DiSSCo UK Senior Grants Operations Manager

Job Description: 

Hours: Full time or Part time (minimum 0.8 FTE).

Contract Type: 3 years Fixed Term.

Location: Polaris House, Swindon, Wiltshire. 

About the Role

The Distributed System of Scientific Collections UK (DiSSCo UK) is a £155.6 million investment for a national infrastructure programme to digitise 37 million natural science specimens. To deliver this exciting new programme, AHRC, alongside their delivery partner the Natural History Museum (NHM), are developing a DiSSCo UK delivery team to manage the programme on a day-to-day basis.

Purpose

The role will oversee the direct awards to the Natural History Museum for delivering the programme and for the digitisation grants awarded to the wider consortium. The role will report into the DiSSCo UK Team Head and will liaise with all members of the team. The role offers opportunities for travel, professional development, and the chance to build knowledge of stakeholder engagement and programme level communications. As this role will involve interaction with grant holders and stakeholders, as well as attendance at events and conferences, the role will involve regular travel, including overnight and international travel. 

Your Responsibilities 

• Oversee the grants funded through the DiSSCo UK funding calls, being the strategic lead for all funding opportunities.
• Support the Impact and Engagement Manager with complex grant holder queries.
• Work collaboratively and effectively with DiSSCo UK colleagues at NHM, adapting and communicating to ensure shared goals are met and staff feel supported.
• Manage the DiSSCo UK project risk register, including reporting on risk to the DiSSCo UK Programme Board.
• Develop and maintain close working and strategic relationships with colleagues across AHRC and UKRI to align activities and priorities, and to ensure UKRI financial, grant management and recruitment processes are followed.
• Be involved in cross-team working with delivery partners NHM, and the Research and Innovation Infrastructure Team on related portfolios. 
• Work collaboratively with NHM colleagues to support the work of the DiSSCo EU European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC).
• Line management of the Investment Manager, providing line and task management, and supporting their professional development.

Person Specification

The below criteria will be scored during Shortlisting (S), Interview (I) or both (S&I)

Essential

• Project management skills, including budget and/or financial management (S&I).
• Good understanding and experience of risk management; identifying, communicating, and mitigating risk in projects (S&I).
• Experience of using data and evidence to make decisions (S&I).
• Business Process: Ability to problem solve and find answers to difficult questions, and manage complex workloads with multiple deadlines and priorities (S&I).
• Experience of leading or managing activities with multiple internal/external partners. Some understanding of commercialisation within research projects and research areas would be helpful (S&I).
• Strong, collaborative team working skills, including collaborating with colleagues to prioritise tasks and maximise resources (S&I).
• Good interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences (S&I).
• Experience of managing or supervising staff and supporting staff development (S&I).

Benefits

We recognise and value our employees as individuals and aim to provide a favourable pay and rewards package. We are committed to supporting employees' development and promote a culture of continuous learning!

For further information on our benefits please see:

Benefits of working at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

UKRI is an Equal Opportunity & Disability Confident Employer.

To apply for this role, please click on the 'Apply' button above.

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