Project Finance Officer - College of Medicine and Health - 106386 - Grade 6 bei The University of Birmingham

Position Details

College of Medicine and Health

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £33,002 to £35,608 with potential progression once in post to £39,906

Grade: 6

Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to November 2029

Closing date: 2nd October 2025

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 Project Finance Officer will be responsible for the financial management and administration of a portfolio of research funded projects, including responsibility for funder claims, reporting and forecasting, associated with the academic area(s) that they support. The post holder will provide stakeholder management to academic project leads and will build successful relationships with their peers and colleagues across the wider College and University, including the Project Finance Team and Finance Business Partners and teams within the Research Support and Strategy Division (RSSD). They will develop, share and own best practice for financial support, key funders and the portfolio of activity associated with their assigned area(s). 

The role holder will work within the CMH Research Delivery Team to embed a culture of collaborative working throughout the team, that empowers all staff to thrive, and work in close partnership with the wider Professional Services, ensuring that academics and external partners receive a consistent and high-quality service to build strong credibility across all functions. 

Main Duties

• As a Project Finance Officer provide high-quality financial management throughout the full lifecycle across the portfolio of their assigned area(s). Offer stakeholder management to academic colleagues including expert advice on budget maximisation and funder terms and conditions.
• Directly manage a portfolio of externally funded research projects undertaking financial claims, reporting, monitoring and project closure in collaboration with the relevant colleagues within the Research Delivery Team, Research Support and Strategy Division (primarily Pre and Post Award teams) and College, the post holder will manage these high-risk research accounts effectively to both prevent loss of income and alleviate School and College financial pressures created by research overspends.
• Deliver to a high standard and high level of accuracy minimising financial risk to the institution. Ensure an understanding of customer needs across the academic community for their area of responsibility, the wider College and other University Professional Services areas. 
• As a member of the Research Office contribute to ensuring that the Pre and Post Award function operates efficiently, proactively seeking opportunities to streamline handovers, steps and tasks, systems and processes. Share best practice across the wider teams to facilitate the delivery of robust quality assurance and high levels of service to internal and external customers. 
• Arrange and coordinate project specific audits where required by the funder terms and conditions. Ensure that deadlines are met and queries are responded to accurately and within a timely manner, where necessary seeking advice from the Post Award leadership team.
• Engage externally with funders and partners where required to offer financial assurance and liaison regarding operating procedures. Act as a subject matter expert for major external funders associated with your area of responsibility, offering advice and support across the wider team.
• Line management responsibility for administrative staff including relevant managerial tasks, ensuring that a culture of delivering a high-quality service to academics and other stakeholders is maintained.
• Undertake any other duties as required by the Programme Finance Manager and Deputy Director of Operations (Research).
• Promote equality and value diversity, acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
• Personally model the Values of the University, and particularly those in the Strategic Framework and Birmingham Professional.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Educated to Degree level (or equivalent qualifications) - where no equivalent qualification is held, significant practical relevant experience and expertise in a similar role will be required.
• Evidence of numeracy and literacy, with the ability to write clearly, and to analyse information and data.
• Knowledge of the UK research funding ecosystem, key research funders and an understanding of their processes. desirable but not essential. 
• Experience of engaging and collaborating, with internal and external stakeholders to build teams, deliver key outcomes or resolve challenges.
• Experience in improving processes, service quality and/or efficiency, and delivering high quality customer service in your immediate area of activity.
• Excellent analytical skills with an ability to analyse qualitative and quantitative information and present this to a wide range of audiences.
• Proficient IT skills, including the MS Office suite and corporate systems. You should be confident and able to quickly learn new IT skills and software packages as required. Excellent knowledge of Excel is essential.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, with proven experience of collaboration within teams, including engaging with peers and staff, within an academic, public sector or commercial research environment.
• Excellent communication skills – with the ability to negotiate effectively with a range of internal stakeholders in order to convey policies or decisions, and to influence decisions.
• High level of self-motivation and personal accountability with ability to plan and deliver goals to deadlines under pressure and set priorities for a wide range of tasks and duties relevant to your areas of work.
• 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; 
• 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 enquiries to Christopher Parry, email: [email protected] 

View our staff values and behaviours here 

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.