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Job description

Salary: £44,414 to £47,047 with progression to £52,841 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits . We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 14 August 2023

The Role

We are looking for an experienced and enthusiastic professional to take a senior role in this NIHR RSS Public Health Specialist Centre with external focus at national level. You will be responsible to the Director of the Centre, Chief Operating Officer and its stakeholders supporting in the development, strategic management, and expert delivery of the national remit of the Centre.

The vision of this NIHR RSS Public Health Specialist Centre is to develop the infrastructure, capacity and capability to support practitioners and researchers to carry out high quality public health research, outside the NHS, to produce robust evidence to improve population health and reduce health and care inequalities. This post offers an exciting opportunity to be part of the team to establish this new Centre.

You will have an important role in supporting the Director and Chief Operating Officer to ensure the NIHR RSS Public Health Specialist Centre develops in accordance with its strategic aims and meets its goals and be responsible for the line management of the Centre’s administrative, training, communications and knowledge mobilisation colleagues. You will work alongside other senior operational colleagues. Your role will include management of finances and producing financial reports as well as reports on key performance indicators set by and agreed with the National Institute for Health & Care Research (NIHR) and the Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC).

You will be a visible role model, demonstrating the highest standards of leadership and behaviours and contributing strategically to the development of an outstanding professional service for NIHR RSS Public Health Specialist Centre and its stakeholders plus smooth liaison with a range of Newcastle University professional services.

This is a full time position (40 hours per week), fixed term until October 2028

Interviews will be held on 24th and 25th August 2023

For informal enquiries, please contact Ashley Adamson [email protected]

Key Accountabilities
Support the Director and Chief Operating Officer, in the development, implementation and annual review of the RSS Public Health Specialist Centre strategy, identifying priorities and goals and working with the leadership team to develop structures and plans to achieve these goals
Project manage the implementation and ongoing evolution of the centre’s operational activities
As a senior Professional Service leader, support the COO with the day-to-day operations and how they meet strategic objectives, fostering a culture of service excellence both with the Public Health Specialist Centre, Newcastle University and external clients
Identify and develop the infrastructure and systems to support the centre strategy
As a member of the leadership team, provide senior management advice and support to the Director and broader leadership team, including operational performance, achievement of priorities, goals and milestones
Oversee the production of the Public Health Specialist Centre key documents, plans and reports, including performance metrics and ensure that documents are prepared to a high standard and delivered on time
Take responsibility for overseeing the day-to-day delivery of a number of strands of work ensuring each is delivered on time and to budget
Ensure a co-ordinated and efficient support service is provided to those involved with the NIHR RSS Public Health Specialist Centre, including academic and research colleagues, post graduate students and external contacts, by managing and overseeing the operations colleagues, including recruitment and selection, performance management, identifying development needs, mentoring, review and rewarding colleagues. Providing advice to the senior management team on people matters and liaising with People Services (HR) as appropriate
Oversee the Centre budgets in collaboration with the senior management team and in liaison with the Faculty Accountant, ensuring budgets are appropriately and efficiently managed
Develop and implement business plans for continuous improvements in the NIHR RSS Public Health Specialist Centre activities
Manage a complex network of relations with partners on financial and personnel issues across several institutions to ensure productive partnerships are maintained and to play a lead role in facilitating collaborations and partnerships. This will require a clear understanding of policies and practices in partner organisations, including Universities, Local Government, VCSE organisations and other NIHR infrastructure which will be required to facilitate collaborative working with these organisations
Liaise with the Faculty Technical Manager and other appropriate Faculty Managers in ensuring the safe operation of the Centre, including compliance with safety regulations/requirements and in dealing with matters relating to facilities
Ensure that appropriate colleagues and processes/procedures are in place and work effectively and efficiently to enable the vision of the NIHR RSS Public Health Specialist Centre to be delivered
To work with the Communications Manager to establish and ensure effective communication mechanisms within the Centre and beyond
Support the senior management team in representing the Centre at meetings as appropriate
Oversee the organisation of Executive Board meetings, the External Advisory Group meetings and other appropriate committees/group meetings
Strategic
Communicate the Public Health Specialist Centre strategy, inspiring colleagues by bringing the Vision to life and giving it meaning in the context of NIHR RSS Public Health Specialist Centre and its aspirations
Ensure a truly inclusive and respectful environment, by role modelling behaviours and ensuring the implementation of all Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (ED&I) policies and action
Build and develop an administrative support team for the Public Health Specialist Centre that works seamlessly together and with key colleagues in partner organisations
Make a significant contribution to strategic planning, with the senior leadership team, to develop short, medium and long-term goals and plans to ensure performance goals are met
Support the COO to implement policies and procedures and overall day to day operations of Public Health Specialist Centre
Working closely with the Public Health Specialist Centre team to understand their needs and to support them to meet their career objectives and access appropriate training and development
Maintain support structures within Public Health Specialist Centre to ensure a coordinated and efficient support service is provided to Public Health Specialist Centre, strong links to university and other partner organisation colleagues to support Public Health Specialist Centre’s objectives, the senior leadership team and external customers

The post holder will:
Lead on recruitment and People Services (HR) matters including colleague resignations, appointments, development and review and contract renewal for colleagues (including consultancy) to ensure compliance with legislation and financial viability
Lead on contracting and procurement and effective liaison with professional services to progress through correct processes
Demonstrate strong leadership and model behaviours across Public Health Specialist Centre
Take responsibility for line management of the admin team and performance management where appropriate, development and assessing and advising on training needs and enabling appropriate training, mentoring, developing and rewarding colleagues
Be the main point of contact for the University and responsible for ensuring NIHR RSS Public Health Specialist Centre is compliant with University policies and procedures
Ensure cross community team working in order to provide an integrated and coordinated professional service across Public Health Specialist Centre and into the University
Work with the senior leadership team to monitor the service quality across Public Health Specialist Centre, raising issues and concerns to ensure a speedy resolution and that the service quality is maintained
Represent and promote Public Health Specialist Centre to ensure that issues are presented and acted upon at senior management meetings
Represent Public Health Specialist Centre throughout the Faculty and University Committees and Working Groups as required
The postholder will report directly to Public Health Specialist Centre COO and will be expected to deputise for them as appropriate

The Person

Knowledge, Skills and Experience
Demonstrable experience of effective and successful leadership, with a proven track record of leading with clear direction and supporting people to fulfil their potential
Able to demonstrate budgetary capability with appropriate qualifications or experience
Significant experience of developing operational and strategic plans, and associated resource planning
Significant experience of managing change and supporting people to make transitions
Success in working with, and providing authoritative advice to senior colleagues
Proven experience of building teams, who work collaboratively and flexibly and are accountable for delivering excellent service
Intellectual capacity and strong influencing skills in complex stakeholder environments, getting ‘buy in’ to policy and strategy and to facilitate changes in behaviours and direction at both a strategic and operational level across organisational boundaries
Proven high level decision making and problem-solving skills, and a demonstrable ability to undertake initiatives, priorities and plan appropriately within a strategic framework
Understanding of a broad range of disciplines related to professional services especially procurement and contracting
Proven track record in delivering professional services within a research environment
Knowledge and understanding of the external environment within which Public Health Specialist Centre operates (desirable)
Understanding of the complexities and challenges of working within a Higher Education environment, including an awareness of the regulatory frameworks (desirable)

Attributes and Behaviour
Role model of Public Health Specialist Centre and Newcastle University values and guiding principles
People orientated, approachable and able to motivate and engage others
Able to act objectively in dealing with complex problems, issues and decision making
Able to manage conflicting priorities
Creative thinker and effective problem solver
Ability to handle conflict in a timely and effective way, bringing situations to speedy resolution
Engages others, communicates with colleagues effectively and can persuade and influence others
Works in partnership with others and has exceptional interpersonal and collaboration skills
Demonstrates resilience to the demands of the role and pace of change and can manage criticism and challenge
Promotes a culture of mutual respect

Qualifications
Qualified to Degree level and / or with significant relevant operations management and leadership experience, finance qualifications and proven success in a strategically important area.

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a silver Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.
Requisition ID: 25845