Project Manager
Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment
Location:     City Centre Campus (Millennium Point)
Salary:     £39,888 to £43,356 per annum
Closing Date:     Sunday 13 June 2021
Interview Date:     To be confirmed
Reference:     032021-92-R

Located in a modern £300M city centre campus in the heart of Birmingham, England, the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment is a thriving, vibrant and inspiring learning community committed to excellence in research, high-quality teaching and impactful industrial engagement. As a practice-based faculty, we ensure that our teaching and research are relevant to the current and future needs of STEM professions through partnership with industry, enterprise, professional institutes and funding bodies. We work in a collaborative and cross-disciplinary culture, where interacting freely across the faculty and with colleagues in other faculties is encouraged to gain a unique insight into impactful problem domains.

The faculty consists of two schools, the School of Computing and Digital Technology and the School of Engineering and the Built Environment.  The faculty has expanded all of its activities across its two schools in learning & teaching, research & research funded projects, and engagement with industry and enterprises, with a fourfold increase in returns to the 2021 Research Excellence Framework and substantial increase in funded projects supporting research and the impact of our expertise on commerce and society.  It is a very exciting time, with a large pipeline of potential projects and opportunities to propel the faculty to the next stage of its growth.  A key part of servicing the growth of the faculty is effective project management embedded in the faculty.

We invite applications to join our faculty team as project manager and coordinator to provide project management support for a variety of funded projects and learning & teaching activities in the faculty.  In this role, you will be in the team of the faculty’s Associate Dean for Research working closely with the academics, project support teams, funding bodies and university partners in bidding and managing projects and organising events and workshops.  You will be managing a portfolio worth several millions of pounds and closely involved in growing our opportunities.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Manage faculty research, enterprise and operational projects in coordination with the academic, management or administrative lead for the projects typically involving, acquiring and utilising the necessary resources and skills within agreed parameters of cost, timescales and quality.
• Plan project milestones and deliverables, including project, financial and reporting deliverables and coordinate with the project leader to deliver these within the specified timescales and quality
• Participate where appropriate in the preparation and planning of projects, defining the scope, methodology, resource skills and budget requirements for individual projects ensuring clear project objectives are developed.
• Assess project risks and identify actions to address these.
• Deliver complex projects to time and budget, ensuring effective use of academic and professional services resources.
• Define the scope, methodology, resource skills and budget requirements for individual projects ensuring clear project objectives are developed.
• Engage and manage project stakeholders. Support wider engagement with projects through effective communications and project updates.
• Provide professional advice, guidance and practical support for the development and delivery of strategic projects, such as advising on project governance, facilitating planning and supporting the development and maintenance of project documentation to agreed standards.
• Provide regular reports on progress, budget, issues and risks to the Project Board executive sponsor and University committees as required.
• Project manage faculty events as required
• Maintain a network of internal and external contacts.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

Essential

• Degree level or equivalent or extensive experience in project management
• Relevant project management qualification
• Is familiar with the project or programme development life cycle and typical problems associated with the implementation of projects and programmes. Has practical knowledge of project or programme management methodologies, tools and techniques with in depth knowledge of at least one methodology.
• Significant experience in a project management role in a complex organisation. 
• Excellent written and verbal communicator and team player, able to communicate complex information to a wide variety of audiences in order to influence, achieve change where necessary and achieve results.
• Experience of the identification, assessment and management of project risks, which could result in time or cost over-runs, or failure to deliver products, which are fit for purpose.
• Proactive problem solver
• Demonstrable experience of budget management and resource management.

Desirable

• Knowledgeable in Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment subjects and/or working in these domains. Has a comprehensive knowledge of relevant development life cycles.
• Relevant experience of managing university funded projects, including managing to timeframes and delivery of all project milestones, and financial/project management deliverables for both the funding bodies and internal university processes
• Experience of teamwork and communications with academics and other university functions
• Excellent negotiation and influencing skills coupled with tact and diplomacy.
• Automated tools to assist in the project management process, by automating mechanical tasks such as scheduling, resource balancing, and time recording. Tools and techniques for risk management for example: Open Workbench, Microsoft Project, RiskyProject.
• Methods and techniques associated with planning and monitoring progress of projects for example: product/work breakdown structures, baselining, critical path analysis, earned value, resource analysis, conflict resolution.
• With around 24,000 students from 80 countries, Birmingham City University is a large and diverse place to study. We put students at the heart of everything we do, giving them the best opportunities for future success. The University has an enviable reputation for providing quality, student-focused education in a professional and friendly environment. Our superb courses, state-of-the-art facilities, first-rate staff, and focus on practical skills and professional relevance is producing some of the country’s most employable graduates. 
• We put £270 million into the regional economy and support thousands of jobs in the area. We have investing £260 million in our estate, including a major expansion of our city centre campus at Eastside, providing students with an enviable range of facilities. 
• Our staff and student community is defined by our core values, which outline who we are as a University and how we will work with each other. Our core values are Excellence, People focused, Partnership working and Fairness and integrity.

For an informal discussion of the post, please contact Andrew Aftelak at Andrew.Aftelak@bcu.ac.uk  

To apply for this role, complete the online application and upload a copy of your CV. Candidates are advised to remove personal information, including names to ensure a fair and transparent recruitment process.

The University is committed to internationalism and diversity and welcomes applications from all countries, faiths and backgrounds.

It is each individual successful applicants responsibility to ensure that they have permission to work in the UK. Some applicants may require sponsorship from the University and a visa from UKVI to take up the role if successful. More information on this can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa 

Some roles are not capable of sponsorship because they do not meet the UKVI criteria relating to skill and salary level. If you are unsure as to whether you would require sponsorship if successful, or whether the role is capable of sponsorship, please contact us: RTinbox@bcu.ac.uk

Please note on occasions where we receive a large number of applications, we may close the advert ahead of the publicised closing date. If this does happen, we will contact all candidates via email who have started but not yet completed their application, giving 48 hours’ notice.  We would therefore advise that you submit your completed application as soon as possible.

At Birmingham City University we are proud to be an equal opportunities employer.  All staff are expected to understand and enact the University’s commitment to ensuring equality, diversity and inclusion in our employment practice and in all that we do . This commitment is enshrined in our Core Values and is detailed in our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Employment Policy. The University values and celebrates the diversity of our staff and students; we welcome people from the many  different backgrounds and life experiences that reflect the students and the citizens we serve.  We are committed to equality of opportunity for all staff and actively encourage unique contributions, in particular from under-represented groups in respect of age, disability, sex, gender or gender identity, ethnicity, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation or transgender status

Birmingham City University ('BCU') is committed to protecting your personal data and being transparent about what we do with your personal data. One of the ways we do this is through our privacy notices. For further information please click here.