Programme Manager (Research Delivery) - College of Medicine and Health - 105630 - Grade 8

Position Details

College of Medicine and Health, Research and Knowledge Transfer 

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £47,389 to £56,535 with potential progression once in post to £63,606

Grade: 8

Full Time, Fixed Term Contract up to December 2027

Closing date: 5th November 2026 

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

Background

The University of Birmingham is a global institution working within a diverse and vibrant City, offering an inspiring education to our students, and undertaking critically important research.  We are a place of open, critical thinking, and the creation, sharing and dissemination of knowledge.  Professional Services put students at the heart of all they do and enable an exceptional educational experience. They provide outstanding support to our researchers and help the University to grow its influence regionally, nationally, and globally. They ensure the University’s resources are used wisely, manage and improve the infrastructure which sits at the heart of the institution, and support decisions to be made quickly and based on sound evidence.  Our Birmingham Professional programme operates across the University, supporting colleagues to network and collaborate, offering opportunities to learn and develop, contributing to the delivery of the University’s objectives, and helping everyone to understand the broader context within which we work. 

Department Overview

The Research Delivery team, part of the College of Medicine & Health’s Research Office, is a vibrant hub for Professional Service staff (~100 individuals) supporting high-value, strategically important projects and programmes. We work closely with both Professional Services colleagues and Academics across the University and partner organisations, particularly NHS colleagues, to maximise the impact of funded research, much of which has direct patient relevance. The portfolio of research supported is wide ranging (https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/medical-dental), including a large portfolio of large-scale research programmes and infrastructure awards funded by charities, government and other major health research funders. 

This role will be embedded within the Research Delivery team and benefit from established relationships with programme partners and key stakeholders including NHS Trusts, collaborating research institutions both locally, nationally and globally, patient and public contributors, charities and funders. 

Role Summary

This role leads operations across the Brain Health and Injury Group's research portfolio. The Group is an interdisciplinary team delivering experimental medicine, early-phase clinical research and large-scale longitudinal cohort studies in brain health and injury. We integrate discovery science, advanced imaging, biofluid biomarkers and real-world data. Our work runs from experimental models to clinical studies embedded in NHS pathways, and increasingly into multi-site, Defence-partnered programmes that depend on secure, well-governed data infrastructure.

The postholder will be responsible for leading the operational delivery of a portfolio of externally funded programmes. These include the mTBI Predict Study, a longitudinal study funded by the US Department of Defense and UK Ministry of Defence that is identifying biomarkers to predict long-term outcomes after mild traumatic brain injury. They will also lead the operational set-up of new large-scale programmes, including secure data environments, data governance and access arrangements, multi-partner contracting, and reporting to government and Defence funders.

Main Duties

Project Delivery 

Responsible for leading the operational delivery of a portfolio of large, multi-partner research programmes, including:

• Leading on the management of a portfolio of programmes, including influencing and developing complex project plans
• Creating and maintaining programme management plans for the portfolio of projects using project management principles and using appropriate software
• Planning, organising and maintaining a regular schedule of project meetings and ensuring sufficient engagement by all relevant parties to the project
• Managing the budget for the portfolio of projects as required
• Delivering project outputs agreed with senior management, on time, to budget and to the agreed quality standard
• Building and maintaining effective relationships with funders, partner organisations and University professional services
• Identifying and developing strategic priorities for growth of the group

Monitoring, evaluation and communication 

• Develop and implement a comprehensive evaluation strategy across the programme portfolio 

• Establish and implement reporting procedures which meet requirements, and ensure all necessary data is gathered in a timely and efficient manner.

• Analyse data to determine if it is fit for purpose, and take appropriate action to ensure data quality where necessary. 

• Identifying objectives and indicators of success and developing reporting mechanisms for the portfolio then report on project progress to the relevant project board or equivalent and highlight any risks.

• Maintain a risk register as appropriate, and communicate risks in a timely manner, proactively proposing solutions. 

• Engage and communicate with a variety of stakeholders to ensure progress but also to disseminate outputs of the projects as appropriate. 

People management

• Manage diverse groups of staff ensuring relevant targets and goals are achieved within resource constraints.

• Create a motivating environment where staff are challenged, developed, encouraged and supported to achieve outstanding results.

• Responsible for ensuring all annual review processes, including Performance and Development Reviews are conducted in the service area. 

• Identify appropriate opportunities for development and change and encourage other team members to do the same.

• Guide staff through periods of change, communicating a clear and positive vision.

General

• Actively manages equality, diversity and inclusion through monitoring and evaluation and actively challenging unacceptable behaviour. 

• Supports the University’s sustainability agenda through resource efficient working. 

• Any other duties commensurate with the grade.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Significant project management experience leading large complex projects, as well as wider relevant experience (which may include a degree or relevant equivalent professional qualification – although these are not essential).

• Relevant formal Project Management qualifications such as APMP, Prince2 or MSP are also useful, but not essential. 

• Authoritative knowledge of the work practices, processes and procedures relevant to the role, including broader sector/commercial awareness, experience of establishing and operating secure data environments, working in a research, healthcare, NHS or higher education environment and working with defence or security-sensitive organisations.

• Experience of managing programme reporting and performance monitoring, including oversight of complex datasets and ensuring data quality, governance and compliance requirements are met.

• 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

• Experience of managing large financial budgets along with experience of budget planning and forecasting

• 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 

• Excellent people management skills, with some 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.

Further particulars can be found here

Informal enquiries to Emma Lardner-Walker, email: [email protected] 

View our staff values and behaviours here

Use of AI in applications: We want to understand your genuine interest in the role and for the written elements of your application to accurately reflect your own communication style. Applications that rely too heavily on AI tools can appear generic and lack the detail we need to assess your skills and experience. Such applications will unlikely be progressed to interview.

We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website.