Job Description

Position Details

Research Strategy and Services

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £47,389 to £56,535 with potential progression once in post to £63,606

Grade: 8

Full Time, Permanent

Closing date: 25th June 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

Department overview

The University of Birmingham has an ambitious vision to build on its research excellence and secure its position as a global top 50 university, as set out in the Birmingham 2030 Strategic Framework. The Research Strategy & Services Division (RSSD) plays a central role in delivering this ambition by providing expert, integrated support across the full research lifecycle.

As part of a strategic reorganisation, RSSD has established a new Research Performance & Systems Innovation Team, led by the Assistant Director, RSSD (Head of Research Performance & Systems Innovation). This newly created team has responsibility for research performance oversight, REF management, systems innovation, and research data, and provides strategic leadership of the University’s REF2029 submission.

The Research Planning & Operations Manager is a key role within the Research Performance & Systems Innovation Team. The post provides senior operational leadership for REF and research planning activity, translating strategic direction into robust delivery, and ensuring that complex, time‑critical institutional processes are well‑coordinated, high quality, compliant, and delivered to schedule. The post holder will also play a key role in embedding consistent approaches across Colleges, supporting senior leaders with clear guidance, high-quality data and effective operational oversight.

The Research Planning & Operations Manager will support the operational delivery of institutional research planning and REF activity, working closely with academic leads, College teams and central Professional Services colleagues.

Main Duties

• University’s REF2029 submission, working under the strategic direction of the Assistant Director (Head of Research Planning & Systems Strategy).
• Develop and manage detailed REF project plans, timetables and risk registers, ensuring alignment across ‘Contribution to Knowledge & Understanding’, ‘Engagement & Impact’, and Strategy, People & Research Environment (SPRE).
• Coordinate REF-related data collection, validation and assurance processes, working closely with College teams, research systems colleagues and data specialists.
• Act as a central operational point of contact for REF activity, providing clear guidance and practical support to Colleges, Schools and Institutes
• Support the delivery of institutional and College-level research planning rounds, ensuring alignment between REF, research strategy, and performance planning processes.
• Produce high-quality briefings, papers and reports to support decision-making by senior academic and professional committees (e.g. REF Board, Senior Research Leadership Team).
• Work closely with Research Systems and Data colleagues to ensure REF and research planning requirements are effectively supported by institutional systems (e.g. Pure, Worktribe, Core Fusion).
• Support data quality, audit readiness and compliance in relation to REF and external reporting requirements.
• Build strong, trusted working relationships across the RSSD, and with College-based research teams, academic leads and Professional Services colleagues.
• Provide operational leadership to staff contributing to REF and planning activity, including matrix-managed or project-based contributors.
• Represent RSSD on operational working groups and communities of practice relating to REF, research planning and research environment activities
• Identify opportunities to improve the efficiency, clarity and effectiveness of REF and research planning operations.
• Contribute to wider change programmes within RSSD, supporting the transition to a more integrated, data-driven research planning model.
• Capture and embed lessons learned from REF and planning cycles to strengthen future delivery.
• Any other duties commensurate with the grade, as required from time-to-time by the Assistant Director.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

Essential:

• Significant experience of delivering complex, time-critical operational processes within a research-intensive or similarly complex organisation.
• Strong working knowledge of the Research Excellence Framework (REF) or equivalent large-scale assessment, planning or compliance exercises.
• Proven ability to manage multiple workstreams, competing priorities and tight deadlines with a high degree of accuracy and attention to detail.
• Experience of coordinating stakeholders across organisational boundaries, including academic and professional services colleagues.
• Strong analytical and organisational skills, with the ability to work confidently with data, plans, and detailed documentation.
• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to produce clear guidance and high-quality papers for senior audiences.
• Ability to operate with a high degree of initiative, judgement and professionalism in a sensitive and high-profile environment.

Desirable

• Direct experience of REF submission processes, Codes of Practice, or REF-related data and systems.
• Experience of research planning, performance management or research environment activity in a UK higher education context.
• Familiarity with research information systems such as Pure, Worktribe or Core Fusion.
• Experience supporting or delivering change programmes or process improvement initiatives.

Informal enquiries to Nathalie Maillard, email: n.spence.1@bham.ac.uk

View our staff values and behaviours here

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