Research Development Officer

Grade and Salary: Grade 6, £31,236 - £36,636 per annum FTE

Working pattern: Full-time, 35hrs per week, fixed-term (12 months)

Reward and Benefits: 33 days annual leave, plus 9 buildings closed days for all full time staff.

About Our Team: Heriot‑Watt has an ambitious agenda in research and knowledge transfer and Research Engagement is the key professional services department involved in both the development and delivery of this strategy. The role of Research Engagement covers research development, Research Excellence Framework management, impact tracking the process through to outcome and award set‑up; providing training to staff on research proposal costing, completion of online grant submission systems.

• Provide data reports and statistical analysis on request to staff such as members of the School Management Groups, Directors of Research and other Research Engagement teams.
• Provide support to the School’s Research Institutes including maintaining research data and identifying and disseminating relevant funding news and opportunities to staff.
• Provide support for inductions and Worktribe training.
• Provide support for the operation of Research Policies such as Peer Review, Ethics and Data Management.
• Responsibility for maintenance and data integrity of university research management systems.
• Liaise with external partners such as research funders and other universities.
• Liaise with the Research Grants Office and School Finance teams to ensure that pre‑award finance information and/or data provided to staff is accurate.
• Liaise with other University departments such as Research Engagement, Finance, HR, etc. to ensure the smooth running of proposals submission and project set‑up.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of improvements to the working practices, services provided, and the administrative systems of the Research Development Team.
• To undertake other activities as agreed with the Research Development Manager.

Person Specification:

• Educated to honours degree level or equivalent.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, and the ability to produce high quality written work independently.
• Experience of working on own initiative, and proactively in managing day‑to‑day affairs in the office.
• A flexible and adaptable approach, coupled with the ability to prioritise workload to meet deadlines.
• Good all‑round organisational and forward planning abilities.
• The post holder will be expected to work under pressure and handle changing priorities effectively and balance a varied group of concurrent projects and activities.
• A strong customer focus and experience of developing a service to meet customers’ needs.
• A high degree of attention to detail and accuracy of working in all areas relating to the post.
• Experience of team working and effectiveness as a good team player.
• Able to apply knowledge of theory and practice, sharing this knowledge with others as appropriate.
• Experience of working within a regulatory environment and ability to provide advice and guidance on regulations, policies and procedures (including budgets and costings) to different audiences to inform decision making.
• Experience of using large database systems (e.g. research costing tools, research output repositories, finance systems etc.).
• Positive and professional attitude to providing support to others and finding creative solutions to problems.
• Highly competent in Microsoft Office, in particular Outlook, Word, Excel.
• Experience of keeping abreast of developments in the higher education sector.

• Knowledge of full economic costing and the ability to explain it clearly and concisely to academic staff.
• Experience of supporting research proposal submissions.
• Comprehensive knowledge of research funding council regulations and experience of applying these to research grant proposals.
• Experience of using Worktribe or similar research management system.
• Experience of funding body submissions systems.
• Experience of preparing budgets and costings for research or knowledge exchange projects.

About Heriot‑Watt University: Heriot‑Watt University is committed to securing equality of opportunity in employment and to the creation of an environment in which individuals are selected, trained, promoted, appraised and otherwise treated on the sole basis of their relevant merits and abilities. Equality and diversity are all about maximising potential and creating a culture of inclusion for all. Heriot‑Watt University values diversity across our University community and welcomes applications from all sectors of society, particularly from underrepresented groups. We welcome and will consider flexible working patterns such as part‑time working and job share options.