Research Operations Manager

About us

King\’s College London is an internationally renowned university delivering exceptional education and world‑leading research. We are dedicated to driving positive and sustainable change in society and realising our vision of making the world a better place.

The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience is divided into 14 academic departments across three major academic Schools: Academic Psychiatry, Mental Health & Psychological Sciences, and Neuroscience.

Our School of Academic Psychiatry comprises of five clinical departments of psychiatry: Addictions, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Science, Psychological Medicine and Psychosis Studies.

These include more than 100 Principal Investigators, with research grants of £30-40 million. We have programmes covering the whole spectrum of psychiatry from public policy to molecular genetics, from peri‑natal to old age and from psychological treatments to brain imaging. Our work covers the entire life span, healthy adults and children as well as of course people with physical and mental health conditions.

About the role

The post holder will work across the school with key stakeholders to embed research administration best practice and support grants with specialist funding requirements.

The role is responsible for ensuring that policies and processes are working effectively, continuously reviewing them, overseeing service provision, and ensuring all stakeholder needs are met.

The role would suit an experienced research administration professional who can clearly articulate policies and processes, possesses strong problem‑solving skills and experience, and can build and maintain effective working relationships across the School, Faculty, and University.

The role will provide individuals with a wide variety of experience and skills in research administration within a large and complex School and Faculty, supporting their career progression in this field across the University.

This is a hybrid role, requiring a minimum of 2 working days per week in the office.

This is a full‑time role, and the post will be offered on a fixed‑term basis for 18 months in the first instance and could also be arranged as a secondment opportunity.

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

1. Significant knowledge and skills of research support acquired through relevant posts, demonstrating development through progressively more demanding work/roles, and the acquisition of appropriate professional and specialist knowledge.
2. Good understanding of optimal cost recovery on research grants; full economic costings (fEC); charitable funders and QR; and sub optimal funders.
3. Working knowledge of People XD, Unit 4 Business World and Worktribe or other university equivalents.
4. Working knowledge of the end‑to‑end grant lifecycle and experience of supporting large‑scale and complex grants using grant management software.
5. Working knowledge and experience of applying regulatory policies and procedures in a large organisation.
6. Highly numerate and experience in budget management and costings.
7. Highly proficient IT skills (including Excel, Word, Power BI) and experience of utilizing digital technology in day‑to‑day work.
8. Effective at working independently, and as part of a team, able to take own initiative and decisions with a proactive approach to complex problem‑solving.

Desirable criteria

1. Proven strong communication and interpersonal skills in over to receive, understand and relay specialist or professional ideas or information to various groups.
2. Excellent task management skills and ability to work under pressure in a busy environment with a high degree of accuracy and attention to detail.
3. Keen interest in research grant management and an awareness of current context and challenged with in the sector.
4. Experience of managing staff, giving feedback on performance level and providing training/coaching.

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the page This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Further information

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King\’s.

As part of this commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and through this appointment process, it is our aim to develop candidate pools that include applicants from all backgrounds and communities.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the person specification section of the job description. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our \’How we Recruit\’ pages.

Interviews are due to be held in January 2026