Research Administrator

Job id: 076570. Salary: £32,179 – £35,596 per annum pro rata, including London Weighting Allowance.

Posted: 12 October 2023. Closing date: 09 November 2023.

Business unit: IoPPN. Department: Health Services & Population Research.

Contact details:Claire Henderson. [email protected]

Location: Denmark Hill Campus. Category: Professional & Support Services.

Job description

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the friendly but busy RECOLLECT research programme team within the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN). Based in the Centre for Implementation Science at Denmark Hill campus, the post holder will work in collaboration with the RECOLLECT team, particularly working closely with the Principal Investigators and the study co-ordinator to provide full programme administration support. There is another administrator supporting the programme based at University of Nottingham and the postholder will also work closely with them to ensure full admin support for the research team at the programme’s multiple sites.

The National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) funded Recovery Colleges Characterisation and Testing 2 (RECOLLECT2, grant reference NIHR200605) to study the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of Recovery Colleges and to identify how they can be optimised to maximise the benefit they confer to people who use mental health services. Recovery Colleges provide adult education to mental health service users, carers and staff, to support personal recovery (living as well as possible) and the recovery orientation of staff and affiliated services (supporting illness self-management and community participation). They are run jointly by mental health professionals and people with personal experience of mental illness.

Further information about the RECOLLECT programme can be found here:  www.researchintorecovery.com/research/recollect/ 

The post holder will be expected to oversee the programme budget, including the management and monitoring of expenditure. The post holder must have an aptitude for financial matters with a keen attention to detail; experience of working with Microsoft Excel and Word to a high standard is essential. The post holder will also be expected to produce accurate meeting minutes at least once a fortnight. Along with the ability to manage their own workload effectively, they will be required to work both independently and work well as part of a busy team, responding and adapting to the programme’s priorities.

The successful applicant will bring enthusiasm, strong organisational skills and a pro-active, flexible approach to the job. The role involves working with both professional service, research and academic colleagues and is therefore suited to an individual that is personable and good at relating to others.  This post allows for some flexibility in working hours and patterns. King’s College London offers a pay and benefits package and information about these can be found here: https://jobs.kcl.ac.uk/gb/en/king-s-benefits . We welcome applications from diverse communities and backgrounds, including those with disabilities.

This post will be offered on a part-time (75%FTE) fixed term contract until 30th November 2025.

Key responsibilities

• Organise regular in person, hybrid and online meetings for the Head of Section and the various teams of researchers, booking rooms and catering, preparing agendas, taking and disseminating minutes and pursuing action points.  
• Providing comprehensive support to the Co-Principal Investigator at King’s including diary management; the preparation of documents for meetings; producing meeting minutes with the support of recording using MS Teams; formatting and completion of administrative details of documentation for programmes and reports. 
• Manage programme end to end recruitment process, liaising with the faculty’s dedicated Recruitment advisor and relevant accounts teams to raise recruitment requisitions via the HR platform, PeopleXD. Manage onboarding including providing updated induction booklets, health & safety/ fire safety tours and introducing new colleagues to team. 
• Build relationships with key programme stake holders including the Lived Experience Advisory Panel members. 
• Take ownership of all aspects of the programmes administration including placing orders for stationery, equipment, travel and other office expenditure, financial record-keeping and management 
• Process orders and invoices via Kfin finance system, in accordance with KCL procedures, ensuring no budget overspends. Process new supplier requests where required and liaising with key stakeholders such as recovery colleges and NHS Trusts regarding payments as the programme demands. 
• Processing participation payments and expense claim forms. 
• Financial management of the programme grant post award, including liaison with Research Grants in their preparation of financial reports to funders, and early and proactive identification of potential problems.  
• Maintain a good working relationship with KCL central departments including Human Resources, Finance and Research Grants 
• Liaise with national and international contacts to help organise research meetings (to be held in the UK or abroad), conferences and scientific symposia, and co-ordinating the organisation of events. 
• Process affiliate account requests, visiting appointments and honorary applications as required. Also support stakeholders with creating ORCID ids and other programme relevant registrations as required. 
• Calculate staff and non-staff costs in liaison with the King’s College London (KCL) Research Grants offices for grant applications using the Worktribe platform. Maintaining confidentiality, never disclosing confidential information either inside or outside of work.  
• Undertake at least one safety support role (e.g, fire marshal, DSE assessor, Safety representative, first aider), following all the relevant training. 
• Facilitate an inclusive culture and ethos working across the IoPPN community.

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.  

Skills, knowledge and experience

Essential criteria  

1.       Educated to A Level or equivalent.  

2.       Ability to work productively with relevant stake-holders at various levels, especially mental health staff, service users and managers. 

3.       Relevant working experience of using Outlook, Microsoft Teams, Excel, Word, PowerPoint.  

4.       Effective communication and interpersonal skills in order to receive, understand and relay complicated ideas or information to various groups of all levels.  

5.       Effective time management, ability to manage competing priorities, working independently and proactively, and with minimal supervision. Contributing to the broader team’s goals and objectives.  

6.       Exceptional organisational skills, including administrative/operations experience with an in-depth knowledge of a range of practices, methods and procedures to deliver effective and efficient support.  

7.       Ability to understand and analyse report data and produce an output.  

8.       Committed to principles of culture, equality, diversity and inclusion. 

Desirable criteria

1.   Educated to degree level or equivalent work experience 

2.   Experience of working within a Higher Education research environment or similar.  

3.   Experience of using Kfin, Worktribe and PeopleXD. 

4.   Previous experience of managing research grant funding 

The post holder will be expected to work from our offices in Denmark Hill, south London for around 40-60% of their time, and may be required to travel to some meetings at other King’s College London campus and very rarely may be required to travel to another collaborator site for a meeting. The post holder will be able to work remotely from home for the remainder of their time if they wish to do so.

Selection process will involve a short admin test and an interview.