Research Management Officer

(Abscence Cover)

EMBL-EBI - European Bioinformatics Institute

Hinxton, United Kingdom

Contract duration: 1 year
Grading: Grade 5 (monthly salary starting at £3090.08 after tax but excl. pension & insurances) + benefits
Reference number: EBI02263
Closing date: 7 July 2024

The Research Management Office (RMO) at EMBL-EBI provides a high level of scientific administrative support to the EMBL-EBI faculty responsible for delivering the data services. These services are used by millions of people globally and are the backbone of molecular biology research. The data services teams are large, with complex funding portfolios that require careful management, provided by the RMO and the Service Team leads.

As a Research Management Officer, you will be responsible for portfolio management in the Knowledge Management Section (a subset of EMBL-EBI faculty) reporting to the Section Head (Helen Parkinson).

Your role will be to assist the Service Team Leaders with the planning and coordination of external grants applications, plus the overall scientific and grants management to ensure effective overall scientific management within projects and teams. The funding portfolios of many EMBl-EBI services consist of EMBL member state (institutional) funding and grants awarded from biomedical research funders, most typically in collaboration with international delivery partners.

The Research Management Officer role will provide an exciting opportunity to develop skills in various areas, including expanding your knowledge of data services and how they operate, the international funding landscape, grants management, and financial forecasting. The nature of the role is suited to someone with an entrepreneurial spirit, who can identify how best to assist their teams, and who is interested in identifying and solving complex problems.

Your role

You will report to the relevant Section Head and work closely and collaboratively with your counterparts within the same section and other Sections that form the EBI Services. While your primary day-to-day responsibility will reside with the Team Leaders you support, we strive to ensure our services and processes are consistent and efficient across the entire EMBl-EBI Services. Therefore you will be expected to liaise closely with your RMO colleagues to develop RMO-wide best practices and share learning experiences to ensure contextual knowledge is widely known. This part of the role is under the responsibility of the Research Management Office Lead who coordinates the RMO team; it is possible that as part of this pan-RMO service you will on occasion need to work with other EMBL-EBI Service Teams or projects.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

As a Research Management Officer, the main activities you will be involved in are:

Supporting the management of the ongoing activities and reporting for existing externally funded grants from the Wellcome, EU, NIH, UK Research and Innovation, and other funding bodies, in coordination with the EBI and EMBL grants offices;
Monitoring the internal and external budgets and staffing of the teams, for example by producing reports and analyses;
Assistance in the organisation, planning and preparation of grant applications to relevant funding agencies;
Arranging and planning strategic and project-related internal meetings for the teams, with assistance from the section administrator, when requested;
Supporting aspects of organising and planning relevant external events such as scientific advisory board meetings, when requested;
Where required, providing project management support for externally funded projects;
Assisting in the preparation of written documents such as publications, when requested;
Knowledge sharing with and supporting your colleagues in the Research Management Office;
Helping to improve research management processes, for example by writing up processes and investigating new tools where necessary.

You have

An undergraduate degree in the life sciences or other subject area that is relevant to the remit of EMBL-EBI;
Demonstrable experience that is relevant to writing grants and reports;
Excellent written English language skills;
A high degree of ability in handling numerical or financial data, and demonstrated attention to detail;
Good organisational skills, the ability to prioritise different tasks and to manage your own workload;
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills;
The ability to handle confidential information and all situations with diplomacy and tact;
A high level of independent working and initiative;
Ability and eagerness to learn new software and tools.

You might also have

A Ph.D. or Masters relevant to work undertaken at EMBL-EBI, or equivalent work experience in a scientific or technical environment;
Knowledge of, or experience with, EMBL-EBI’s resources;
Previous experience in a service or support role;
Experience in coordinating complex tasks or projects across a team or a number of partners;
Familiarity with modern technologies used for communicating, writing and monitoring progress;
Good knowledge of Microsoft office packages, including Word and Excel.

Why join us

Do something meaningful

At EMBL-EBI you can apply your talent and passion to accelerate science and tackle some of humankind's greatest challenges. EMBL-EBI, part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, is a worldwide leader in the storage, analysis and dissemination of large biological datasets. We provide the global research community with access to publicly available databases and tools which are crucial for the advancement of healthcare, food security, and biodiversity.

Join a culture of innovation

We are located on the Wellcome Genome Campus, alongside other prominent research and biotech organisations, and surrounded by beautiful Cambridgeshire countryside. This is a highly collaborative and inclusive community where our employees enjoy a relaxed atmosphere. We are committed to ensuring our employees feel valued, supported and empowered to reach their professional potential.

Enjoy lots of benefits

Financial incentives: 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 eight bank holidays;
Relocation package including installation grant (if required);
Campus life: Free shuttle bus to and from work, on-site library, subsidised on-site gym and cafeteria, casual dress code, extensive sports and social club activities (on campus and remotely);
Family benefits: On-site nursery, 10 days of child sick leave, generous parental leave, holiday clubs on campus and monthly family and child allowances;
Benefits for non-UK residents: 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 more details please see our employee benefits page.

What else you need to know

Contract duration: This position is limited to 1 year contract to provide absence cover in the team. We are looking ideally for someone who can incorporate inmediately;
International applicants: We recruit internationally and successful candidates are offered visa exemptions. Read more on our page for international applicants;
Diversity and inclusion: At EMBL-EBI, we strongly believe that inclusive and diverse teams benefit from higher levels of innovation and creative thought. We encourage applications from women, LGBTQ+ and individuals from all nationalities;
EMBL is a signatory of DORA. Find out how we implement best practices in research assessment in our recruitment processes here;
Job location: This role is based in Hinxton, near Cambridge, UK. You will be required to relocate if you are based overseas and you will receive a generous relocation package to support you;
How to apply: To apply please submit a cover letter and a CV through our online system. We aim to provide a response within two weeks after the closing date: 07/07/2024.