REF Manager

About us

This role is located within the REF, KEF and Research Impact team. We use our expertise to support research impact across all nine of King's faculties, and to deliver the processes that demonstrate to research funders and wider society the university's excellence in research and knowledge exchange.

The team is part of the Research Strategy & Performance Unit within the Research Management & Innovation Directorate (RMID). RMID enables world-class research at King’s by providing grant support, platforms and services that accelerate the work of King’s researchers.

About the role

The REF Manager will play a critical role in delivering the university’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) submission, working closely with the Director of REF, KEF and Research Impact and academic leaders. The role has two significant functions: to improve the collection, collation and reporting of data for REF; and to maintain a specific, strategic focus on preparation for the People, Culture and Environment aspects of King’s REF submission.

The REF Manager will take the lead on key aspects of improving the collection, collation and reporting of data to inform REF planning, including the annual HESA data collection and validation process, the production of data dashboards in PowerBI and reporting insights to King’s REF governance bodies. They will manage the REF Officer, (recruiting for summer 2025) who will provide support with these tasks.

In addition, they will maintain strategic oversight of People, Culture and Environment aspects of King’s REF submission. They will support preparation for and completion of the PCE statements at both institutional and Unit of Assessment levels. In doing so, the post holder will work collaboratively across Professional Services units and with academic and Professional Services staff in all faculties, demonstrating their outstanding communication, interpersonal and project management skills.

This is a full-time post (35 Hours per week), fixed term until 31 December 2028.

About You

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

Essential criteria 

• Experience within a higher education research environment, with an excellent understanding of the UK higher education research context and research assessment.
• Highly numerate and analytical, with a proven ability to analyse and interpret complex data and present this to a wide audience.
• Strong interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills, confident to communicate with stakeholders at all levels of seniority.
• Highly organised, with strong project management skills.
• Experience of working successfully across teams in a complex organisation, with significant experience of liaising and coordinating the work of academic and administrative colleagues at all levels, influencing and supporting others to deliver projects.
• Proven IT proficiency in using spreadsheets, databases and designing PowerBI dashboards to analyse and present information. 

Desirable criteria

• Previous experience of line management.
• Experience of providing central administrative support for a Research Excellence Framework (REF) submission.
• Experience of working with HESA data and familiarity with HESA data fields for the annual staff record.

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 next page after you click “Apply”.

This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

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