Contracts Support Assistant in Sheffield

The University of Sheffield is a remarkable place to work. Our people are at the heart of everything we do. Their diverse backgrounds, abilities and beliefs make Sheffield a world-class university. We offer a fantastic range of benefits including a highly competitive annual leave entitlement, a generous pensions scheme, flexible working opportunities, a commitment to your development and wellbeing, a wide range of retail discounts, and much more.

Overview: RPI supports agreed University, Faculty and School priorities for research and innovation: income generation, research excellence, PGR experience, partnership development and knowledge exchange leading to income and/or impact and commercialisation of IP and student enterprise. Our focus is on delivering professional, value-add advice and support to our community of researchers and innovators. The Research Contracts Team provides a specialised and comprehensive research contracting service. The team reviews, advises on, drafts and negotiates all research related contracts for and on behalf of the University of Sheffield.

The primary focus of this role is to:

• Work collaboratively in a small team to provide effective administrative support to the wider Contracts team.
• Act as the first point of contact for enquiries from all Schools in the University, working proactively to respond in a timely and appropriate manner.
• Set up agreements using our in-house system and to triage/respond to new enquiries in a timely manner, whilst maintaining effective and efficient systems and processes.
• Work cooperatively as part of the broader administrative team, offering support across Research Operations when needed.

Main duties and responsibilities:

• Set up standard and non-standard contract requests, create and maintain database records.
• Collate information for inclusion in agreements, update file notes to monitor the progress of agreements and provide detailed information and guidance to colleagues.
• Keep administrative systems, processes and procedures under continuous review, ensuring a pragmatic approach and efficient service is delivered.
• Maintain a wide network of contacts and broad knowledge of the university to provide a signposting service.
• Amend standard agreements and administer variations to agreements, escalating where appropriate and liaising with colleagues across the university to resolve issues such as tax and insurance queries.
• Liaise with third parties and academic departments to ensure agreements are progressed in a timely manner.
• Prioritise and plan workload according to operational demands and to manage priorities whilst ensuring high levels of customer care are delivered.
• Work flexibly and share work with colleagues in a small team to ensure seamless handover to cover part-time working and leave.
• Oversee the approval and signature process, liaising with colleagues and signatories in Research Services, including application of electronic signatures and dissemination of documents.
• Coordinate multi-partner contracts, collating comments and signatures.
• Undertake training and development, where necessary, in areas relevant to main activities and responsibilities.
• Carry out other duties, commensurate with the grade and remit of the post.

Person Specification: Our diverse community of staff and students recognises the unique abilities, backgrounds, and beliefs of all. We foster a culture where everyone feels they belong and is respected. Even if your past experience doesn't match perfectly with this role's criteria, your contribution is valuable, and we encourage you to apply. Please ensure that you reference the application criteria in the application statement when you apply.

Criteria:

• 5 GCSEs at Grade C or above including Maths and English (or equivalent experience).
• Evidence of professional, effective and appropriate communication skills, both written and verbal, working with internal and external stakeholders.
• Excellent customer service skills, with experience of responding efficiently and effectively to enquiries in different formats.
• Evidence that you are a proactive, collaborative and supportive team member, but also able to work independently within an agreed framework.
• Ability to work systematically with databases, spreadsheets and other IT systems.
• Ability to work with budgets in contracts, make and check basic calculations.
• Ability to develop and maintain professional and collaborative networks and working relationships.
• Evidence of excellent organisation and time management skills, with the ability to work under supervision to prioritise your workload and work accurately to tight deadlines.
• Ability to consider and propose solutions to problems, working with line manager to agree course of action.
• Experience of working with sensitive and confidential information in line with policies and procedures.
• Practical experience of working with legal agreements in any working environment.

Further Information: Grade 4 Work arrangement Duration Line manager Contracts Support Officer Direct reports N/A.

Next steps in the recruitment process: It is anticipated that the selection process will take place week commencing 21 September 2026.

We are a Disability Confident Employer. If you have a disability and meet the essential criteria for this job you will be invited to take part in the next stage of the selection process. DBS check will be needed for this role.

Closing Date: 23/08/2026.