Research Finance Manager - Hiring ASAP

Start date: ASAP
Duration: 6 month contract
Location: Remote/Hybrid in London
Rate: £194 per day

Summary

This position will be instrumental in delivering the department's research and enterprise administration by contributing to the development and implementation of strategies and processes to enhance the department's research income and outputs. The post-holder will facilitate grant and funding administration, consultancy activity and general management and monitoring of current and proposed research projects.

This role may occasionally require assisting in the department's communications and networking activities. The post requires a high level of accuracy, financial skill, and considerable initiative.

This role is largely autonomous, but the post holder must be able to work as part of a team of Professional Services staff, including EngD/CDT managers and Research Group/Institute administrators. Contact with senior staff (both within and external to the client) is frequent, as is contact with academic and research staff.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain a thorough understanding of the clients' and the main research sponsors' financial regulations.
• Organize the provision of financial data to inform costings for funding and proposals.
• Prepare funding applications in conjunction with Principal Investigators including providing costing for proposed project.
• Assess proposal budgets to ensure financial viability and report to senior colleagues for approval as needed.
• Work alongside academic and research staff to set and adhere to proposal deadlines as well as meet the sponsor's funding guidelines.
• Ensure that accounts and budgets for new awards are set up quickly and efficiently in collaboration with senior research managers, the clients' Business and Contracts Research Office.
• Organize contract set-up for newly awarded research projects.
• Oversee the smooth and timely transfer of grants, contracts and associated resources of academics joining or leaving the department.
• Maintain post-award support, advising grant holders as needed.
• Initiate and monitor the process of research staff appointments and contract extensions or terminations.
• Monitor expenditure against grant budget, ensure compliance with funders' T&Cs and alert relevant people on under and over-spends.
• Support the preparation of cost statements and management reports, ensuring they are complete, accurate and backed up by the appropriate documentation (timesheets, invoices, etc).
• Assist central finance departments in closing expired accounts and dealing with under- or over-spends.
• Assist grant holders in project change requests.
• Maintain records of awards distributed and provide financial reports for grant activity.
• Prepare and edit documents for internal and external circulation regarding departmental research.
• Review and regularly update the department's research finance webpages.
• Support, as required, the promotion and publicity of the department's research to increase engagement and collaboration with industry through events, the web, and other media.
• Assist the departmental communications manager in promoting and marketing our research activity internally.
• Serving on the clients' working groups and attending meetings, user groups, workshops and conferences relating to research procedures and governance, representing the department/faculty on these.

Key Skills

• Educated to degree level or equivalent or having acquired relevant experience in managing financial processes.
• Knowledge of research funding processes and regulations within a HE/research environment.
• Experience of working within a HE or similar research environment.
• Proven experience of working as a proactive member of a team.
• Experience of providing administrative assistance in the preparation of research funding applications.
• Proven effective service in a customer service environment.
• Experience of using online financial systems such as MyFinance and Worktribe.
• Experience of project managing research projects.
• Computer literacy and familiarity with the Microsoft Suite of software to intermediate level in Word, Excel, Email, Outlook, and the Internet - How do you manage project budgets? The clients' tools and offline tools? Files? Access?
• Good oral and written communication skills which enable the post holder to liaise and interact with a variety of people at all levels of the university.
• Ability to confidently network with others, building and maintaining internal and external stakeholder relationships.
• A commitment to customer focus and the need to provide an efficient, professional, and effective service to the many users and contacts both internally at all levels of the organisation and externally.
• Proven consistent ability to meet tight individual and group deadlines and to manage own workload through effective prioritising, time management and organisational skills.
• Ability to work under pressure whilst maintaining close attention to detail and accuracy.
• Willingness and ability to undertake training and adapt to new systems quickly. Adjusting to the way CS does things as big department.
• Excellent analytical skills including ability to research, analyse and interpret financial information.
• High level of numeracy, with the ability to understand and interpret a variety of figures and statistics and deliver accurately against operational deadlines.
• Ability to prepare and co-ordinate accurate reports, budgets, and recommendations for a variety of uses.
• Ability to take initiative and contribute to decision making.