Evidence of ability to explore customers’ needs and adapt the service accordingly to ensure a quality service is delivered.

Evidence of ability to solve problems using initiative and creativity; using detailed understanding of methodologies to select the right approach.

Evidence of ability to plan the work of a team, over extended time periods, reacting to changes in workload and priority.

Desirable Criteria

• Postgraduate/Professional qualification.
• Experience of working in a Higher Education environment.
• Fluency in Welsh, written and oral.

IMPORTANT: Evidencing Criteria  

 It is Cardiff University’s policy to use the person specification as a key tool for shortlisting. Therefore, candidates must evidence they meet ALL the essential criteria and, where relevant, the desirable.  

As part of the application process, you are asked to provide this evidence via a supporting statement. Please ensure that the evidence you are providing corresponds with the numbered criteria outlined in the person specification. Your application will be considered based on the information you provide for each criterion.  

 When attaching the supporting statement to your application profile, please ensure you name it with the vacancy reference number: XXXXBR.  

Your application will be at risk of not being progressed if you do not evidence you have met all essential criteria. The school welcomes the submission of CVs to accompany evidence of the job-based criteria.  

Please note that these are also the criteria shortlisted applicants will be assessed against at interview and/or by other means (e.g. a skills test). 

Additional Information

Cardiff University School of Social Sciences

The School of Social Sciences is an internationally recognised centre of excellence in research and teaching across a range of subject areas, including Social Policy, Sociology, Criminology, Education, Social Psychology, and Social Work.

We deliver a substantial programme of research, both fundamental and strategic, funded by ESRC, AHRC, MRC, charitable foundations, the European Union, Central Government departments and agencies and voluntary associations.  In the 2021 UK Research Excellence Framework the School was returned to two sub panels, Sociology and Education. We were placed in the top ten in each sub panel by grade point average, joint first for impact in Education and fourth overall for research power in Sociology.

The School has a large student population, with almost 1000 undergraduates, and 300 postgraduates.  We have ESRC recognition for doctoral training in the fields of Criminology, Social Policy, Sociology, Education, and Science, Technology and Innovation and have secured a large number of ESRC collaborative doctoral awards. Our taught and postgraduate research programmes welcome students from around the world.

The School hosts a number of research centres and institutes, including the University’s  Police Studies Institute (UPSI), now part of the University’s Crime & Security Research Institute; the Wales Institute for Economic Research & Data (WISERD); the Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre (CASCADE); the Centre for Development, Evaluation, Complexity and Implementation in Public Health Improvement (DECIPHer); the Cardiff Unit for Research and Evaluation in Medical and Dental Education (CUREMeDE); and the Seafarers’ International Research Centre (SIRC). Many of the School’s research centres are housed in the University’s Social Science Research Park (SPARK) – a world first, and part of the University’s wider Innovation Campus.

The School of Social Sciences holds an Athena SWAN Bronze Award that recognises good employment practice and a commitment to develop the careers of women working in academia. Cardiff University is an equal opportunities employer and positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, marital status, or pregnancy and maternity. We actively encourage women to apply. We will also always consider proposals for flexible working or job share opportunities.

Job Category

Management & Executive