The Department of Public Health and Primary Care has an expanding research grant portfolio, funded by a variety of sponsors including the UK Medical Research Council (MRC), the Wellcome Trust, the British Heart Foundation (BHF), Cancer Research UK (CRUK, the UK National Institute of Health Research, the European Commission, industrial partners and several other sources. It comprises of more than 350 members of staff and students.
The post holder will play a crucial role in helping the department to achieve excellence in research and to maximise research income through the provision of high level support services. This includes supporting academics in the research proposal process, by providing advice on funding schemes and procedures and by costing and submitting applications using X5 in collaboration with the Principal Investigator. You will also be responsible for supporting academics in the management of research grants during the entire project lifecycle, including project accounting reporting and audits.
The post holder will coordinate the management of grants held by more than 20 senior academics. The post holder will be responsible to the Departmental Finance Manager and may be requested to support any group or PI in the department.
Some of the key responsibilities of the role will include:-
- Regular meetings and contact with PI's providing expertise regarding legitimate and efficient use of funding in line with the sponsor's terms and conditions.
- Presentation of financial management reports to PI's of their grants with budgeting and forecasting information. Alerting PI's to potential over/under spends on their grants. Advises on and implements plans for appropriate use of funds. Extract and analyse reports from University systems in order to provide detailed financial information to PI's and research staff as requested.
- Carry out monthly checks of the unit's grant portfolio, monitoring expenditure in line with the project budgets and ensuring ineligible costs are identified and where applicable met from other sources of funding. Investigate and resolve anomalies to ensure accurate reflection of expenditure.
- Advise HR on the requirement of staff recruitment and need for extensions to current staff contracts. Prepare CHRIS forms where necessary and send to the Human Resources Division.
- Act as the primary contact for the unit with written and telephone queries from sponsors, external partners, internal departments and PI's and when appropriate respond to sponsors on behalf of PI's. Use specialist knowledge of grant schemes and University procedures to effectively communicate complex explanations and provide advice to the enquirer in the most appropriate format.
- Reconciling expenditure against grant award on closing grants and ensuring appropriate measures are taken to ensure funds are maximised. Liaison with PI's and the ROO as appropriate to ensure costs queried by sponsors are managed efficiently.
A suitable candidate will be educated to include GCSE English and Mathematics or have equivalent qualifications or have equivalent practical experience. Accounting training to the level of AAT or equivalent is desirable. Candidates should have excellent IT skills and familiarity with the use of Microsoft Office. They should have administrative or finance experience ideally in an academic setting and the ability to communicate clearly and effectively at all levels, inside and outside of the University. Candidates should also have excellent written communication skills and be organised to manage conflicting deadlines.
Informal enquiries can be made to Michele York, Finance Manager via email my357@medschl.cam.ac.uk
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available until 31 December 2024 in the first instance.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Please ensure that you outline how you match the criteria for the post and why you are applying for this role on the online Application form.
Please include details of your referees, including email address and phone number, one of which must be your most recent line manager.
The closing date for applications is: 26th November 2023
The interview date for the role is: 29th November 2023
Please quote reference RH39388 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.