Research Integrity Officer - College of Medical and Dental Sciences - 102273 - Grade 6

Position Details

College of Medical and Dental Sciences

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £31,396 to £33,966 with potential progression once in post to £38,205

Grade: 6

Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to September 2024

Closing date: 24th August 2023

Our offer to you

People are at the heart of what we are and do.

The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.

We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide-range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University.

We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.

Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries.

The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.

Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham

Role Summary

The Researcher Training and Development (RT&D) team sits within the College’s Research Office (RO) in the College of Medical & Dental Sciences (MDS). The RT&D team are responsible for the delivery of career development support and supporting a positive research culture for clinical and non-clinical researchers within the life sciences. The post holder is central to supporting the positive research culture agenda: specifically supporting our drive to ensure the highest standards in research integrity both within MDS and in the wider University context. This is in line with both the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the Concordat to Support Research Integrity.

The post holder will take the lead for supporting existing initiatives and helping to develop new internal initiatives across the research career lifecycle in the research integrity aspect of our positive research culture agenda. They will work alongside colleagues in the University’s Research Ethics, Governance, and Integrity Team to ensure that activities piloted in MDS are expanded University wide as soon as practicable. As the University has ambitions to join the UK Reproducibility Network, the post holder will need to support efforts to this effect. The post will ensure the smooth delivery of research integrity associated training and development initiatives.

The post holder will work alongside the Life Sciences Researcher Development Manager to identify training requirements and support the design and delivery of training and support packages to fill identified unmet needs. The role will also work closely with colleagues across the Research Office, the wider College of Medical and Dental Sciences and the University to ensure the efficient and effective co-ordination of related activity.

Main Duties

• To help foster an environment in which good research practice is maintained by providing support and appropriate information and guidance to researchers.
• Support existing Research Integrity initiatives such as raising awareness of ReproducibiliTea and organising related workshops.
• Organise Research Integrity focussed training sessions using Epigeum Research Integrity 2.0 or ReproducibiliTea.
• Develop new initiatives utilising the use of working groups and collating information to be used to inform emerging initiatives.
• Work with the Research and Delivery Manager to identify training requirements, design training materials and workshops and implement the delivery of the training.
• Assist in the evaluation and review of initiatives such as collating survey feedback.
• Support the annual reporting requirements and any appropriate actions identified in related action plans.
• Act alongside the University’s Research Ethics, Governance, and Integrity Team to be a first point of contact for queries on Research Integrity.
• Provide efficient and effective coordination of activities, working alongside MDS colleagues and the Central team.
• Work with colleagues in the Central team to expand the Research Integrity offering to the wider University.
• Work with the Communications team to ensure the website, newsletters and any social media are updated as appropriate.
• Promotes equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
• Supports the University’s sustainability agenda through resource efficient working.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Qualified to UK level 5 (e.g. Foundation degree, HND) or equivalent.
• Substantial experience of administration and project management, preferably in an academic setting.
• Awareness of good research practice requirements such as the Concordat to Support Research Integrity and UK regulatory framework for clinical research.
• Excellent IT skills, with working knowledge of standard Microsoft Office software and using custom systems and databases. Including online learning and communication platforms such as canvas and MSTeams.
• Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day-to-day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly.

Role context

Roles at this level will require expertise and a detailed understanding of methods, systems and procedures in an administrative or professional area. You will either use specialist knowledge or have more of a planning/co-ordination/project role or a role which is supervisory in nature where you may manage a team doing similar kinds of work. You will have the opportunity to exercise a high degree of personal responsibility and initiative which you will use to resolve queries; you will use your judgement to deal with unforeseen problems and circumstances, all with limited guidance/supervision.

Core competencies/transferable skills

Working at this level you will be able to develop and successfully use the core competencies/transferable skills outlined in each of the areas shown below. As appropriate for the level, our Birmingham Professionals will take ownership for getting things done. You will be expected to be flexible as required in supporting your department and wider University.

Planning and organising

• prioritise and schedule work and resources to ensure on time and (where applicable) on budget delivery;
• set priorities and quality standards for a wide range of tasks and duties;
• manage a team of staff who are carrying out similar kinds of work;
• contribute to written documents, for example guidelines internal to the area, taking account of audience;
• operate with limited supervision as they will have considerable scope for initiative, within established work procedures.

Problem solving and decision making

• anticipate and identify issues in own area based on experience;
• make appropriate suggestions for improvements and implement these when agreed in own area;
• facilitate change, and articulate the implications and benefits of change to others;
• focus on determining short-term priorities of work area, and how to maximise quality, efficiency and continuity.

Organisational understanding

• quickly develop an understanding of their working area and how it contributes to the success of the University;
• display an interest in how the University operates beyond own working area; develop and share this knowledge with others.

Relationships and communication

• develop and maintain excellent working relationships in own area, and more widely as required for collaborative working opportunities;
• communicate clearly and openly with others both within and external to the University, and use a range of communication skills and strategies to gain commitment to a course of action;
demonstrate collaborative working at all times, including with others outside the immediate work area.

Further particulars can be found here

Informal enquires to Tim Giles, email: t.giles@bham.ac.uk

View our staff values and behaviours here

Valuing excellence, sustaining investment

We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community and are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working.