Research Development Manager (12-Month Maternity Cover)

About the role

This role will provide an excellent opportunity to develop your career in a 12 months fixed-term maternity cover for a senior role, responsible to the Director of Research Development (Health). You will provide part of our support to the world leading Institute of Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience, working closely with academic staff to understand their research funding goals, encouraging and supporting applications to appropriate opportunities from concept to award offer and managing internal selection processes. Using your professional services and academic networks you will work with colleagues across the University to maximise opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration.

This role is advertised at Grade 8 and is suitable for candidates with substantial experience in research development or research management at a funding body. In exceptional cases, we may consider appointing at Grade 7 (£53,149 to £62,422; inclusive of London Weighting Allowance) for candidates who demonstrate a strong fit for the role but have less experience at this level.

This is a full time post (35 Hours per week) with some scope for reduced hours on enquiry.

You will be offered a 12-month contract starting no later than May 2025.

About you

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

Essential criteria 

• Graduate degree or equivalent experience in a subject relevant to health sciences
• Significant relevant experience of working in an academic research or research funding environment
• Deep understanding of the health research funding landscape and experience of supporting the research development pipeline from concept development to application, through funder review processes
• Deep experience of managing relationships with scientists, with proven impact and a customer focused mind-set, motivated to help academics find timely solutions to their problems
• Excellent communicator and listener, able to quickly understand and explore key scientific concepts, and to interpret and explain complex information with clarity and confidence. An experienced and effective facilitator, able to lead individual and group conversations that deliver actionable insight.
• Excellent writing skills, with demonstrable experience of delivering clear, structured outputs that deliver results. Excellent qualitative and quantitative analytical and problem solving skills, with a solution focussed approach.
• An engaging and inquisitive individual who thrives on building trusting relationships with experts and stakeholders at all levels. Builds and maintains good working relationships with colleagues to foster team spirit, commitment to the team and achievement of shared goals.
• A confident decision maker, who knows when to ask permission and when to inform. Comfortable with ambiguity and able to work flexibly and at pace in a rapidly changing environment. An independent thinker, able and willing to challenge the status quo, with the ability to achieve goals through influence and negotiation in a complex organisational environment. High level of work organisation, self-motivation, resilience and determination, drive for performance and improvement, and flexibility in approach and attitude.

Desirable criteria

• PhD or equivalent research experience in a subject relevant to health sciences
• Experience of running scientific peer review processes
• Experience of initiating, managing and delivering strategic projects with proven impact

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