Senior External Projects Assurance Officer

at  Birmingham City University

SENIOR EXTERNAL PROJECTS ASSURANCE OFFICER

Department
Legal Services and Compliance
Location
Joseph Priestley Building
Salary
£36,421 to £39,591 per annum
Permanent
Post Type
Full Time
Release Date
03 October 2024
Closing Date
23.59 hours BST on Thursday 24 October 2024
Reference

LSC24007

Birmingham City University is a large and diverse learning community with over 30,000 students from around 100 countries. We are passionate about providing our learners with a transformational journey, enabled by an exceptional supportive academic community, state-of-the-art facilities and focus on practical skills and professional relevance to support their future employability. We are also committed to world-class research, to advance knowledge and practice, to address real-world problems and fuel innovations outside of the university.
We currently have an exciting opportunity for External Projects Assurance Officer to join our dynamic team. The post is based in Birmingham City University’s Compliance Team which is part of the University’s Secretary Department.
The External Projects Assurance Officer will support the Team to implement, maintain and further improve the University’s Project Management Processes and Tools thereby ensuring that projects are being delivered within a compliant framework with all monitoring and controls in place. The role will suit a detail-focused person with project management experience and analytical skills providing assurance support to a wide range of externally funded projects.
We are looking for an individual with demonstrable knowledge and skills in project management and administration of externally funded projects. Working within the Birmingham City University’s Compliance Team we are seeking an individual who has the skills to work across several disciplines and can manage funder obligations; produce Management Information Systems (MIS); articulate and understand compliance and funding assurance. The individual will be providing technical support for project teams and working across all faculties engaged in research and enterprise funded applications. The role will require good working relationship with teams in both a pre and post award assurance capacity.

It is desirable that the successful applicant will have the ability and skills (or can demonstrate aptitude to learn) of the following:

• The experience and the knowledge of working with UK Government and EU Funded Projects
• Funded Projects in either a financial or compliance / assurance capacity;
• The ability to both learn and assist in the development of new MIS Systems;
• The ability to understand complex funding regulations;
• Excellent communication skills;
• The ability to be flexible in working hours when required;
• Successful applicants should have a degree in a relevant subject area.

The External Project Assurance Officer will be responsible for supporting and providing assurance for Projects in line with the agreed project management standards. Focusing on Financial Management and Compliance; including the development and technical review of detailed projects’ financial; audit documentation produced by the Project and Finance Teams. The Post Holder will also ensure financial assurance and compliance of externally funded projects with all statutory, contractual and funding requirements. The holder will also lead on remedial action plans; sample audits and reviews whereby projects have not fulfilled external funding financial requirements.

The External Project Assurance Officer will have the following responsibilities:

• Develop, implement and update project financial management guidance for the project teams.
• Develop and implement financial audit controls to ensure that project risks and appropriate control measures have been identified at pre and post award stage.
• Develop & Update systems and processes with regards to systematic financial reporting systems for the Project Managers / Principal Investigators of externally funded projects.
• Support Project Teams in preparation for Internal and External Audits.
• Work with External Project Assurance Manager to develop new policies and procedures relating to External Funding.

For full details applicants are advised to consult the attached Job Description and Person Specifications for the post.

The External Projects Assurance Officer will have the following essential requirements:

• First Degree in Finance, Business or other related areas.
• Relevant experience of stakeholder relationships / partnerships.
• Demonstrable experience and competency in report writing skills specially to convey complex information for wide variety of audience.

It would be the desirable for the post holder to have:

• Project Management Qualification such as PRINCE 2.
• Experience of Higher Education Sector.
• Holder of a professional qualification.

FURTHER DETAILS:

Job Description

• Develop, implement and update project financial management guidance for the project teams.
• Develop and implement financial audit controls to ensure that project risks and appropriate control measures have been identified at pre and post award stage.
• Develop & Update systems and processes with regards to systematic financial reporting systems for the Project Managers / Principal Investigators of externally funded projects.
• Support Project Teams in preparation for Internal and External Audits.
• Work with External Project Assurance Manager to develop new policies and procedures relating to External Funding