POSITION DETAILS

School of Metallurgy and Materials, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Location: High Temperature Research Centre, Coventry, UK
Full time starting salary is normally in the range £46,735 to £55,755 with potential progression once in post to £62,728
Grade: 8
Part Time (18.75 hours per week)
Fixed Term contract up to January 2028
Closing date: 5th May 2025

BACKGROUND

The High Temperature Research Centre (HTRC) is a research partnership between the University of Birmingham and Rolls-Royce plc. Funded in 2012 and operational in 2016 the Centre is at the forefront of research in to manufacturing of nickel superalloy single crystals and related enabling technologies. Research projects span early stage discovery through development and maturing of technology and manufacturing capability and direct impact within Rolls-Royce’s manufacturing facilities. The Centre trains the manufacturing and technical specialists and leaders of the future. The excellence of the research partnership between the University and Rolls-Royce plc was recognised by the Royal Academy of Engineering’s recent presentation of the Bhattacharyya Award (2022) and Queen’s Anniversary Prize (2023).
HTRC is a dual site facility; laboratories focusing on low technology readiness level research are located in the School of Metallurgy and Materials at the Edgbaston campus and large scale research facilities at Ansty Park, Coventry.
The HTRC recently secured an EPSRC Prosperity Partnership grant on Advanced Research in to Crystal Anisotropy and Nucleation effects in nickel superalloys (ARCANE). This large 5 year, £11M, Birmingham led project with Rolls-Royce plc, University of Oxford and University of Greenwich has five research work packages alongside an overarching data science and artificial intelligence strand.
We are seeking to appoint Project Manager to support the Principal Investigator with management and delivery of the ARCANE project.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE

• Relevant degree or relevant equivalent professional qualification, plus significant programme/project management experience (in increasingly large and/or complex projects) or substantial relevant experience evidencing the experience required in this role.
• Formal Project Management qualifications such as APMP, Prince2 or MSP preferred.
• Substantial experience of managing large financial budgets along with experience of budget planning, forecasting and monitoring.
• Technical reporting.
• Substantial experience of financial policies and processes.
• Authoritative knowledge of the work practices, processes and procedures relevant to the role, including broader sector/commercial awareness.
• Evidence of literacy and numeracy, with the ability to write clearly for a variety of audiences, and to produce and analyse source material, information and data.
• Proven ability to meet targets, with minimal supervision to deadlines.
• Substantial experience of engaging, and collaborating, with internal and external stakeholders.
• Proven analytical and problem solving skills that will help to identify and implement improvements and efficiencies across the project or projects you work on.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to influence and negotiate effectively with a range of stakeholders.
• Highly proficient IT skills, including the MS Office suite. You should be confident and able to quickly learn new IT skills and software packages as required.
• E xcellen t people management skills, with proven experience of leading, motivating and managing teams.
• High level of self-motivation and personal accountability with ability to plan and deliver goals to deadlines under pressure.
• Ability to monitor and evaluate the extent to which equality and diversity legislation, policies, procedures are applied.
• Ability to identify issues with the potential to impact on protected groups and take appropriate action.
• Experience of championing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in own work area.
• Ability to monitor and evaluate the extent to which equality and diversity legislation, policies, procedures are applied.
• Ability to identify issues with the potential to impact on protected groups and take appropriate action.

CORE COMPETENCIES/TRANSFERABLE SKILLS

Working at this level you will be able to develop and successfully use the following core competencies/transferable skills in each of the areas shown below. You will be expected to take ownership for getting things done, including calling on or joining others to assist. You will be expected to be flexible as required in supporting your department and wider University.

ROLE SUMMARY

The Arcane Project Manager will have the remit of managing the EPSRC funded project within HTRC based at the University of Birmingham’s facility at Ansty. Within this capacity the job will provide strategic direction and management to ensure the project delivers in line with its objectives. The Project Manager will work directly with the HTRC Director for delivery of all aspects of this project and be line managed by the Deputy Director of Operations for EPS College at UoB. Through collaboration, the aim is to manage and support the delivery of five work packages and data science workstreams.
As Manager for the project, the post holder will be responsible for day to day operational management of the project, robust financial monitoring and the successful delivery of contracted outputs. The task will necessitate co-ordinating and managing the efforts of staff involved in all aspects of project delivery.
The Project Manager will be responsible for ensuring that all funder requirements for reporting and auditing are met for the duration of the project and will also be responsible to the Project Director for reporting progress on the projects, and for alerting senior management to any major potential threats to project delivery. The Project Manager will be required to ensure that all aspects of project delivery are completed in line with University policies. The Project Manager will also have responsibility of submitting final reports/claims to the funder and Project Closure for the contractual obligations which will conclude in May 2028.

ROLE CONTEXT

Roles at this level provide authoritative professional advice across a range of activities and/or will lead and manage diverse team(s) and resources. You will use your professional skills to resolve problems where the solution is not immediately apparent. Significant evaluation and independent thought is therefore required to resolve ambiguity. You will have wide discretion to decide on direction whilst ensuring activities are broadly consistent with operational policies. You will be able to influence policy through advising on the impact of policy change and implementation in your area of work. You will need to assess the impact of your activities across your area, with related areas and to ensure they fit with the broader objectives of the University.

Responsible for managing a large project. This will include the following:

• Leading on the management of the project, including influencing and developing complex project plans.
• Creating and maintaining an overall project management plan for the whole project using project management principles.
• Identifying objectives and indicators of success and delivering contractual obligations.
• Planning, organising and maintaining a regular schedule of project meetings and ensuring sufficient engagement by all relevant stakeholders to the project.
• Establish effective networking relationships with all stakeholders.
• Setting up, managing and monitoring a granular budget for the project.
• Co-ordinate and collate output evidence.
• Delivering project outputs on time, to budget and to the agreed quality standard