Funding Administrator

Funding Administrator

The Medical Research Council (MRC)

Salary: £23,328.00 per annum
Hours: Full time or Part time (minimum 22.5 hours per week)
Contract Type: Fixed Term until March 2027
Location: Polaris House, Swindon, Wiltshire. - (hybrid working options available) but may be required to attend meetings/events in other UK locations.
Closing Date: 20/10/24

About the role 

We are recruiting a new Funding Administrators to join the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Interdisciplinary Responsive Mode Team, to support the new UKRI cross research council responsive mode pilot scheme. This new scheme is being designed to support new interdisciplinary ideas emerging from the research community outside current disciplinary boundaries, and outside of the remit of existing UKRI responsive mode schemes. The funding administrator will support the delivery of the second funding call in the UKRI cross research council responsive mode pilot scheme. 

As a Funding Administrator, you will form a crucial part of this team and will be responsible for delivering these programmes at an operational level by contributing to the administration of all stages of the application process. This will include a variety of administration tasks such as undertaking application processing, managing, processing and tracking the peer review process. You will be involved in liaising with staff across UKRI to ensure smooth running of panel meetings, including attending panel meetings when required. 

Key responsibilities  

• Processing applications received to the UKRI Interdisciplinary responsive mode scheme, including delivering and tracking the progress of peer review
• Identifying and managing conflicts in peer review
• Liaising with staff across UKRI to ensure the smooth running of operations  
• Collating papers and attending funding meetings, providing technical and administrative support when require
• Managing information and records, ensuring that documents are filed accurately and updated as necessary
• Responding to queries from the external community and sending communications via email
• Carrying out other administrative duties that may be required across the UKRI IRM and Talent teams 

Person Specification

The below criteria will be assessed at Shortlisting (S), Interview (I) or both (S&I)

Education / Qualifications / Training required 
 
Essential: 

• English and Maths GCSE at grade C or above, or equivalent (S)
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team in a hybrid workplace (S/I)
• Effective communication skills, able to adapt style to liaise with people at all levels (S/I)
• Ability to deliver within tight timescales and prioritise efficiently across multiple areas (I)
• Able to work independently, taking initiative and proactively managing own time (I)
• Good attention to detail and accuracy, with the ability to follow detailed guidance (S/I)
• Flexible and adaptable to changing work needs, including updated systems and procedures (I)
• Proficient in the use of Microsoft Office products: Outlook, Excel, Word (S)

Desirable: 

• Previous administrative experience (S/I)
• Experience of working with external stakeholders (S/I)

UK Research and Innovation uses a competency framework to assess applications. We will score applications against each of the essential and desirable criteria listed above. We will be looking for a demonstration of these competencies so would suggest you include examples of your experience and expertise against these criteria in your cover letter and CV. The STAR method may be useful to articulate these examples. We will consider the essential criteria first and will only refer to the desirable where we need to differentiate between two candidates that score the same.

If you are successful at the shortlisting stage, you will be invited to an interview. This will consist of a short test and a panel interview. Reasonable accommodation is available if you require it at the interview and there will be an opportunity to request these upon invitation.

Benefits

We recognise and value our employees as individuals and aim to provide a favourable pay and rewards package! We are committed to supporting employees' development and promote a culture of continuous learning!

A list of benefits below:

• An outstanding defined benefit pension scheme
• 30 days' annual leave in addition to 10.5 public and privilege days (full time equivalent)
• Employee discounts and offers on retail and leisure activities
• Employee assistance programme, providing confidential help and advice
• Flexible working options

Plus many more benefits and wellbeing initiatives that enable our employees to have a great work life balance!

For further information on our benefits please see:

Benefits of working at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

This role will not attract points to obtain a sponsored Skilled Worker visa, under the UK Visa & Immigration points-based system. Applications are welcome from candidates who do not currently have the right to work for the role, but who can demonstrate they will be eligible to obtain a valid work visa via another UK visa route, in line with the Contract Type shown in the vacancy.

At interview, all shortlisted candidates are required to bring with them identification documents and original documents that prove they hold or can obtain the right to work in the UK.  You can check your eligibility here: https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa/y

UKRI is an Equal Opportunity & Disability Confident Employer.

Please apply online, if you experience any issue applying, please contact Recruitment@ukri.org

How to apply:

For full details, please visit our careers site. Please submit an application including your CV and a Cover Letter that showcases how your skills and experience align to the requirements of the role.  

A well thought through application providing evidence and examples of how you meet the advertised essential and desirable criteria for the post will be considered far more favourably than a generic covering letter and CV.