Performance & Impact Officer (BRC) in Newcastle upon Tyne

Salary: £32,080 to £33,002 with progression to £34,610 per annum.

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 23 August 2026

The Role

We have an exciting opportunity to work as part of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre (BRC): Newcastle Core Theme to provide operational and performance support across a portfolio of translational research and associated activity. The Biomedical Research Centre: Newcastle is a major funding award from the NIHR to the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust delivered in partnership with the Faculty of Medical Sciences at Newcastle University and Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust. The NIHR BRC: Newcastle supports a range of projects, studentships, clinical infrastructure and research posts across various research themes to achieve its aims and objectives.

As a member of the NIHR BRC: Newcastle core team, you will support the day‑to‑day monitoring and tracking of BRC‑funded projects and contribute significantly to demonstrating the BRC’s performance and impact. You will work closely with theme leads, principal investigators and professional services teams to support the effective delivery of project activity, including monitoring progress against financial and milestone targets and capturing downstream outputs and impact.

Informal enquiries are welcomed. To discuss this role further, please contact the Research Programme Manager of the NIHR BRC: Newcastle Leanne Cork via e‑mail Leanne.Cork@newcastle.ac.uk.

The post is full time, fixed term until 31/03/2028.

Key Accountabilities

• Act as the main point of contact for all parties involved in project activity associated with the NIHR BRC: Newcastle across Newcastle Hospitals NHS FT, Newcastle University and CNTW NHS FT, communicating clearly with investigators, project teams, collaborators and stakeholders and University professional services staff.
• Liaise with project teams to collate information to assist with monitoring project progress associated with the research, such as progress towards agreed milestones, with a clear understanding of any impact on the critical path.
• Assist the BRC Research Programme Manager by monitoring the potential risks to meeting required objectives and support the coordination of plans to recover the situation where possible, liaising with the BRC Research Programme Manager, the Principal Investigator and project team as appropriate.
• Assist with the management of finances for BRC-funded projects including forecasting and monitoring of expenditure. Provide regular financial status updates to Principal Investigators and project teams.
• Assist with the implementation of processes for tracking and recording successful outcomes associated with BRC-funded projects, including research impact, academic publications, downstream funding and intellectual property.
• Maintain records and data of BRC-funded activity. Produce regular internal reports and/or presentations to BRC management, detailing progress against key metrics.
• Collate, organise, analyse and edit material for inclusion in reports and documents relating to NIHR BRC: Newcastle activities.
• Coordinate processes for running internal funding competitions and schemes across the NIHR BRC: Newcastle Partnership and its Research Themes.
• Work with the BRC Communications Manager to support the update and maintenance of the NIHR BRC: Newcastle website and communication platforms ensuring that BRC impact is disseminated widely.
• Work with the BRC Research Programme Manager and BRC Information Officer to support the preparation and completion of the NIHR Annual Report.
• Represent the NIHR BRC: Newcastle at internal and external meetings as required.
• Support other NIHR BRC: Newcastle activity as required including public and patient involvement, training, and industry focussed activity.
• Take responsibility for identifying own learning needs, including identifying appropriate courses to ensure up to date knowledge in the funding streams available to support translational research, as well as developing an awareness of the regulations governing clinical research and research data.

The Person

Knowledge, Skills And Experience

• Knowledge of project management methodology.
• Knowledge of budgetary/financial processes.
• Experience of working in a research environment.
• Relevant project or people management research experience in a scientific, project management, pharmaceutical or medical environment.
• Working as part of a team providing effective support to senior staff.
• Experience of working independently and delegating tasks.
• Experience of planning and progressing work within general guidelines, using initiative and judgement without recourse to senior staff.
• Experience of managing websites and communication platforms.
• Experience of managing and analysing data.

Attributes and Behaviour

• Excellent interpersonal skills including the ability to communicate clearly and concisely in writing and verbally.
• Ability to manage projects to defined deliverables and meet audit requirements.
• Excellent organisational and time management skills, including the ability to work to deadlines, organise own workload and work independently.
• Excellent financial management skills.
• Excellent analytical skills including the ability to analyse data, identify patterns and present findings.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Excellent IT skills, including competent use of Microsoft Office (specifically Excel).
• A readiness to acquire new IT skills (e.g. SAP) and recognition of the importance of good quality data in research (i.e. data entry, data cleaning, etc.).
• A positive and supportive attitude; ability to work flexibly and cooperatively with others.
• Flexibility with respect to working hours.
• Willingness to travel outside of the Newcastle area.

Qualifications

• A good level of education up to A level or equivalent.
• Excellent level of literacy and numeracy.

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution. We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population. At Newcastle University we hold a Gold Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme. In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.