Project Manager (Medicines Manufacturing Skills) - College of Medicine and Health - 103437 - Grade 7

Position Details

College of Medicine and Health

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,130 to £45,413 with potential progression once in post to £48,149

Grade: 7

Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to March 2026

Closing date: 27th March 2025

UK travel may be required for this role

Our offer to you

People are at the heart of what we are and do. The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.

We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University.

We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.

Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University. Depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries.

The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.

Background

The Research Delivery team, part of the College of Medicine & Health Research Office, is a vibrant hub for Professional Service staff (over 80 individuals) supporting high-value, strategically important projects and programmes. We work closely with both Professional Services colleagues and Academics across the University and partner organisations, to maximise the impact of funded research, and lead on the development of renewals for large infrastructure awards. The portfolio of research supported within the RP&I team is wide ranging including a large portfolio of large-scale research programmes and infrastructure awards funded by charities, government and other major health research funders.

This role will be embedded within the Research Delivery team, which is located in the Institute for Translational Medicine and benefit from established relationships with programme partners and key stakeholders including NHS Trusts, collaborating research institutions both locally, nationally and globally, patient and public contributors, charities and funders.

Role Summary

To manage designated projects across a School, College or professional service area, or make a contribution to larger University-wide projects as part of a project team. In order to flexibly use resource you may be offered the opportunity to work elsewhere in the department or wider University.

The post holder will work collaboratively with a national consortium (RESILIENCE, UK Medicines Manufacturing Skills Centre of Excellence) to deliver high quality training and outreach, spanning the entire careers pipeline for industry, academia and NHS, sharing best practice and adopting common, state of-the-art approaches to training delivery i.e. digital transformation using virtual reality and mixed reality (VR/MR).

This role plays a vital role in supporting the management and development of educational and research provision for a University Centre working in a UK consortium. Working closely with senior academics and Professional Services colleagues, both internally and externally, the role will enable the delivery of high-quality training and outreach, spanning the entire career pipeline for industry, academic and clinical.

The post holder will possess a broad understanding of how academia operates as a business and will be responsible for the management and optimisation of administration for all learning, training, and quality administrative processes within the University Centre. They will work with a nationwide consortium across the project, lead on defined Centre operations and make a major contribution to strategic discussions, day to day operations and ensure consistency of practice and delivery of the project plan.

The post holder will work on their own initiative and exercise a high level of judgement, skill and understanding to conceive, develop and implement long-term improvements to service delivery and effective ways of working within their areas of responsibility.

Main Duties

• Responsible for the delivery of one or more projects or for contributing to larger University projects, through the provision of significant and high level project management support. This may include some or all of the following:
  • developing project plans, identifying (as appropriate) key performance indicators and milestones
  • reviewing and auditing progress on projects to identify and act on improvements to effectiveness, efficiency and delivery
  • reporting on progress including the development of reporting mechanisms, writing reports (eg on project budgetary management), and presenting to appropriate meetings such as Project Board or to other key stakeholders
  • providing executive support to Project Boards, work streams and working groups as required; setting agendas, collating and distributing papers and minutes and ensuring follow up action is taken
  • assessing and escalating as you deem appropriate issues and risks, including monitoring risk registers
  • stakeholder management, ensuring effective liaison with project partners, funders, Project Boards as appropriate
  • managing project resources efficiently and effectively, including budgets, and ensure project documentation is maintained.
• Coordinate the organisation of conferences/ meetings/ workshops/ dissemination events if required.
• Develop and deliver communication strategy for the project(s), which may include developing, for example, newsletters, briefings for stakeholders and/or websites or other social media.
• Ensure that priorities are balanced, taking action to deliver agreed deliverables against timelines.
• Maintain an up to date knowledge of project management methodologies.
• Source, analyse and develop insights from the data to inform evaluation and review of projects.
• Promote equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
• Support the University’s sustainability agenda through resource efficient working.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Qualified to Degree level or equivalent plus practical managerial experience or significant relevant experience demonstrated through increasingly more demanding roles evidencing the experience necessary for this role.
• Knowledge of factors impacting the Higher Education Institution sector, plus an understanding of the interplay between industry, academia, government, and administration.
• Proven track record of successful project management, potentially using one or more project management tools such as Prince2.
• Evidence of literacy and numeracy, with the ability to write clearly, and to produce and analyse information and data.
• Excellent people-management skills desirable.
• Excellent budgetary management skills and experience.
• Highly proficient IT skills, including the MS Office and website editing software. You should be confident and able to quickly learn new IT skills and software packages as required.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, relationship building and influencing skills with the ability to deal confidently with a range of internal and external stakeholders/contacts.
• Excellent organisational and multi-tasking skills with a methodical approach to work and the ability to prioritise workloads in order to meet deadlines.
• Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day to day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly.

Role context

Roles at this level will require a broad understanding and practical experience of an administrative or professional field which will be used to plan the running and development of services and/or lead shorter term projects or contribute to larger projects. You will work with information which needs interpretation and analysis; you will use your judgement to identify the best solution to differing problems and issues, offering recommendations for managing more complex situations. You are likely to be responsible for managing a team of staff, being accountable for recruiting and developing them and for managing performance. You may also need to liaise and/or co-ordinate activities across a number of different sections within the department or possibly with wider department or external bodies as appropriate.

Core competencies/transferable skills

Working at this level you will be able to develop and successfully demonstrate the core competencies/transferable skills outlined in each of the areas shown below. As appropriate for the level, our Birmingham Professionals will take ownership for getting things done. You will be expected to be flexible as required in supporting your department and wider University.

Planning and organising

• plan the running and development of service(s), overseeing resources and inputting into resource planning as appropriate;
• develop, agree and implement standards for delivery for own area;
• manage a team of staff and review, develop and motivate them;
• plan relevant training and development;
• provide professional advice, guidance and support to others within and outside their immediate work area;
• oversee resources and make recommendations about future resource requirements.

Problem solving and decision making

• review, develop and propose solutions for problems with (for example) staff, budgets, services and/or systems;
• deal effectively with unexpected issues, such as changing priorities;
• deal with sensitive people matters/issues;
• provide specialist advice and recommendations to support decision–making of others.

Organisational understanding

• understand their own and closely-related working areas and how they contribute to the success of the University;
• has an understanding of how the University operates; actively seeks to share this knowledge with others;
• developing empathy with the academic endeavour.

Relationships and communication

• influence decision makers and win support for proposals;
• develop excellent working relationships within and outside of own area and potentially with external stakeholders;
• co-ordinate activities across a number of areas.

Further particulars can be found here

Informal enquiries to Claire Fenlon, email:

View our staff values and behaviours here

We believe there is no such thing as a \’typical\’ member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website .

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