About The Job. Faculty of Science METRC Centre Administrator Pursue the extraordinary
Overview About the centre METRC is a knowledge exchange centre based in the Faculty of Science and a research centre of N8 Research Partnership. The centre applies university research to industry. We pool expertise from eight universities across the North of England to help companies to accelerate the development of new products and processes. The N8 Research Partnership is a collaboration of the eight most research intensive universities in the North of England: Durham, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and York. Working with industry, N8 aims to maximise the impact of this research base by identifying and coordinating powerful research collaborations across the North of England and beyond. METRC has been funded with 1M from eight universities from 01.01.12-31.12.14. The universities are: Bradford, Durham, Lancaster, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and York. The centre has developed a network of 800 companies, been involved in close to 150 university industry collaborative research projects from 2007-14 and has been recognised as an exemplar by the industry bodies such as the Confederation of British Industry and the Knowledge Transfer Network. From 2012-14 METRC has provided funding via two schemes to 39 academic industry projects across four of our universities: Bradford, Durham, Newcastle and Sheffield. The two schemes were called METRC Innovation Awards and METRC Large Awards at Sheffield. These schemes were both designed to be new research and innovation projects between academics and companies in the fields of Nanotechnology, Science and Engineering. Projects were funded that were beneficial to both the company and the academic, exploited a commercial idea and, crucially, had the potential to lead to a long-term partnership between the company and the academic. Partnerships with Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) companies were also given priority with the funding. In total across the 39 projects METRC has invested 330K in funding which was matched by cash contributions of 350K by the industry partners. METRC has also facilitated 20 other projects which have been worth 36M to our universities as well as introducing 100 companies to our universities via our brokerage service. Please visit www.metrc.co.uk for more details.
Job Role METRC has been successful in facilitating 59 university industry research collaborations from 2012-14. The centre will be closing on 31 December 2014 and the outputs and impact of these research projects need to be recorded and collated into a final report. This is an exciting secondment opportunity that will give the METRC Centre Administrator exposure to senior PVC-level staff at the eight universities. Working closely with the Centre Director, Admin Assistant and the METRC Management Board as well the Engineering and Science Gateways and Research & Innovation Services, the METRC Centre Administrator will be responsible for summarising the successful impact of the centre, write the final report and ensure that the centre ends smoothly. This secondment will also be attractive to anyone seeking to increase their experience of engaging with industry and with the fields of business development and knowledge exchange. Job Description Main Duties and Responsibilities Complete the final report that summaries the outputs and impact of METRC from 2012-14 (this will be partially complete by the time the secondee starts). Liaise with Sheffield Gateway staff, academic principle investigators and business development staff at the seven other partner universities to capture the outputs and impact of projects funded / facilitated by METRC and companies introduced via our brokerage scheme. Monitor and maintain records/reports of the outputs and impact of METRC projects / company introductions to meet both internal and external requirements. Work with colleagues in the Gateways and Research & innovation Services to perform detailed analysis of research performance data, extracting useful impact for inclusion in a final report Undertake short-term project management of METRC. Engage with colleagues in Research & Innovation Services and external consultants to produce an economic impact assessment of METRC s activities from 2012-14. Wrap up the METRC project and ensure that the centre ends smoothly Any other duties, commensurate with the grade of the post. Person Specification Applicants should provide evidence in their applications that they meet the following criteria. We will use a range of selection methods to measure candidates abilities in these areas including reviewing your on-line application, seeking references, inviting shortlisted candidates to interview and other forms of assessment action relevant to the post.
Criteria Essential Desirable Qualifications and experience 1. Experience of university administration. X 2. Experience of university research management. X 3. Experience of university-industry collaborations and knowledge exchange. X Management skills 4. Knowledge of university systems, policies and quality standards. X Communication skills 5. Effective communication skills, both written and verbal. X 6. Excellent report writing skills. X Team working 7. Ability to liaise effectively with a wide variety of colleagues. X Supporting staff performance 8. Experience of supporting more junior colleagues. X 9. Experience of motivating high performance in more junior colleagues. X Personal effectiveness 10. Experience of maintaining a network of contacts throughout own work area. X 11. Experience of adapting own skills to new circumstances. X 12. Confident, friendly and articulate manner. X 13. Flexible approach to working practices. X 14. Ability to work accurately to tight deadlines and on own initiative. X Further Information This post is fixed-term, available as a secondment, with a start date of as soon as possible and an end date of 31 st March 2015. This post is full-time. This role has been identified as a full-time post, but we are committed to exploring flexible working opportunities with our staff which benefit both the individual and the University (See http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/hr/guidance/flexible/arrangements). Therefore, we would consider flexible delivery of the role subject to meeting the business needs of the post. If you wish to explore flexible working opportunities in relation to this post, please contact the recruiting department via the contact details provided below.
Benefits Terms and conditions of employment: Will be those for Grade 7 staff.. Salary for this grade: 29,552-37,394 per annum More details on salaries, terms and conditions and our wide range of benefits for staff are available at www.sheffield.ac.uk/jobs/staffbenefits. Closing date: 6 August 2014 Informal enquiries: For informal enquiries about this job and department, contact: Simon Butler on simon.butler@sheffield.ac.uk or on 0114 222 9450. Selection-Next Step Following the closing date, you will be informed by email whether or not you have been shortlisted to be invited to participate in the next stage of the selection process. Please note that due to the large number of applications that we receive, it may take up to two working weeks following the closing date before the recruiting department will be able to contact you. The University of Sheffield is committed to achieving excellence through inclusion. The University of Sheffield is proud to be a Two Ticks employer www.sheffield.ac.uk/hr/equality/support/twoticks The University has achieved the Athena SWAN award for Women in Science, Engineering and Medicine