Job Description

Position Details

School of Chemistry, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,636 to £46,049, with potential progression once in post to £48,822

Grade 7

Full Time, Fixed Term Contract up to 31 December 2026

Closing date: 15th April 2026

Interview scheduled: 24th April 2026

Our offer to you

People are at the heart of what we are and do.

The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.

We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide-range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University.

We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.

Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries.

The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.

Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham

Background

The University of Birmingham is a global institution working within a diverse and vibrant city, offering an inspiring education to our students, and undertaking critically important research. We are a place of open, critical thinking, and the creation, sharing and dissemination of knowledge. Professional Services put students at the heart of all they do and enable an exceptional educational experience. They provide outstanding support to our researchers and help the University to grow its influence regionally, nationally, and globally. They ensure the University's resources are used wisely, manage and improve the infrastructure which sits at the heart of the institution, and support decisions to be made quickly and based on sound evidence. Our Birmingham Professional programme operates across the University, supporting colleagues to network and collaborate, offering opportunities to learn and develop, contributing to the delivery of the University's objectives, and helping everyone to understand the broader context within which we work.

The Birmingham Plastics Network is an interdisciplinary research group of over 60 academics that works across all the University's Colleges, led by Professor Andrew Dove in the School of Chemistry located in the College of Engineering & Physical Sciences (EPS). The Network aims to create a sustainable future for plastics that enhances the positive contributions they make to our social, economic and environmental well-being whilst minimising the negative impacts across their lifecycle.

In 2024, the Birmingham Plastics Network launched its Sustainable Plastics Policy Commission report, detailing recommendations for the UK Government for a more sustainable, and circular, future for plastics. Now, the Birmingham Plastics Network manages a diverse portfolio of policy impact activity, utilising the platform established by the Policy Commission to engage industry and MPs alike on research-informed policy interventions, including recent a recent report exploring the unintended consequences of the upcoming Simpler Recycling initiative. In addition, the Birmingham Plastics Network acts as the Secretariat to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Sustainable Plastics, a direct link to MPs and Peers actively interested in supporting sustainable plastics policies.

Beyond the Network's policy work, it also manages an active bid pipeline from across a wide range of disciplinary topics including submissions to both UK and International research grants. At present, the Network manages grants on 'Circularising medical testing plastics' (ending December 2026) as well as a recently awarded Prosperity Partnership: 'Mission Biodegradability', which investigates sustainable solutions for polymers in liquid formulations. It is the role of this Project Manager to support the timely delivery of both of these projects. In particular, the Project Manager will act as Chair for a number of Committees and will manage the overall governance structure and programme of activity for the Prosperity Partnership grant: 'Mission Biodegradability'.

Role Summary

You will manage the successful delivery of all Birmingham Plastics Network activity, including a diverse and varied range of projects. Working alongside the academic team to achieve the Network's core objectives of achieving research grant income, delivering research projects and generating meaningful societal impact. This will include leading and managing Network meetings and events, managing internal and external relationships on behalf of the Network, monitoring and managing budgets, writing briefings and documents, and utilising project planning tools to ensure that the Network and its projects stay aligned to core objectives and key outputs.

Main Duties

This post will be responsible for the management of all Network activities and their key defined outcomes. You will be expected to work proactively and use your initiative and planning skills to set your priorities for yourself, and others, as well as identify any issues and propose solutions to ensure progress is maintained as expected. Duties include:

• Responsible for the delivery of projects through the provision of significant and high-level project management support. This may include some or all of the following:
  • developing project plans, identifying (as appropriate) key performance indicators and milestones
  • reviewing and auditing progress on projects to identify and act on improvements to effectiveness, efficiency and delivery
  • reporting on progress including the development of reporting mechanisms, writing reports (e.g. on project budgetary management), and presenting to appropriate meetings such as Committees or to other key stakeholders
  • providing executive support to Committees, work streams and working groups as required; setting agendas, collating and distributing papers and minutes and ensuring follow up action is taken
  • assessing and escalating issues and risks, including monitoring risk registers
  • Stakeholder management, ensuring effective liaison with project partners, funders, Committees as appropriate.
  • managing project resources efficiently and effectively, including budgets, and ensure project documentation is maintained
• Coordinate the organisation of conferences / meetings / workshops / dissemination events as required.
• Manage a number of stakeholder relationships across multiple projects, including senior stakeholders both inside and outside of the University.
• Develop and deliver communication strategy for the projects, which may include developing, for example, newsletters, briefings for stakeholders and/or websites or other social media.
• Ensure that priorities are balanced, taking action to deliver agreed deliverables against timelines.
• Maintain an up-to-date knowledge of project management methodologies.
• Source, analyse and develop insights from the data to inform evaluation and review of projects.
• Promote equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
• Support the University's sustainability agenda through resource efficient working.
• Any other duties commensurate with the grade.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Qualified to Degree level or equivalent plus practical managerial experience or significant relevant experience demonstrated through increasingly more demanding roles, evidencing the experience necessary for this role.
• Proven track record of successful project management; can include but not limited to project management tools e.g. Prince2.
• Evidence of literacy and numeracy, with the ability to write clearly, and to produce and analyse information and data.
• Ability to interpret and analyse a broad range of information, offering recommendations to complex situations.
• Excellent budgetary management skills and experience.
• Highly proficient IT skills, including the MS Office and website editing software. You should be confident and able to quickly learn new IT skills and software packages as required.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, relationship building and influencing skills with the ability to deal confidently with a range of internal and external stakeholders/contacts.
• Excellent organisational and multi-tasking skills with a methodical approach to work and the ability to prioritise workloads in order to meet deadlines.
• Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day-to-day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly.

Desirable:

• Enthusiasm for working in sustainability-related field, particularly in sustainable plastics.
• Experience of research development in a Higher-Education context.
• Experience of working within a multi or inter-disciplinary environment.

Dimensions

Roles at this level will require a broad understanding and practical experience of an administrative or professional field which will be used to plan the running and development of services and/or lead shorter term projects or contribute to larger projects. You will work with information which needs interpretation and analysis; you will use your judgement to identify the best solution to differing problems and issues, offering recommendations for managing more complex situations. You are likely to be responsible for managing a team of staff, being accountable for recruiting and developing them and for managing performance. You may also need to liaise and/or co-ordinate activities across a number of different sections within the department or possibly with wider department or external bodies as appropriate.

Planning and organising

• plan the running and development of service(s), overseeing resources and inputting into resource planning as appropriate;
• develop, agree and implement standards for delivery for own area;
• manage a team of staff and review, develop and motivate them;
• plan relevant training and development;
• provide professional advice, guidance and support to others within and outside their immediate work area;
• oversee resources and make recommendations about future resource requirements.

Problem solving and decision making

• review, develop and propose solutions for problems with (for example) staff, budgets, services and/or systems;
• deal effectively with unexpected issues, such as changing priorities;
• deal with sensitive people matters/issues;
• provide specialist advice and recommendations to support decision-making of others.

Internal and external relationships

• understand their own and closely-related working areas and how they contribute to the success of the University.
• has an understanding of how the University operates; actively seeks to share this knowledge with others.
• developing empathy with the academic endeavour.
• influence decision makers and win support for proposals;
• develop excellent working relationships within and outside of own area and potentially with external stakeholders;
• co-ordinate activities across a number of areas.

Informal enquiries to Kathryn Miles, Research Strategy & Development Partner K.miles@bham.ac.uk or Robyn MacPherson, current Plastics Network Project Manager r.macpherson.1@bham.ac.uk

View our staff values and behaviourshere

Use of AI in applications: We want to understand your genuine interest in the role and for the written elements of your application to accurately reflect your own communication style. Applications that rely too heavily on AI tools can appear generic and lack the detail we need to assess your skills and experience. Such applications will unlikely be progressed to interview.

We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website.