Senior Research Officer

Job id: 074866. Salary: £36,532 – £41,299 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance.

Posted: 15 September 2023. Closing date: 08 October 2023.

Business unit: Faculty of Arts & Humanities. Department: Arts & Humanities Faculty Office.

Contact details:Katrin Tiedau. [email protected]

Location: Strand Campus. Category: Professional & Support Services.

Job description

The Faculty of Arts & Humanities is home to currently 12 academic departments, multiple research centres and close to 400 academic staff.

The role of the Senior Research Officer  will be to support Faculty and departmental research data and information gathering projects, processes and systems. They will also undertake general administrative duties like administering internal grant schemes, updating the Faculty Research hub on sharepoint or supporting Faculty committees. They will be working closely with the Faculty’s Research and Business support team, the Faculty Impact team and the Faculty Research & Engagement Manager to support the Faculty Research leadership team. They will liaise closely with central data and analytics teams as well as other members of the College’s Research support network.

The role holder will be sourcing and analysing research data and information, and building management reports using (among others) SITS (Student record system), Pure (Research data repository), Worktribe (research grant system) and Power BI and individual surveys and annual data gathering excercises;

They will through their work support the delivery of strategic Faculty projects and crucial reporting exercises like REF and KEF in particular, giving advice and logistical support in gathering and storing Impact evidence and recording and evaluating other research related information.

The role holder will also be supporting cross-Faculty research initiatives in Arts & Sciences.

The Faculty actively supports the development of a respectful, positive and supportive culture, which sustains excellence and fosters growth, both for individuals and for the Faculty’s professional services as a whole. We are committed to supporting our staff in a range of ways from considering flexible working and job share arrangements, to facilitating and encouraging continuing professional development activities.

We are also committed to increasing representation from historically under-represented groups. We welcome and encourage applications from members of groups with protected characteristics that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the Equality Act.

This post will be offered on a full-time, indefinite contract.

Key responsibilities

• To support Faculty and departmental research data and information gathering projects, processes and systems.
• Undertaking general administrative work on behalf of the faculty research team
• Keeping the Research-hub area of sharepoint up to date by liaising with the copy providing teams
• Sourcing and analysing research data and information, and building management reports using SITS, Pure, Worktribe and Power BI;
• Introducing robust and consistent data gathering processes which will allow for streamlined data capture, archiving and analysis, consistent with business needs and data safety legislation (GDPR)
• Sourcing data (usually from university systems and individual members of staff) and manipulating to produce analysis to support policy-making and business planning within the Faculty as well as providing data for national framework exercises (REF, KEF)
• Planning, designing and rolling out reports using available data and information, to anticipate and meet Faculty management and operational reporting needs.
• Building strong working relationships with key stakeholders, including REF and Impact team; Arts & Sciences Research Office; Planning and Analytics; Departmental Professional Services colleagues; and Faculty Academic staff and leadership.
• Contributing to the wider work and ethos of the Faculty Research team, the Professional Services teams within the Faculty, and across Arts & Sciences with a strong commitment to ED&I
• Sharing best practice across the 11 departments in the Faculty research administration work.
• Delivering training and supporting processes to deliver efficiencies through staff development.
• Support the Faculty’s internal research grant schemes
• Undertaking projects in support of the general management of the Faculty, as requested by the Executive Dean of Faculty, the Faculty Operating Officer or Head of Business Support.
• Participating in Department, Faculty, Campus and University-wide networking and projects as appropriate.
• Professional liaison with other individuals and teams at University, Faculty and departmental level.
• Any other reasonable duties as specified by the postholder’s line manager.

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.

Skills, knowledge, and experience

Essential criteria

1.        Excellent communication skills, both written and oral

2.        Experience in general research and / or office administration

3.        Experience in extraction, transformation, combination, interpretation and analysis of data from a range of sources

4.        Experience in interpretation of data for a variety of audiences, including translation of complex technical data for non-specialist stakeholders

5.        Excellent Data literacy and an understanding of key data concepts, including data protection and the limitations of available data

6.        Advanced MS Excel, including use of macros and Visual Basic for Applications

7.        Project management

8.        Documenting existing processes, including gathering requirement

9.        Ability to work independently and proactively

Desirable criteria

1.       Experience in working in a Higher Education environment