Research Grants Officer
Employer: Blood Cancer Research
Location: Expected travel for this role includes relevant meetings or conferences, team workshops, team/department away days and attendance at two all staff away days annually. The London office is open for use by all staff from Monday –Thursday.
Working hours: Full time
Salary: £35,000 - £37,000 / year
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This is an exciting opportunity to join the Blood Cancer UK research team following the recent launch of our ambitious new five-year research strategy which seeks to accelerate progress towards the day when no one dies from blood cancer or the side effects of its treatments. This post sits alongside two other research grants officers responsible for our clinical research and fellowships portfolios.
You will be an integral part of the research funding team and will be responsible for a range of pre and post award grants management activities required for the effective administration of our discovery and translational research portfolio.
Expected travel for this role includes relevant meetings or conferences, team workshops, team/department away days and attendance at two all staff away days annually. The London office is open for use by all staff from Monday –Thursday
The research funding team holds a routine anchor day in the office every Tuesday for all team members who are able to attend. Attendance at an anchor day at least once a month is expected for all members of the research funding team living outside London.
Our culture and benefits package are award winning, and our staff survey tells us that we’re a great place to work.
We are committed to actively promoting equality, diversity, and inclusivity. In line with our strategy we welcome approaches from individuals from underrepresented groups, including minority communities, and applicants with a disability, to better reflect the community we serve and help broaden our perspectives.
Key Responsibilities
MAIN ACCOUNTABILITIES
Leading the successful delivery of the annual Blood Cancer UK project grant scheme and providing effective support for a portfolio of other discovery and translation focused funding schemes in line with Blood Cancer UK’s research strategy and Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) guidance.developing application forms and applicant guidance
setup and testing of new rounds on our online Grants Management System (GMS)
coordinating call launch processes and responding to applicant queries
managing peer review processes
organising and supporting delivery of Research Funding Committee meetings and other activities and acting as the key point of contact for committee members
drafting minutes, feedback for applicants, outcome and award letters and supporting grant activation
Oversight and management of a portfolio of active awards within the Blood Cancer UK discovery and translation grant portfolio.
managing queries from grant holders and requests for grant variations including extension requests and staffing changes working closely with the finance team on financial management of awards including reviewing and approving quarterly grant claims, invoices and writebacks
stewardship of new applicants and existing grant holders, ensuring that optimal relationships are built and maintained. supporting progress monitoring and identification of outcomes and impact of awards in the Discovery and Translation portfolio
supporting the work of key internal stakeholders including our Research Impact and Engagement Lead and our fundraising and communications teams by providing clear accurate and timely information about awards in your portfolio
Supporting the optimisation of Blood Cancer Uk’s grants management processes
playing a key role in the procurement and implementation of a new Grants Management System over the next 18 months
developing into a superuser of the new GMS and providing support to internal and external stakeholders on the use of the system
actively participating in identifying and implementing improvements to existing grants management processes and ways of working
General Responsibilities
providing support for the other research funding officers portfolios, funding calls or committees when required
contributing to the team being proactive and supportive, and working effectively and efficiently to achieve agreed objectives.
contributing to the development and maintenance of strong internal relationships across the charity
undertaking other work as required by the Research Funding Lead and Deputy Director of Research
All employees at Blood Cancer UK promote the organisation’s vision, mission and core values and are committed to actively promoting equality, diversity and inclusivity. This includes attending and assisting at Blood Cancer UK events and activities as required, including occasional evening and weekend work. All employees are expected to follow Blood Cancer UK’s policies and procedures and do any reasonable thing required by their manager.
Skills, Knowledge and Expertise
Knowledge
Educated to degree level or equivalent in a relevant scientific discipline
Knowledge of medical research and/or grant funding
Skills
Effective and open communicator with the ability to build strong relationships with both internal and external stakeholders and to deliver work in a way that meets stakeholder needs and expectations
High performing and accountable with the ability to manage time and workload effectively and to lead projects independently
Technical expertise to understand scientific papers, applications and discussions and to identify the key information required for peer review, applicant feedback and post award monitoring.
Digitally literate and open to exploring the use of new technologies
Experience
Experience of research grant administration and management or of undertaking cancer research
Experience or understanding of digital research grants management systems and workflows (e.g. Grant Tracker, Flexi Grant or similar)
About Blood Cancer UK
FLEXIBLE WORKING & OUR BENEFITS
We welcome conversations about part time working, job shares, and all forms of flexible working right from application stage. You can get in touch with us at recruitment@bloodcancer.org.uk if you want to ask us anything about flexible working.
Benefits: We think our benefits are brilliant, and the majority start from day 1. These are just a few of them:30 days annual leave PLUS bank holidays
Generous pension scheme and Life Assurance
Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave, as well as study leave and a day off to move house
Wellbeing is a priority for us, we offer a wide range of individual and team support in our Wellbeing Hub
Our Academy is our in-house Continued Professional Development (CPD) learning and development programme, including an internal mentoring scheme. We have organisation-wide focus days, which are days set aside for you to focus on your own development, without being interrupted by emails and meetings.
Cycle to work and season ticket loans
Opportunity to take sabbaticals
You can find full details about our benefits on our website.
Location: Working agile means we changed from having a culture where people are expected to be in the office from 9am to 5pm to one where we’re much more focused on what they deliver. We've built a positive culture where autonomy, trust, wellbeing and flexibility allow us to recruit and retain the very best people. We recognise that teams still need to come together regularly to develop relationships and strengthen collaborative working. Therefore, for the majority of roles, your contractual place of work will be one of our offices. The expectation for how often you will be required to attend the office is outlined in the job profile and will be discussed with you. Details about our hybrid and agile working approach (including how travel expenses work) can be found on our website.
HOW TO APPLY
We ask you to send us a CV and cover letter. In your cover letter, we'd like to know why you're interested in working with us at Blood Cancer UK. It's also helpful if you tell us why you think you are a great candidate for this role based on the skills, knowledge and expertise section above. Your cover letter doesn't have to be too long, 1-2 pages is ideal. Please don't add photos or graphics to your CV, as we use blind shortlisting at this stage of the process.
Full details about our recruitment processes, including how we use blind shortlisting and what to expect at each stage of the process can be found on our website. Sometimes we close our vacancies early, usually because we have had a lot of great applicants, so we’d always encourage you to apply early rather than wait until the deadline.
WHY WORK AT BLOOD CANCER UK?We're the 9th best charity in the UK to work for according to Best Companies 2021!
We started because of Susan, we’ll get there because of you.
Blood Cancer UK was started by one family who lost their daughter, Susan, to blood cancer, and that history and sense of family continues to shape who we are today. When you join Blood Cancer UK, you don’t just become an organisational employee – you become part of a collaborative community dedicated to funding research into beating blood cancer that includes some of the most inspiring people you’ll ever meet.
And we’re not that far away from beating blood cancer. We’re confident we can do it within the next generation, and this makes us hugely ambitious and gives us a sense of real urgency. It also means we’re changing quickly as an organisation as we constantly challenge ourselves and strive to become more and more effective. This pace of change means working here isn’t for everyone. But if you’re excited by the chance to work in a fast-paced, agile and supportive environment with the focus and ambition to beat blood cancer this could be the place for you! We focus on results rather than time spent at a desk, so we deliver more for people affected by blood cancer.Blood Cancer UK offers the chance to work for and with people affected by blood cancer, and the opportunity to advance your career and develop your skillset whilst taking on exciting new challenges and making your mark.
EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
We are committed to actively promoting equality, diversity, and inclusivity. Read our statement which reflects our strong drive to change in this area.To this end we would welcome approaches from individuals from underrepresented groups, including minoritised communities, and applicants with a disability, to better reflect the community we serve and help broaden our perspectives.
You can read some examples of how we can support you through the application and interview process here.
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