Faculty of Business

Grade 6: - £27,929 - £34,308 per annum (pro-rata)
Fixed Term - Part Time
Contracted Hours per Week: 7
Closing Date: 06-Dec-2022, 7:59:00 AM
Disclosure and Barring Service Requirement: Not Applicable.

Durham University

Durham University is one of the world's top universities with strengths across the Arts and Humanities, Sciences and Social Sciences. We are home to some of the most talented scholars and researchers from around the world who are tackling global issues and making a difference to people's lives.

The University sits in a beautiful historic city where it shares ownership of a UNESCO World Heritage Site with Durham Cathedral, the greatest Romanesque building in Western Europe. A collegiate University, Durham recruits outstanding students from across the world and offers an unmatched wider student experience.

Less than 3 hours north of London, and an hour and a half south of Edinburgh, County Durham is a region steeped in history and natural beauty. The Durham Dales, including the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, are home to breathtaking scenery and attractions. Durham offers an excellent choice of city, suburban and rural residential locations. The University provides a range of benefits including pension and childcare benefits and the University’s Relocation Manager can assist with potential schooling requirements.

Durham University seeks to promote and maintain an inclusive and supportive environment for work and study that assists all members of our University community to reach their full potential. Diversity brings strength and we welcome applications from across the international, national and regional communities that we work with and serve.

The Department

Durham University Business School 

Dynamic and vibrant, Durham University Business School is one of Durham University’s five Faculties and is comprised of four research-intensive departments: Accounting, Economics, Finance, and Management and Marketing. Known for its global reputation, its impact on policy and practice and its strong focus on ethics, responsibility and sustainability, the School aims to be a leading European business school with a strong global presence by 2027, The School currently has 180 academic and teaching staff, with plans and resource commitments to grow to 230 by 2027. In addition, 11 funded research centres (https://www.dur.ac.uk/business/research/research-centres/) blend leading theoretical perspectives with a strong emphasis on impact and engagement with practice, noted in www.durham.ac.uk/business. The school’s student population is around 4000, across undergraduate, postgraduate and research programmes.  

Our vision is to lead business thought and practice to improve global wealth and well-being. Our associated mission is to create, share and use knowledge to deliver equitable and sustainable futures around the world. We pursue this mission by advancing world changing knowledge and securing global impact through increasingly collaborative research across disciplines and around the world. 

The Role

Applications are invited for a Research Assistant in Business and Data Science.

The role is linked to the Global Smart Hub, which is a research platform that conducts in-depth research with North-East-based businesses for identifying the barriers and enablers to sustain their scaling-up initiatives with the Global South marketplace. The primary beneficiaries of the research are the North East SMEs who will be participating in the various activities of the Hub, which includes engagement forums, training sessions and knowledge transfer talks, in-depth research to underpin business decisions, and networking opportunities with peers and partners in UK and the Global South.

The Hub is a catalyst for research-led marketplace developments and provides SMEs in the North East with the opportunity not only to consider expanding their business with the Global South, but also to understand the risks and opportunities to sustain any scaling-up initiatives. Thus, the Hub contributes to the levelling-up initiative of SMEs in the North East in a significant way. It is funded by the ‘Smart and Scale Up Regional SMEs’ grant and is an interdisciplinary project led by Professor Dennis Philip in the Department of Finance, with co-investigators also based across the Faculty of Business (Management & Marketing, and Economics).

The research carried out by the successful applicant will contribute to the Global Smart Hub.

The successful applicant will be expected to:

1. Work with the participating companies to assess the research objectives and engage with local stakeholders in the North East and in Global South, and
2. Based on i), conduct research and develop implementation steps for businesses to build their marketplace.
3. Generate business reports and articles from the research conducted.

The successful applicant will support the research carried out and work cooperatively with other members of the project group and the industry partners of the Global Smart Hub.

Responsibilities:

• To understand and convey information which needs careful explanation to the team or group of people through presentations, discussions and meetings which contribute to the production of research reports and publications.
• To write up results of research work, present information on research progress and outcomes to bodies supervising research in a clear and accurate manner.
• To analyse or undertake basic research by deciding how best to apply existing methodology according to overall context and objectives.
• To deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines by discussing with the Principal Investigator or Grant-holder and offering creative or innovative solutions.
• To liaise with research colleagues and make internal and external contacts to develop knowledge and understanding to form relationships for future research collaboration.
• To contribute to the planning of research projects.
• To assist in contributing to support student projects on the use of research methods and equipment. 
• To contribute to fostering a collegial and respectful working environment which is inclusive and welcoming and where everyone is treated fairly with dignity and respect.
• To engage in wider citizenship to support the department and wider discipline.
• To engage in continuing professional development by attending relevant training and development courses.   

This post is fixed term for 29 months, 01 January 2022 to 31 May 2025, as the grant funding is available for this fixed period only.

The post-holder is employed to work on research/a research project which will be led by another colleague. Whilst this means that the post-holder will not be carrying out independent research in his/her own right, the expectation is that they will contribute to the advancement of the project, through the development of their own research ideas/adaptation and development of research protocols.

Successful applicants will, ideally, be in post by 01 January 2022.

How to Apply

For informal enquiries please contact Professor Dennis Philip, Department of Finance, Durham University Business School, Mill Hill Lane, Durham DH1 LB, United Kingdom; dennis.philip@durham.ac.uk.  All enquiries will be treated in the strictest confidence. 

We prefer to receive applications online via the Durham University Vacancies Site https://www.dur.ac.uk/jobs/. As part of the application process, you should provide details of 2 academic/research referees so that we may seek employment references.

Applications are particularly welcome from women and black and minority ethnic candidates, who are under-represented in academic posts in the University.

What to Submit

All applicants are asked to submit:

• A CV and covering letter which details your experience, strengths and potential in the requirements set out above

Next Steps

Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interview and assessment in December 2022.

The Requirements

Essential:

Qualifications

• A good first degree at the Masters level or above in Business, Data Science or related field.
• The field of study can be interdisciplinary with demonstration of technical skills such as coding and the skills to conduct research.

Experience

• Experience in conducting basic academic research or providing research assistance, including the use of standard research methods.
• Demonstrable ability to produce concise and well-written reports for a range of stakeholders.
• Experience in using software programming in R, Python or equivalent.

Skills

• Demonstrable ability to work cooperatively as part of a team, including participating in research meetings.
• Ability to manage time effectively and work to strict deadlines.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Ability to liaise with a range of stakeholders.

Desirable:

Experience

• Experience of conducting high quality academic research.
• Experience of preparing academic papers.

Skills

• Ability to contribute to the planning and management of independent research.