Salary: £26,942.00 - £29,179.00 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: 12 May 2025
The Role
We are seeking an enthusiastic Research Administrator, who will provide essential administrative support to ensure the smooth coordination and delivery of research activities within the Partnership for Workforce Sustainability.
The Partnership is a new venture, funded by the NIHR Health and Social Care Delivery Research programme, aimed at addressing workforce sustainability challenges in key areas of the NHS. The partnership brings together researchers across five universities, and will work with policymakers, healthcare professionals and system leaders to generate high-quality evidence and develop actionable solutions to workforce challenges.
Working closely with the research team, external partners, and funding bodies, the postholder will play a crucial role in supporting project management, governance, reporting, and stakeholder engagement.
This post is full time, fixed term, until 28 February 2030 (Start Date after 01 June 2025)
To apply for the position, we will need your CV and a cover letter outlining how you are suitable for the role using evidence to highlight how you meet the essential criteria in the knowledge, skills and experience as listed in the job description.
Candidates wishing to discuss the post may contact Professor Gillian Vance or Dr Bryan Burford, co-leads for the Partnership at and .
Key Accountabilities
1. Support the activities of the Partnership leads, Operations Manager and research team to ensure that the day-to-day business of the Partnership is carried out effectively
2. Develop, implement and maintain effective office procedures and systems to ensure that administrative support of the Partnership is efficient, timely and accurate
3. Establish administrative systems and processes for effective reporting of research management information. To assess information needs, collate, analyse and make recommendations to support decision-making in the Partnership
4. Provide and maintain oversight and assure quality of general administrative support including:
• Arranging meetings relevant to the workstreams and governance structure, including those elsewhere in the UK
• Coordinating papers, drafting agendas, taking and producing meeting minutes
• Advising on course of action and ensuring actions are followed up
• Monitor agreed actions to ensure they are completed by those with assigned responsibility
5. To be the first point of contact for the Partnership, dealing directly with enquiries from project partners, participants, healthcare professionals etc
6. Support building and maintenance of the Partnership online presence, e.g., website, social media site, newsletter or blog, including liaison with third-party providers. To develop and maintain the Partnership shared research space
7. Represent the Partnership at internal/external meetings and events, as appropriate
8. Assist in organising regional and national events and workshops and to provide support for Community Inclusion and Engagement events
9. Arrange travel and booking accommodation to ensure that the research activities run smoothly
10. Establish and maintain any necessary database(s), lead data entry and ensure data quality
11. Assist in producing reports, develop operating procedures, guidance etc
12. Provide support to the research team by developing, reviewing and maintaining systems to manage and store confidential information in an accessible manner in accordance with the various requirements of research governance legislation, data protection legislation and funder guidelines
13. Maintain oversight of invoices, expense claims etc. on behalf of project staff ensuring all expenditure is against correct budget sub-headings. Early escalation of all financial queries to the Partnership leads, Operations Manager or faculty finance team, as appropriate
14. Work with the Faculty finance team in presenting and interpreting income and expenditure reports to aid budgetary monitoring and decision-making processes
15. In relation to the procurement of goods and services and/or the making of payments, for the designated group, to ensure that the receipt of goods and/or services is confirmed, and assist in the resolution of invoice, coding or expenses queries
16. Support as required the Partnership leads in any other administrative matters related to the research activities of the Partnership
The Person
Knowledge, Skills and Experience
• Experience of working/responding independently and dealing with unforeseen problems and circumstances.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Excellent administrative skills, including experience of setting up filing systems, preparing agendas, taking minutes of meetings etc
• Experience of supporting meetings which may be in person, online or hybrid
• Experience of administering email distribution lists
• Ability to work quickly and accurately to deadlines, paying attention to detail
• Experience of budgetary monitoring including use of financial management systems
• Ability to interpret financial information and conduct basic analysis, for example using Excel
• Experience in relevant complex administrative role(s)
• Experience of servicing complex committees with membership across several organisations
• Experience of developing and operationalising administrative systems
• Experience of using and/or developing databases (Access, Excel etc.)
• Experience of drafting and formatting reports and promotional materials using MS Office
• Experience of research systems and processes in higher education
Desirable
• Experience working with NIHR-funded research projects, including knowledge of NIHR reporting and governance
• Experience of working in a healthcare research setting
• Given the Partnership’s focus, familiarity with workforce planning, retention challenges, or NHS workforce policies would be beneficial
• Familiarity with finance administration, including budget monitoring and procurement
• Experience supporting stakeholder engagement, particularly with NHS and patient/public representatives
• Knowledge of qualitative or quantitative research methods and data management systems
Attributes and Behaviour
• Works in a planned and structured way
• Uses own and others’ time effectively
• Sets own priorities in conjunction with line manager and team
• Plans workload and tasks in a systematic way
• Chooses communication tools appropriately e.g. selective use of emails and other channels of communication
• Looks at ways of overcoming obstacles rather than coming to a standstill
• Confidently deals with a broad range of information
• Proven ability to work to deadlines, organise own workload and work independently
• Excellent organisational and time management skills
• A positive and supportive attitude; ability to work flexibly and cooperatively with others; excellent team working abilities
Qualifications
• A-level (or equivalent) qualification plus work experience in a relevant role or broad work experience acquired through a combination of vocational training and considerable work experience, demonstrating development through progressively more demanding relevant roles
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. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.
In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.
Requisition ID: 28129