Programme Manager

Job Purpose

The University of Glasgow is seeking to appoint a talented and highly motivated Programme Manager to join the £10 million Gambling Harms Research and Evidence Centre, funded by UKRI via a statutory levy on the gambling industry. The Centre is a collaboration between the Universities of Glasgow, Sheffield, Swansea and Kings College London. In addition, the Centre will oversee and support a wider consortium of Gambling Harms Research and Innovation Partnerships (GHRIPs) drawn from around 20 additional institutions and sits at the heart of a £50 million investment by UKRI into gambling harms. This is a senior managerial role with significant scope to influence the strategic and operational direction of an exciting national research centre which will address gambling harms by building a coordinated, independent, and evidence-led national research and policy infrastructure. The Centre will co-ordinate the activities of up to 20 GHRIPs (in the first instance), synthesis existing evidence, commission major new research projects focused on the social, economic, structural, and health-related drivers of gambling-related harm and building long‑term research capacity through training, secondments, event hosting and skills development.

The post holder will work closely with the Executive Management Team to develop and deliver on the programme’s strategic objectives. You will be responsible for the operational, risk and administrative management of the Programme, working alongside a Research Relationship Manager and supported by a Programme Administrator and a Knowledge exchange/Communications Lead. A key part of the role is to promote and manage excellent working relationships between Centre members, and with wider Gambling Harms Research consortia and UKRI.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Strategic and Operational Management

1.  As part of the Executive Management Team, develop, review and implement strategic plans for Centre delivery.

2.  Monitor, track, and report on progress against plans, adopting proactive risk and issue management and resolution when necessary.

3.  Oversee progress reporting across programmes of work, working with the Research Relationship Manager, co-ordinating notification of outputs to partners and funders in accordance with contractual obligations.

4.  Oversee the planning and organisation of in-person team meetings and other Centre events (such as annual conference).

5. Be responsible for contractual oversight and liaising with legal teams and other partnership institutes and UKRI on contracts/collaboration agreements and variations thereof.

Financial Planning and Evaluation

6.  In liaison with the  Executive Management Team and relevant central support departments, take responsibility for the effective financial management of grant income and expenditure, including financial planning, forecasting, and financial reporting.

7.  Work with colleagues across the University to ensure that resources are managed in accordance with the needs of the programme, ensuring university and funder financial policies and procedures are followed.

8.  Provide guidance to the Academic Leads and Finance Managers in the member institutions to ensure regular monitoring of each institution’s expenditure and forecasting to facilitate planning and decision-making.

9. Working with the Research Relationship Manager and Knowledge Exchange Lead to develop performance monitoring systems to track outputs and impact (where possible) in areas including: scientific evidence, partnership working, data acquisition, training and capacity building, financial sustainability, communications and impact.

10. Prepared Annual Assurance reports in accordance with needs of Funder (or other progress reports required)

11. Effectively liaise with Central Support Research Office on financial and other reporting management and contract management.

External Impact

12.  With the Research Relationship Manager, proactively seek opportunities to collaborate with other relevant funded programmes and create new partnerships and opportunities to raise our profile.

Training, Impact and Knowledge Transfer

13. Work closely with the Impact Lead to implement the programme’s impact strategy, ensuring that opportunities to develop real-world impact are realised.

14. Report on training and capacity-building activities to the Directorate, Universities, and funders.

Internal Communication

15. Liaise and collaborate across centre institutions, overseeing effective information flow between members and ensuring a ‘joined up’ programme-wide approach to all activities.

16. Develop/maintain processes to ensure issues are identified early and to keep the consortium work plan on track.

17.  Develop/review processes and guidelines (e.g., conflict of interest, publications) suitable for individuals, groups and networks operating at all levels within the consortium.

18.  Maintain regular contact with team members, including face-to-face meetings at partner institutions, to offer advice and support as required.

People Management

19.  Maintain regular contact with team members, including face-to-face meetings at centre institutions, to offer advice and support as required.

20. Effectively manage relationships to influence senior colleagues and external stakeholders.

21. Co-ordinate the work of professional services staff supporting the programme across centre organisations.

Other Responsibilities

22.  Any other duties, commensurate with the grade of the post.

Knowledge, Qualifications, Skills and Experience   

Knowledge/Qualifications   

Essential 

A1. Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework level 10 (Honours Degree), or equivalent, with a broad range of professional experience in a management role(s). Or: Ability to demonstrate the competencies required to undertake the duties associated with this level of post having acquired the necessary professional knowledge and management skills in a similar or number of different specialist roles.

A2. Formal programme management qualification, e.g. PRINCE2 (or working towards this), or ability to demonstrate equivalent experience.

Desirable:

B1. Postgraduate qualification in a relevant subject (e.g. MBA).

Skills:

Essential:

C1. Excellent knowledge of a range of project management tools and approaches that can be used to support major projects

C2. Advanced IT Skills including generation of high-quality reports, presentation material (e.g. infographics) and web content.

C3. Ability to proactively lead and contribute to the development and implementation of strategy.

C4. Excellent operational, risk management and organisational skills.

C5. Ability to organise resources, and plan and progress work activities across a large and diverse number of areas.

C6. Excellent analytical skills and the ability to develop creative approaches to problem solving, with an appreciation of long-term implications.

C7. Ability to work collaboratively and motivate and support teams to achieve objectives.

C8. Ability to interpret and present complex financial and non-financial information in a non-technical and easy to understand format

C9. Ability to negotiate and influence to balance competing agendas and priorities to reach an effective outcome.

C10. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience of communicating to scientific and lay audiences

C11. Ability to use own judgement and initiative within broad parameters set for the role.

C12. Ability to focus on priorities and to work flexibly as needs change, whilst providing efficient project management over several areas.

C13. Ability and willingness to travel UK-wide, including overnight.

C14. In-depth knowledge of the scientific research infrastructure and processes in the UK Higher Education Sector and of UKRI processes.

C15. Demonstrable financial management skills.

Desirable:

D1. Knowledge and experience working in a health or social science research environment.

Experience:

Essential:

E1. Significant, demonstrable experience of managing large research programmes in higher education, private sector, central or local government, or NHS.

E2. Experience and demonstrated competence in financial management including budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting, scenario planning and other financial processes.

E3. Experience of and ability to build and proactively manage excellent relationships within research teams and with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.

E4. Experience of innovating, implementing, monitoring and reviewing processes and systems.

Terms and Conditions

Salary will be Grade 8, £50,253 - £58,225 per annum pro rata.

This post is part-time (28 hours per week), and open ended with funding available for up to the 26th April 2031 in the first instance.

Closing date: 23:45 14th June 2026

The University of Glasgow has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.  If you require a Skilled Worker visa to work in the UK, you will be required to meet the eligibility requirements of the visa route to be assigned a Certificate of Sponsorship.

Please note that this post may be eligible to be sponsored under the Skilled Worker visa route if tradeable points can be used under the Skilled Worker visa rules. **For more information please visit: **https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa

As a valued member of our team, you can expect:

1 A warm welcoming and engaging organisational culture, where your talents are developed and nurtured, and success is celebrated and shared.

2 An excellent employment package with generous terms and conditions including 41 days of leave for full time staff, pension - pensions handbook https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/payandpensions/pensions/, benefits and discount packages.

3 A flexible approach to working.

4 A commitment to support your health and wellbeing, including a free 6-month UofG Sport membership for all new staff joining the University  https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/staff/healthwellbeing/.

We believe that we can only reach our full potential through the talents of all. Equality, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of our values. Applications are particularly welcome from across our communities and in particular people from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community, and other protected characteristics who are under-represented within the University. Read more on how the University promotes and embeds all aspects of equality and diversity within our community https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/humanresources/equalitydiversity/.

We endorse the principles of Athena Swan https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/humanresources/equalitydiversity/athenaswan/ and hold bronze, silver and gold awards across the University.

We are investing in our organisation, and we will invest in you too. Please visit our website https://www.gla.ac.uk/explore/jobs/ for more information.