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The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). We work in partnership with the NHS, universities, local government, other research funders, patients and the public.

The NIHR funds, enables and delivers world-leading health and social care research that improves people's health and wellbeing and promotes economic growth. We are also a major funder of applied health research in low and middle income countries.

Further information on the NIHR can be found at: www.nihr.ac.uk.

The NIHR RfPB programme provides funding for high quality health and social care research in the NHS in England, and allocates funding on a regional basis, for project grants of up to £500,000 and 36 months in duration. The team currently manages a portfolio of over 1,200 projects and delivers three funding competition cycles per year.

Reporting to the Assistant Director, this fixed term role will involve overseeing the team’s funding commissioning activities and will require a strong leadership style, along with the ability to work collaboratively with other Senior Programme Managers.

The post provides the opportunity for exciting external liaison, with interfaces to UK Government, academia, industry and the clinical community.

• Overall responsibility of the team’s commissioning activities, including all research funding aspects such as managing funding calls, reviewing application and providing feedback to applications, and overseeing the team in these activities
• Contributing to and leading strategic programme and departmental initiatives
• Drafting SOPs, work instructions and template documents and issuing guidelines

• Attending regional advisory committee meetings in a supervisory capacity, providing advice to the committee when required
• Act as a representative of RfPB in NIHR cross cutting working groups as appropriate
• Liaising regularly with internal and external stakeholders, including attending, organisingand leading meetings, representing the funder’s perspective at meetings and promoting and representing funding programmes at external events
• Identifying enhancements to working practices and defining, implementing and supporting the processes to deliver operational excellence
• Developing and maintaining excellent professional relationships with other GMG teams, applicants and award holders and with colleagues within NIHR and across customer organisations, and acting as a role model to colleagues at all levels
• Operationalising ad hoc special project work; assisting in the preparation of regular programme reports and papers
• Line management of up to three members of staff
• Monitoring the quality and timelines of the work of Research Managers within the RfPB team in line with the agreed indicators
• Staff recruitment and mentoring, training and supervision of new and existing staff.

Experience Required:

• A degree in biomedical, health or social sciences
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• A track record in successful management of projects and programmes
• Able to think strategically, interpreting complex information, putting information in context and having a clear view of the “big picture”
• Excellent writing skills and meticulous attention to detail
• Excellent planning and organisational skills, able to prioritise and manage multiple tasks, working to challenging targets and deadlines
• Excellent analytical and complex problem solving skills, with a solution based approach
• Highly developed communication skills and customer focus, including experience of external liaison
• Committed team player with an ability to build effective working relationships
• Experience of working in a research management environment, preferably within a healthcare setting

Desirable:

• A higher degree in a medical, scientific, technical or social discipline
• Knowledge of the UK’s health and care research landscape
• Line management and staff development experience

NB: This is a 12 month secondment with a possibility that this will be extended and whilst it is a full time role, we would consider part time working.

To Apply:

Please apply directly via our vacancy page with your CV along with a cover letter indicating your suitability for the role and your motivation to apply.

The submission of a cover letter is essential for your application to be considered.

If you are interested to discuss this role in more details, please contact Jennie Hejdenberg, Assistant Director, RfPB, [email protected].