Grants Officer (12 month maternity leave)

We are pleased to launch this new opportunity for an experienced Grants Officer to join our vibrant and diverse team in a fixed term position. The post will be based in the Grants Office of the EMBL UK site, EMBL-EBI (Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton near. Cambridge, UK), but will collaborate virtually, and at times in person, with many teams across EMBL sites in Europe.

The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) was set up to promote molecular biology across Europe, and to create a centre of excellence for training Europe's leading young molecular biologists. It is a non-profit, intergovernmental organisation funded by 28 member states, one associate member state, and two prospect member states, with funding secured from external funding bodies.

EMBL-EBI has a successful history in identifying and obtaining external funds to further their activities. The EMBL-EBI Grants Office supports a high number of applications for external funding per year, and the current external grant income to EMBL-EBI is in excess of €40 million per annum from over circa 180 active awards. Major funders include the European Commission, the US National Institutes of Health, UK Research and Innovation Councils, Wellcome, and other charitable organisations (e.g., Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Cancer Research UK).

The EMBL-EBI Grants Office is a friendly, highly communicative team. The work is varied, and you will have autonomy to develop and improve processes in a dynamic, international working environment.

Your role

This opportunity will be for a period of 12 months covering grants lifecycle support for a variety of portfolios, The aim of this is to free up time for members of the Grants Office Team to implement a new ERP system at EMBL-EBI.

As a Grants Officer, you will work collaboratively with PIs and a number of other teams (e.g., Research Management Office, Budget Office, Legal Services) to provide a professional service for pre- and post-award administration. You will act as the main liaison in the management of financial, legal, and grant compliance matters on grant proposals and active grants.

You will need to be experienced in the grants lifecycle, confident in conducting organised communication with and between, external partners, funding bodies, legal, and intellectual property advisors. In addition you will work closely with other members of the EMBL administrative team both at the EMBL-EBI and EMBL-Heidelberg (Germany), and able to pick up the portfolio management quickly.

Main duties and responsibilities:

Pre - Award

• Provide professional advice to EMBL-EBI PIs on the administrative and financial requirements laid down by different funding bodies, both pre and post award.
• Provide costings for applications for external funding and assist applicants in using online submission systems.
• Ensure that all administrative stages are completed on time (incl. all due diligence and Director Approvals).
• Save all necessary application documentation in the EMBL CRIS system.

Post-Award

• Draft collaboration agreements using EMBL specific templates. 
• Coordinate the review of collaboration agreements and contribute to the review of operational clauses.
• Manage the signature process of Grant Agreements and collaboration agreements.
• Monitor and track awards, providing PIs with relevant information on budgets, expenditure and forecasting on a regular basis, excl. financial reports to funders, which are managed by a separate team.
• Coordinate reporting to funders (e.g., NIH RPPR) as per your portfolio.
• Support PIs with invoice processing (e.g., reviewing and approving sub-awardee invoices).
• Support PIs with the financial processes associated with staff management including contract extensions and opening of posts on awards.
• Meet with PIs regularly to discuss research portfolio status and upcoming applications.
• Provide solutions (where possible) to problems relating to expenditure on research grants whilst maintaining auditable standards. Respond to general queries regarding applications and awards from other Administration colleagues.

Other

• Coordinate, in conjunction with the relevant project manager for large collaborative projects, administrative processes relating to the submission, contract negotiation and management of projects.
• Disseminate information on funding opportunities as required by EMBL-EBI PIs.
• Inbox management, filing and maintaining hard copy records.
• Undertake training and development activities to ensure skills are kept relevant and up to date.

You must have

• Robust experience of the administration of research grants and contracts, both pre and post award (training will be provided for specific EMBL-EBI processes).
• An excellent understanding of the research grant process, funders and landscape.
• High level of competence with PC Windows packages including Office (Word, Excel), and the capacity to pick up new systems quickly.
• The ability to organise and prioritise your workload in order to work independently.
• The capability to handle a heavy workload and meet deadlines.
• A high level of accuracy and attention to detail.
• A high degree of numeracy and be confident with figures.
• The ability to identify potential problems and solve them.
• Excellent spoken and written English.
• The ability to work independently but as part of a wider administration team.
• Ability to manage highly confidential matters with diplomacy and tact.

You might also have

• Additional proven administrative skills in a grant making or receiving organisation.
• Understanding and empathy of an international research environment.
• Experience of working in an academic/educational environment.
• Experience in working with SAP.
• Experience in dealing with staff from a number of other countries.

Contract length: 12 months (ideally commencing in June/July 2025).

Salary: Grade 5, monthly salary from £3229.13 per month plus financial allowances based on family circumstances. Excl personal pension and insurance contributions.

How to apply: To apply please submit a cover letter, no longer than 2 pages, indicating how you meet the role requirements above, and a CV through our online system.

If you have applied before, reached interview stage and been unsuccessful we would respectfully ask you to not apply again.

Why join us

EMBL is curiosity-driven, community-oriented and international. As an inclusive, equal opportunity employer, we believe that diversity enables us to collaborate more effectively and be innovative in our approaches. We are, therefore, committed to creating an inclusive and flexible culture - one where everyone can realise their full potential and make a positive contribution to our organisation. 

We encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing team – we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and personal experiences reflect the diversity of the populations that our science serves. We actively encourage applications from all genders and cultures, ethnic groups and all demographics to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights at this transformational point in our people strategy.

Enjoy lots of benefits:

• Financial incentives: Salary free of income tax, Monthly family, child and non-resident allowances, annual salary review, pension scheme, death benefit, long-term care, accident-at-work and unemployment insurances
• Flexible working arrangements
• Private medical insurance for you and your immediate family (including all prescriptions and generous dental & optical cover)
• Generous time off: 30 days annual leave per year, in addition to public holidays
• Relocation package including installation grant(if applicable)
• Campus life: Free shuttle bus (select sites), on-site library, subsidised on-site gym and cafeteria, casual dress code, extensive sports and social club activities (on campus and remotely)
• Family benefits: Kindergarten (Heidelberg), 10 days of child sick leave, generous paid maternity/parental leave and monthly family & child allowances
• Benefits for international newcomers: Visa exemption, education grant for private schooling, financial support to travel back to your home country every second year and a monthly non-resident allowance.
• For detailed information please visit our employee benefits page here

What else you need to know

• International applicants: We recruit internationally and successful candidates are offered visa exemptions. Visit our International Applicants page, to find out more.
• EMBL is a signatory of DORA. Find out how we apply DORA principles to our recruitment and performance assessment processes here.
• Diversity and inclusion: At EMBL, we strongly believe that inclusive and diverse teams benefit from higher levels of innovation and creative thought. We encourage applications from women, LGBTQ+ & individuals from all nationalities. 
• How to apply: To apply please submit a cover letter, no longer than 2 pages, indicating how you meet the role requirements above, and a CV through our online system. Applications will close at 23:59 CET on the date shown below. We aim to provide a response within two weeks after the closing date.