Research Grants Finance Officer - Research Strategy and Services Division - 48850 - Grade 6

Position Details

Research Strategy and Services Division

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, Permanent

Closing date: 15th October 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

Department overview 

The University has an exciting vision to build on the success of REF2021, by continuing to transform its research performance across outputs, income, impact, and policy influence. Central to this ambition is the Research Strategy & Services Division (RSSD), a new Professional Services department that is being established to provide a transformative and sector-leading approach to research strategy and support. 

Role Summary

The Research Grants Finance Officer plays a key role as part of the wider Post Award management within the Research Strategy & Services Division (RSSD), supporting academic colleagues to deliver successful, well-managed research projects. Working as part of a friendly and collaborative team, the postholder will provide high-quality financial administration across a portfolio of externally funded awards, ensuring financial claims, reports and forecasts are accurate, timely and compliant with funder requirements.

This is a role that combines financial administration, problem-solving and relationship-management. You will work closely with academic project leads, colleagues in RSSD and Professional Services partners, with strong support, training, and regular opportunities to learn from experienced peers.

The postholder will contribute to a culture of continuous improvement by sharing good practice, helping to streamline processes and supporting a consistent, high-quality service for our academics and external partners. This role sits within an established Post Award community, where colleagues provide guidance, mentoring and day-to-day support to ensure you can develop confidence and expertise across the post award lifecycle of project grants.

Main Duties

• Provide clear, practical and timely financial support throughout the post award lifecycle for a defined portfolio of project grants, including budget monitoring, claims, reporting and project closure, with support and guidance from the Post Award leadership team as needed.
• Build positive and proactive working relationships with academic colleagues and their project managers where applicable, helping them to understand financial information, optimise their budgets and comply with funder terms and conditions.
• Manage financial claims, reporting and monitoring for your project portfolio, ensuring accuracy and timeliness while drawing on established processes, templates and team support.
• Contribute to the smooth and efficient operation of the Post Award function by identifying opportunities to simplify steps, improve handovers and support process enhancements.
• Share good practice across the Post Award teams and support colleagues, helping to embed consistent approaches and contribute to a collaborative, supportive working culture.
• Monitor a range of monthly KPIs for your portfolio to deliver to expected standards and resolve issues proactively.
• Support preparation for internal and external audits, ensuring information is accurate and provided promptly, with guidance available from managers and experienced colleagues where required.
• Liaise with external funders as needed to provide financial assurance, clarify processes and support colleagues in your academic areas.
• Promote equality and values diversity, acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture. 
• Personally model the Values of the University, and in particular those in the Strategic Framework and Birmingham Professional;
• Undertake any other duties as required from time-to-time by the Assistant Director/Post Award leadership team, Research Strategy & Services Division.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Educated to Degree level (or equivalent qualifications) - where no equivalent qualification is held, significant practical relevant experience within a financial background 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 relationships, deliver key outcomes or resolve challenges.
• Experience in improving processes, service quality and/or efficiency demonstrating a high degree of initiative, personal judgement, resourcefulness and flexibility.
• Excellent analytical skills with an ability to analyse qualitative and quantitative information and present this to a wide range of audiences. 
• Budgetary monitoring and management, including reporting, identifying issues and resolving them decisively. High level of attention to detail.
• 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 knowledge of Excel is essential.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, with proven experience of collaboration within teams, including engaging with peers and providing excellent customer service at all times.
• Excellent communication skills – with the ability to engage effectively with a range of internal stakeholders.
• High level of self-motivation and personal accountability with ability to plan and deliver goals to deadlines under pressure to meet key performance indicators. 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. 

Informal enquiries to Jo Hawkins, 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.