Programme Manager - COMbAT Fatigue - School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences - 103335 - Grade 8

Full Job Description

Position Details

School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £45,585 to £54,395 with potential progression once in post to £61,198

Grade: 8

Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to March 2029 

Closing date: 17th March 2024

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

We are seeking to appoint an autonomous and experienced Programme Manager who will be responsible for the management of COMbAT fatigue. This is a significant role that is critical to the successful delivery of the programme..

COMbAT Fatigue (COproduction and evaluation of a self-MAnagemenT intervention for post-stroke Fatigue) is a 5-year, £2.1 million programme grant funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and Stroke Association. The research aims to co-produce and evaluate the effectiveness of a self-management programme for post-stroke fatigue. The programme is co-led by Dr Grace Turner (University of Birmingham) and Prof Jonathan Mant (University of Cambridge), supported by a multidisciplinary team of 12 co-applicants.

COMbAT Fatigue comprises six Work Packages:

• WP-1: Focus groups (supplemented with one-to-one interviews) with stroke/mini-stroke(TIA) survivors, caregivers, healthcare professionals and commissioners.
• WP-2: Intervention co-production with stroke/ mini-stroke(TIA) survivors, caregivers and stakeholders, guided by a rapid design process model: the Double-Diamond model.
• WP-3: Supervised and unsupervised usability testing, using the think-aloud protocol, System Usability Scale, NASA Task Load Index and semi-structured interviews.
• WP-4: Mixed-methods, multicentre, single-arm feasibility study.
• WP-5: Multicentre randomised controlled trial (RCT), 1:1 randomisation, with internal pilot, health economic evaluation and mixed-methods process evaluation.
• WP-6: Dissemination and knowledge mobilisation.

There are two cross-cutting themes: (1) Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and (2) Implementation. Patient, Carer & Public Involvement & Engagement (PCPIE) will be imbedded throughout the programme.

The School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences is a world-leading institution for research and teaching in Sport and Exercise Science ( ), located within one of the UK’s top universities. Our performance in the Research Excellence Framework 2014 (REF 2014) was outstanding with 90 percent of research classified as world leading or internationally excellent. Key areas in our Exercise for Health research theme include: Healthy ageing, nutrition, disability, prevention and management of chronic illness and theoretically driven development of interventions for behaviour change.

Role Summary

The role-holder will be responsible for the operational management of the programme, with the aim of ensuring that the programme achieves its research objectives. Working closely with the academic co-leads, the role-holder responsibilities will include overview or co-ordination of all programme activities, management of the programme team, managing contracts and approvals, writing reports, coordinating ethics applications and governance of programme finances.

Main Duties

Project Delivery 

Responsible for the operational management of COMbAT Fatigue. This will include some or all of the following:

• leading on the management of the project, including influencing and developing complex project plans.
• creating and maintaining an overall project management plan for the whole project or projects using project management principles and using appropriate software.
• identifying objectives and indicators of success.
• planning, organising and maintaining a regular schedule of project meetings and ensuring sufficient engagement by all relevant parties to the project
• establish effective networking relationships with all stakeholders.
• supporting patient, carer, public involvement and engagement (PCPIE).
• managing the budget for the project as required.
• delivering project outputs agreed with senior management, on time, to budget and to the agreed quality standard.
• synthesise relevant literature, guidelines and other relevant information.

Monitoring, evaluation and communication 

• Develop and implement a comprehensive evaluation strategy for the project. 
• Establish and implement reporting procedures which meet requirements, and ensure all necessary data are gathered in a timely and efficient manner.
• Analyse data to determine if it is fit for purpose, and take appropriate action to ensure data quality where necessary. 
• Develop reporting mechanisms for the project then report on project progress to the project board or equivalent and highlight any risks.
• Maintain a risk register as appropriate, and communicate risks in a timely manner, proactively proposing solutions.
• Engage and communicate with a variety of stakeholders to ensure progress but also to disseminate outputs of the project as appropriate, including website and social media.

General

• Actively manages equality, diversity and inclusion through monitoring and evaluation and actively challenging unacceptable behaviour. 
• Supports the University’s sustainability agenda through resource efficient working. 

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Relevant degree or relevant equivalent professional qualification, plus significant project management experience (in increasingly large and/or complex projects) or substantial relevant experience evidencing the experience required in this role.
• Authoritative knowledge of the work practices, processes and procedures relevant to the role, including broader sector/commercial awareness. These include ICH GCP and the Research Governance Framework.
• Evidence of literacy and numeracy, with the ability to write clearly for a variety of audiences, and to produce and analyse source material, information and data
• Proven ability to meet targets, with minimal supervision to deadlines.
• Substantial experience of engaging, and collaborating, with internal and external stakeholders.
• Proven analytical and problem-solving skills that will help to identify and implement improvements and efficiencies across the project or projects you work on.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to influence and negotiate effectively with a range of stakeholders.
• Experience of managing large financial budgets along with experience of budget planning and forecasting.
• Highly 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 people management skills, with proven experience of leading, motivating and managing teams. 
• High level of self-motivation and personal accountability with ability to plan and deliver goals to deadlines under pressure.
• Ability to monitor and evaluate the extent to which equality and diversity legislation, policies, procedures are applied. 
• Ability to identify issues with the potential to impact on protected groups and take appropriate action.
• Experience of championing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in own work area.

Dimensions

Roles at this level provide authoritative professional advice across a range of activities and/or will lead and manage diverse team(s) and resources. You will use your professional skills to resolve problems where the solution is not immediately apparent. Significant evaluation and independent thought is therefore required to resolve ambiguity. You will have wide discretion to decide on direction whilst ensuring activities are broadly consistent with operational policies. You will be able to influence policy through advising on the impact of policy change and implementation in your area of work. You will need to assess the impact of your activities across your area, with related areas and to ensure they fit with the broader objectives of the University. 

Planning and Organising

• provide professional expertise, and manage resources and/or a diverse team;
• integrate and co-ordinate work across different parts of the department/university;
• lead and manage staff who are likely to be carrying out diverse duties, and ensure collaborative working to deliver a successful service;
• project manage activities to facilitate major changes;
• develop policy within functional guidelines, and contribute to strategic development within own area;
• be accountable for the quality and professionalism of service delivery, with an appreciation of longer-term issues.

Problem Solving and decision making

• anticipate, interpret and assess customer needs, identifying trends, generating original ideas and testing innovative solutions; 
• deal with significant people management issues such as change programmes;
• resolve issues which may not have arisen before through use of experience and judgement. 

Internal and External relationships

• has an excellent understanding of their own working area and a broad understanding of the contribution other areas make to the success of the University; 
• has an excellent understanding of how the University operates, together with an understanding of how academia operates in the UK;
• demonstrates empathy with the academic endeavour and seeks to encourage others to do so; 
• use coaching skills to motivate and develop staff;
• proactively and sensitively manage the performance of their team and create a motivating environment;
• influence others (including across the University) to follow a particular course of action;
• represent the department at internal and external meetings/events/network with colleagues in other institutions to share best practice.

Informal enquiries to Grace Turner, email:  

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 one of our values. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone  on our website .