Job Purpose

To provide high quality post award financial and administrative support to project coordinators and academics based in colleges and other central functions in relation to grants and commercial activities.  To provide technical expertise to support stakeholders in colleges and to ensure continuous improvements are made to existing processes, reports and within the overall control framework.  To provide support to and oversee the final reports and other outputs from the team of research support administrators.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

1. Be a subject matter expert in relation to externally funded project terms and conditions and support stakeholders across the University in relation to financial implications of funding arrangements.  Evaluate funder or policy changes, interpret implications and ensure new requirements are identified and consideration is given as to how these would be reflected in proposed new processes or funder set up templates.

2. Perform detailed analysis of research grant expenditure against budgets to ensure correct cost allocations, production of claims and reports for multi-partner projects or projects with additional complexity, providing appropriate commentary.

3.  Act as an escalation point for the research finance administrators advising and guiding on more complex issues and queries. Lead on the processing of complex claims and funder statements, and audit reports. Identify areas for improvement and contribute to the development and delivery of training for new members of staff and to improve the overall skill set of research financial administrators or within other stakeholder groups.

4. Establish and build network relationships to influence change and best practice within stakeholder groups such as project coordinators and academics and to work with them to deliver tactical change.

5. Manage the processing of accounting transactions such as salary recoveries, monthly recharges and other inter-budgetary adjustments to reflect correct usage of University resources.

6. Support the Research Finance Team Leader by planning, prioritising & overseeing the operational activities of the team including workload allocation and workload management to ensure effective performance and service delivery.

7. Design & develop new procedural documents or control reports to reduce or identify risks within the grant administration process.

8. Perform detailed analysis of the performance metrics to identify data and process inconsistencies or system configuration issues and work with stakeholders to update systems and processes appropriately.

9. Coordinate and manage data requests from external auditors or funders and ensure that where control issues are identified corrective action is taken to improve processes, data recording or associated accounting controls.

10. Act as a deputy for the research finance team leader.

Knowledge, Qualifications, Skills and Experience

Knowledge/Qualifications

Essential:

A1 Ability to demonstrate the competencies required to undertake the duties associated with this level of post having acquired the necessary knowledge and skills in a similar or number of different roles. Or: Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework level 8, (Ordinary Degree, Scottish Vocational Qualification level 4), or equivalent (including professional accreditation with relevant formal training), and experience of personal development in a similar or related role(s).

A2 Detailed operational knowledge of procedures related to controls, accounting policy and general practice relating to gained in a large/complex organisation.

Desirable:

B1 Knowledge of Full Economic Costing models and derivations thereof.

B2 Knowledge of higher education sector, research management/funding or equivalent public sector / commercial experience.

Skills

Essential:

C1 Well developed interpersonal and communication skills both written and verbal.

C2 Proven initiative and judgement to resolve problems independently and ability to challenge assumptions and practices.

C3 Financial accounting skills.

C4 Effective communication and interpersonal skills.

C5 Robust analytical and problem-solving capability.

C6 Excel skills supporting formulae creation and analysis of data.

C7 Effective planning, organising and prioritising skills with ability to adapt to changing priorities or requirements.

C8 Excellent customer service skills.

C9 Ability to work effectively both independently and as part of a team.

Desirable:

D1 Advanced Microsoft application experience and proficiency in excel such as creation and use of pivot tables, macros and other data / reporting activities.

Experience

Essential:

E1 Experience of planning and progressing work activities within professional guidelines or organisational policy, applying initiative, influencing skills and independent judgement in a fast-paced environment.

E2 Experience of maintaining, analysing and reconciling large and complex financial data sets.

E3 Experience of data extraction, transformation, and loading for report production.

E4 Experience of assessing and meeting customer or funder requirements and a clear understanding of how to deliver exceptional service.

E5 Experience of manging and monitoring budgets, investigation of discrepancies and remediation.

Desirable:

F1 Experience of costing, analysis and forecasting experience using ERP systems together with data analysis and reporting of outcomes.

F2 Experience of accounting, financial controls and budgetary processes gained within a HEI or Research Grant Funding body.

F3 Experience of coaching and developing team members and working successfully towards common goals.

Terms and Conditions

Salary will be Grade 6, £33,482 - £37,174 per annum.

This post is full time (35 hours p/w) and open ended. Relocation assistance will be provided where appropriate.

Closing date: 27 July 2025