Senior Projects Manager: Operations projects

Reports to:

• Head of Programme Management

Contact term:

• This is a full-time, permanent position on Crick terms and conditions of employment.

Please note this is one of 3 roles for project managers advertised in parallel at the Crick.  If you are interested in more than one role, you only need to make one application, please specify in your covering letter which roles you are applying for.

ABOUT US

The Francis Crick Institute is a partnership between Cancer Research UK, the Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, UCL (University College London), Imperial College London and King's College London. It is a registered charity whose purpose is to conduct biomedical research into all aspects of human health and disease.

The Crick is a world-leading centre of biomedical research and innovation. It promotes connections between researchers and disciplines and between academic institutions, healthcare organisations and businesses. Dedicated to research excellence, the Crick has the scale, vision and expertise to tackle the most challenging scientific questions underpinning health and disease. It is world-class with a strong national role training scientists and developing ideas for public good.

The Crick was formed in 2015 and became fully operational in 2017 at our state-of-the-art building in central London, making it the biggest biomedical research facility under a single roof in Europe.  Here 1900 researchers and support staff bring together their wide-ranging knowledge and expertise to work across disciplines and explore biology at all levels.  We work with our university partners and other organisations across academia, medicine and industry to create a space where talented researchers make discoveries about how life works. We then translate those discoveries into health benefits that improve people's lives and keep the UK at the forefront of medical innovation.

The Crick Code of Conduct sets the standard of conduct for anyone working at the Crick. It outlines the behaviour that we expect from each other and helps us to make decisions in line with the ethical principles we stand for.  It is underpinned by ten key policies and guides us to:

• understand the Crick’s approach to open science and science integrity

• work together with dignity, respect, and integrity to create a positive working environment

• work together responsibly to ensure the Safety, health & wellbeing of ourselves, colleagues, and neighbours, and

• work efficiently, optimising resources.

SUMMARY

As part of delivering on its ambition, the Crick has an increasing need for strong effective project management capability to deliver on projects that potentially involve several operational areas (e.g., HR, Health & Safety, Legal, Facilities, ITO) as well as the Science groups that are the core purpose of the Institute. Collaboration is at the heart of the Crick so projects may also include working with external organisations, typically delivery, pharmaceutical and academic partners.   

The small project management team supports a number of business-critical projects across the Crick often working to SROs in different functions.  The current portfolio is primarily operational, however project management disciplines are increasingly being applied to large complex science grants, particularly where they involve multiple international and/or commercial partners.  Operational projects are mostly related to business process and operational improvements, including asset, people, space and data management, health and safety, information gathering through staff surveys, many with an emphasis on a technology solution.  There is scope for team members to have diverse roles that may span operational and science projects according to preferences and the business needs of the Institute.

In order to develop Project Management capability and capacity within our team, we want to recruit people into the team who are already experienced in dealing with a range of projects and who may be looking for an opportunity to work in an ambitious and exciting science institute.  

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

These include but are not limited to: 

• Working with the sponsor and senior stakeholders to agree the scope of the specific projects, the options for delivery and, where needed, the business case to support the options.

• Managing the planning and set up of projects so that there is a clear and commonly agreed view of the control parameters i.e., the scope, plan, resources, costs, dependencies and the risks and issues that need to be managed.

• Driving delivery of the designated projects to time, cost and quality, ensuring that all team members, sponsors and stakeholders are aware of their responsibilities and are held to account.

• Monitoring and reporting progress against plan through regular reviews, project controls and validation of project work streams, proactively managing risks, assumptions, issues and dependencies, ensuring that these are identified, mitigated or escalated as necessary.

• Ensuring good financial management of projects.

• Working closely across the organisation and with leads in finance, HR, comms etc to ensure projects are delivered in line with Crick policies.

• Where the project includes a technology layer, working closely with IT to ensure that options are aligned with the ITO strategy as well as meeting the needs of the stakeholders.  

• Manage external and internal suppliers to ensure quality delivery, specifying all deliverables and ensuring timely, accurate and consistent completion.

• Establish effective governance, quality, control and communication strategies.

• Able to educate others on best practise in project management tools and practices and ensure continual improvement is delivered through capacity building and innovation.

Person specification

The post holder should embody and demonstrate our core Crick values: bold, imaginative, open, dynamic and collegial, in addition to the following:

Essential skills/experience

• Minimum of degree or equivalent qualified in relevant discipline.

• Practical delivery of a range of projects in varying environments using structure project management processes such as Prince 2, APMCI.

• Experienced in management of complex major business projects in research and pharmaceutical environments or similar.

• Proven recent record of accomplishment for end-to-end delivery of complex change/ delivery projects comprising multiple streams of work as involving a diverse group of internal stakeholders.

• Experience of the full lifecycle of a project from initial scoping through to implementation, able to identify the most appropriate delivery approach and adapt accordingly.  

• Rigorous management of project controls, including robust management of the project plan, risks and issues, scope and resource planning.  Matrix management of resources outside own function to ensure project activities are completed, looking ahead to manage risks before they become issues.

• Understands change management and its criticality to the success of project outcomes.

• Sets up the project to meet stakeholder needs, proactive in driving forward the project expressing the needs of the project outcomes assertively and respectfully. Builds own network internally and externally and is skilled in flexing communication style to build rapport and enhance relationships. Able to build persuasive arguments based on data, logic and the objective merits of solutions, reconcile conflicting viewpoints and remove obstacles to progress.

• Demonstrable experience in successfully delivering multiple projects simultaneously across a range of activities using a structured approach,

• Supportive and effective team member, able to work collaboratively with other administrative and scientific departments and with their professional peers across the Crick.

• Be open to change and demonstrate a flexible and adaptable approach.

Desirable skills/experience

• Previous experience working in a scientific environment liaising closely with senior scientific colleagues.

• Understanding of Data Management within a research environment.

• Experience in using Power BI or Microsoft Project.

• Understanding of Good Clinical Practice and Good Laboratory Practice.

• Experience of Health and Safety in an operational environment.