Senior Manager - Post Award Grant Compliance in City of Westminster

Since Crick's inception in 2015, its external funding portfolio has steadily grown and diversified with funding now received from a broad range of national and international funding bodies, each with their own regulations, policies and conditions. As Senior Manager - Post-Award Grant Compliance, you'll play a pivotal role in ensuring the Crick's continued adherence to funder terms and conditions. You'll lead the development and implementation of robust post-award grant processes, working across internal teams to provide expert guidance on compliance and regulatory requirements. Acting as the primary point of contact for external funding bodies, you'll maintain a deep understanding of funder policies and ensure that grants and contracts are managed accordingly.

As an experienced post-award professional, you will have familiarity with business-as-usual research finance practices including project reconciliation using general ledger reports, funder invoicing, journal posting, budgeting, income recognition and other month-end processes. As a senior member of the Finance and Grants team, you'll also provide leadership support by deputising for the Post-Award Team Lead when required, a responsibility that could lead to future opportunities for line management. Drawing on your experience within a higher education or research-intensive environment, you will have extensive experience of post-award management along with clear evidence of adding value and improving processes in previous roles. This is a high-impact role that offers the opportunity to influence best practice across the organisation so you will need to be a strong leader who is confident in the training and development of others striving for best practice. Previous experience in the development and implementation of systems would be highly desirable.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist expertise in matters pertaining to grant compliance and ensure that grant funded research at the Crick is compliant.
• Develop and refine robust business processes and IT system controls.
• Be responsible for the development and improvement of post-award procedures, SOPs and systems to enable efficient and effective grant support.
• Be responsible for the effective communication to and training of post-award grants team members in all areas of grants management best practice.
• Proactively identify compliance risks throughout the current portfolio and advise scientific and operational colleagues on necessary actions.
• Lead on the team's response to internal, external and funder audit requirements.
• Develop, draft, maintain and disseminate funder specific guidance documentation.

Qualifications and Experience

• Extensive post-award grant experience, including management of grant finances, and internal / external reporting.
• Extensive knowledge of key grant funder terms and conditions, particularly those related to UKRI, UK charity and European Commission funding.
• Understand how to keep up-to-date with funders' evolving regulations, policies and general good practices governing the administration of grants.
• Comprehensive understanding of post-award grants management processes and best practice.
• Ability to analyse complex data, draw conclusions and produce reliable and accurate reports.
• Previous experience working in a scientific environment/Higher Education Institute liaising and working effectively with a range of disciplines and levels of seniority.
• Proficiency in the use of IT systems to support and enhance a grants management role.

The Francis Crick Institute is Europe's largest biomedical research institute under one roof. Our world-class scientists and staff collaborate on vital research to help prevent, diagnose and treat illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, infectious diseases and neurodegenerative conditions. The Crick is a place for collaboration, innovation and exploration across many disciplines. A space where the brightest minds can pursue big and bold ideas and discover answers to crucial scientific questions. We support them in a dynamic environment which fosters excellence with state-of-the-art infrastructure, cutting-edge facilities, and a creative and curious culture. We've removed traditional boundaries of departments, divisions and disciplines and instead have an open approach that supports every researcher. This gives us the freedom to take risks and carry out high-quality, pioneering research. Creating a space for discovery without boundaries helps us to turn our science into benefits for human health and the economy. The Francis Crick Institute is an independent charity, established to be a UK flagship for discovery research in biomedicine.