THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM
Recruitment Role Profile Form

Job Title:Centre Manager (fixed term)

School/Department:Faculty of Engineering –EPSRC Virtual Centre in Power Electronics

Salary: £37,394 to £45,954 per annum, depending on skills and experience. Salary progression beyond this scale is subject to performance.

Job Family and Level:Administrative, Professional & Managerial Level 5

Contract Status:This fixed-term post will be available from mid-April for one year.

Hours of Work:Hours of work are full-time; however applications are also welcome from candidates wishing to work part-time (minimum 25 hours per week). Please specify in your application if you wish to work part time and the number of preferred hours.

Location:University Park

Reporting to:Centre Director, Professor Mark Johnson

The Purpose of the Role:

The role is part of the EPSRC Centre for Power Electronicswhich has its administrative Hub at Nottingham University. The Centre engages academics from across the UK with a broad range of industrial partners to deliver on an underpinning research agenda.

The key function of the post is to provide management support for all of Centre’s activities.

Main Responsibilities:

Main Responsibilities
i.e. What is done.… To what / for whom…. With what outcome, or result. / % time per year
Research Theme, topic coordination, progress reviews
Support the Centre’s Theme Leads in the delivery of their respective research programmes.
Support the Cross-Theme Topic Champions by providing regular updates on Cross-Theme activities across the Centre and ensuring that the Cross-Theme activities are properly managed within each of the Themes.
Collate data on Key Performance Metrics (e.g. research outputs, trained personnel, outreach activities, exploitation) and deliver reports to support Executive Team meetings (quarterly), the annual review and any periodic reviews required by EPSRC.
Maintain a Risk Register for the Research Themes and Hub.
Organise Executive Team, Steering Group and Advisory Group meetings as required by the Centre Director.
Organise annual review meetings and any periodic reviews required by EPSRC. / 25
Budget management
Obtain financial reports from the Research Themes and Hub for presentation at the quarterly Executive Team meetings.
Liaise with the relevant university offices to resolve any budgetary issues.
Prepare financial reports for the annual review and any periodic reviews required by EPSRC / 5
Centre Flexible Funding
Support the Centre processes for allocation and delivery of Flexible Funding, including: preparation of call documentation; liaison with applicants; administration of the review process; creation and monitoring of new projects; reporting on project progress at Executive Team Meetings; collating data on Key Performance Metrics as detailed for the Centre Research Themes. / 15
Skills and training
Support the Centre Director and Executive in delivering the Centre’s skills and training agenda, specifically: maintain records for all Centre postdoctoral research staff (PDRs); facilitate researcher training placements, secondments and redeployment; coordinate the training of all postgraduate researchers,including training visits for attending taught modules and an annual postgraduate summer school; establish and maintain a register of relevant postgraduate training courses (modules). / 10
Community support
Support the Centre Director and Executive by organising events for the UK power electronics community, specifically: an annual conference to display research results and provide networking activities; themed workshops (as determined by the Executive) to establish priorities and facilitate consortium building for the flexible funding calls and for other strategic purposes e.g. in response to major funding initiatives from key funding bodies; a postgraduate summer school. The Centre Manager will maintain a register of capital equipment and will ensure that appropriate access arrangements are made for Centre members. / 15
Communication and branding
Work with the Centre Director and Executive to build the Centre brand andpromote power electronics as an underpinning technology and as an engineering career.
Manage the design and content of a web site to provide support for intra-community communication (e.g. research papers, results, records of meetings) and a public-facing shop front for the Centre (e.g. Centre news, events, funding opportunities). This will be supplemented by a presence on appropriate social networking sites.
Liaise with appropriate media and other relevant organisations to publicise the work of the Centre and increase the public understanding of the role of power electronics in the decarbonisation of the energy and transport sectors.
Promote the power electronics skills agenda by working with organisations including: Semta: the Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies which hosts the Electronics Sector Strategy Group for Skills; UKESF: the UK Electronics Skills Foundation; the Institution of Engineering Technology (IET); Engineering UK (through involvement in activities such as the Big Bang Fair and Inspiring the Future). / 15
Reaching out to the international research community
Support the establishment and development of research links with key research organisations around the world, including facilitating international researcher exchanges. / 5
Support for industrial engagement and technology maturation
Support the work of the Industrial Liaison Officer, for example by providing information on Centre research, organising industry-focussed workshops, stimulating interaction with the Research Themes. / 10

Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications & Experience

Essential / Desirable
Qualifications/
Education / Educated to degree level (or equivalent).
Engineering background. / Relevant post-graduate qualification (or equivalent).
Knowledge/Skills/Training / Proven project management skills including technical specifications, finances, delivery plans and extensive progress reports.
Knowledge and understanding of academic culture.
Knowledge and understanding of industrial culture.
Experience / Experience of managingcomplex, multi-partner projects.
Previous experience in delivering comprehensive project reports, project specifications and project proposals. / Experience of managing multi-site, multi-partner adcademicresearch projects and/or research facilities.
Experience of business engagement.
Experience of working in a research environment.
Other / Excellent interpersonal skills, presentation and communication skills with a proven track record in team-working.
Excellent time management skills and proven ability to work to tight deadlines. / Experience of working with the media to publicise science/engineering research
Decision Making

i)taken independently by the role holder;

Ensuring efficient management of all Centre activities

Ensuring quality of Research Theme deliverables against the Theme Project Contract

Assessing risks and corrective action

Financial reporting and budget resolution

Liaison with university partner internal resources (finance, marketing media relations)

Liaison with external stakeholders (industry, professional bodies, government)

Liaison with media bodies

Organisation of Centre events

Organisation and delivery of Centre funding calls and review process

Organisation of Centre management and review meetings

ii)taken in collaboration with others (Hub Executive Team, Centre Director);

Agreeing action plans
Allocation of resources and budget
Liaison with funding body
Identification of areas for staff development, redeployment and training
Identification of areas for future research
Timing and scope of Centre events
Timing and scope of press releases
Timing and scope of outreach activities
Development of calls for proposals

iii)referred to the appropriate line manager (Centre Director) by the role holder.

Decisions on major deviations to Research Theme project plans or expenditure

Research and strategic direction

Scope of the Role

The post holder will work closely with the Centre Director and the Centre’s Hub Executive Team to ensure smooth, timely and efficient delivery of all of the Centre’s activities.

Additional Information

Please provide any additional data or detail that you feel we need to know and understand about the role, which has not been described earlier in the form.

The role holder will manage a large number of inter-related research activities across more than 10 universitiesoften with often conflicting priorities. The role holder will need to have excellent management and communication skills with a strong emphasis on planning and resource management; be able to work well under pressure to ensure the Centre delivers high quality research.

Due to the requirements of the UK Border and Immigration Agency, applicants who are not UK or EEA nationals and whose immigration status entitles them to work without restriction in the UK will be considered on an equal basis with UK and EEA nationals. Other non-UK or non-EEA nationals whose employment will require permission to work subject to a resident labour market test may only be considered if there are no suitable UK or EEA national candidates for the post. Please visit for more information.

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