PHD Programme Manager

PhD Programme Manager – Academic Team

Reports to: Student Operations Lead

This is a 14-month full-time fixed-term (maternity cover) position on Crick Terms and Conditions of Employment.

Summary

The academic training team forms part of the Francis Crick Institute’s HR Directorate, and is responsible for the management, development and operation of the Crick’s Junior Research training programmes, including the PhD, Sandwich and Summer student programmes. It also oversees the appointment of visiting undergraduate, Masters and PhD students who are hosted in Crick laboratories for limited periods of time. The team is headed by the Director of Academic Training (Junior Researchers), and con sists of ten staff who are responsible for delivering all aspects of the Crick’s junior researcher training programme. The Institute has approximately 200 PhD students across 4 years of study, up to 10 sandwich students spending 1 year at the Crick and hosts up to 20 summer students during July and August each year.

An opportunity has arisen for a well-organised and experienced professional to join this team on a fixed-term basis as part of maternity cover arrangements. The post holder will report to the Student Operations Lead and will be responsible for managing the operation of the Crick’s PhD Programme on a day-to-day basis. The successful candidate will also support the rest of the academic training team in delivering the Crick’s junior researcher training programmes.

Key responsibilities

These include but not limited to;

• Organise and deliver the 2022 PhD Induction programme, beginning 26 September 2022.
• Ensure delivery of the 2022-23 academic year PhD Programme calendar for each year group; managing internal communications as required.
• Monitor student completion of the relevant training and progression points through the PhD programme, ensuring timely completion of all feedback
• Liaise with the HR Services team on HR processes for students, including student extensions and leavers.
• Liaise with HEI Partners with regard to student finance and academic progression.
• Engagement Monitoring for international students.
• Manage the budgets relating to above activities.
• Schedule and act as minute-taker for the Research Degree Committee.
• Support the academic team in other areas of their work during busy periods.
• Deal with general enquiries to the academic team.

Key experience and competencies

The post holder should embody and demonstrate our core Crick behaviours: Bold, Open, and Collegial, in addition to the following:

Essential:

• Educated to degree level, or have significant relevant work experience.
• Significant experience of working effectively in a demanding administrative environment.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate effectively with a diverse range of staff and students, including those for whom English is not the first language.
• Ability to prioritise busy workload and competing deadlines.
• Ability to solve problems and work under own initiative.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office applications.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Prepared to work out of normal hours on occasion.

Desirable:

• Experience of working in Higher Education
• Experience of using Workday (the Crick’s employee resource platform)
• Experience of managing budgets
• Experience of managing IT systems
• Project Management experience and/or qualification

Interested candidates should note that significant periods of annual leave are not normally possible in September, which comprises the peak period of the annual induction process.

For any questions, please contact us on hr@crick.ac.uk

We are looking to schedule interviews to take place on 24 June 2022.