Job description

The Faculty of Arts & Humanities is home to currently 12 academic departments, multiple research centres and close to 400 academic staff.

The role of the Research Data and Information Coordinator will be to support Faculty and departmental research data and information gathering projects, processes and systems. They will be working closely with the Faculty’s Research support team, the Faculty Impact team and the Faculty Research & Engagement Manager to support the Faculty Research leadership team. They will liaise closely with central data and analytics teams as well as other members of the College’s Research support network.

The role holder will be sourcing and analysing research data and information, and building management reports using (among others) SITS (Student record system), Pure (Research data repository), Worktribe (research grant system) and Power BI and individual surveys and annual data gathering excercises; they will through their work support the delivery of crucial reporting exercises like REF and KEF in particular, giving advice and logistical support in gathering and storing Impact evidence and recording and evaluating other research related information.

The role holder will also be supporting cross-Faculty research initiatives in Arts & Sciences.

This post will be offered on a full-time, indefinite contract.

Key responsibilities 

• To support Faculty and departmental research data and information gathering projects, processes and systems.  
• Sourcing and analysing research data and information, and building management reports using SITS, Pure, Worktribe and Power BI; 
• Supporting delivery of crucial reporting exercises like REF and KEF in particular giving advice and logistical support in gathering and storing Impact evidence. 
• Supporting cross-Faculty research initiatives in Arts & Sciences. 
• Introducing robust and consistent data gathering processes which will allow for streamlined data capture, archiving and analysis, consistent with business needs and data safety legislation (GDPR) 
• Acting as data lead for the Faculty’s use of Microsoft Dynamics 365 
• Sourcing data (usually from university systems and individual members of staff) and manipulating to produce analysis to support policy-making and business planning within the Faculty as well as providing data for national framework exercises (REF, KEF) 
• Planning, designing and rolling out reports using available data and information, to anticipate and meet Faculty management and operational reporting needs. 
• Building strong working relationships with key stakeholders, including REF and Impact team; Arts & Sciences Research Office; Planning and Analytics; Departmental Professional Services colleagues; and Faculty Academic staff and leadership. 
• Contributing to the wider work and ethos of the Faculty Research team, the Professional Services teams within the Faculty, and across Arts & Sciences. 
• Sharing best practice across the 14 departments in the Faculty research administration work. 
• Delivering training and supporting processes to deliver efficiencies through staff development. 
• Support the Faculty’s internal research grant schemes 
• Undertaking projects in support of the general management of the Faculty, as requested by the Executive Dean of Faculty, the Faculty Operating Officer or Head of Business Support. 
• Participating in Department, Faculty, Campus and University-wide networking and projects as appropriate. 
• Professional liaison with other individuals and teams at University, Faculty and departmental level.  
• Any other reasonable duties as specified by the postholder’s line manager. 

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.  

Skills, knowledge, and experience

Essential criteria

1.        Excellent communication skills, both written and oral 

2.        Experience in extraction, transformation, combination, interpretation and analysis of data from a range of sources 

3.        Experience in interpretation of data for a variety of audiences, including translation of complex technical data for non-specialist stakeholders 

4.        Excellent Data literacy and an understanding of key data concepts, including data protection and the limitations of available data 

5.        Advanced MS Excel, including use of macros and Visual Basic for Applications 

6.        Knowledge of Oracle SQL or of a comparable database language 

7.        Project management 

8.        Documenting existing processes, including gathering requirement 

9.        Ability to work independently and proactively 

Desirable criteria

1.       Experience in working in a Higher Education environment 

2.       Experience in process improvement