Project Support Officer

Project Support Officer – Mary Lyon Centre

Harwell Campus, Oxfordshire

£32,005

Permanent, Full Time

About the role

Looking for a challenging and rewarding role in project support? MRC Head Office is seeking a Project Support Officer to join the Estates and Major Projects Directorate to provide administrative support to research projects, including scheduling meetings, maintaining project documentation and assisting with project reporting. This is a great opportunity for someone who is detail-oriented, organised, and committed to making a positive impact in the research field.

You will support a wide range of projects focusing on the transformation of the MRC into an environmentally sustainable research organisation, to meet UKRI’s commitment of reaching net zero by 2040.

Main Duties/Key Responsibilities:

Leadership/teamwork/collaboration

• Supporting the MRC’s Estates team with the arrangement of project meetings, which will include the preparation of seminars and workshops across the MRC, UKRI and the wider research community within the UK
• Arranging and coordinating meetings, to include meeting room bookings, virtual arrangements (Zoom/MS Teams) and catering
• Close engagement with all relevant organisations and individuals for managing tasks/activities, and supporting with other aspects, such as documentation, presentations, procurement formalities, etc.
• Maintaining and expanding a network of supporters and stakeholders
• Supporting the team with project/programme management tasks, such as updating of programme/schedule information, risk registers, payment certificates, etc. 

Delivery/programmes/projects/process

• Managing diaries on behalf of team members, in particular organising the meetings for the various project teams
• Preparing and/or collating relevant meeting documentation, such as agendas, reports, meeting minutes/action lists, and ensuring that meeting documentation is provided within required timelines
• Chasing of actions agreed in project meetings
• Maintaining financial reporting tables for projects by collating procurement and invoicing information.

• Collating and updating financial reports with invoices received from professional teams and contractors
• Attending project meetings, taking minutes/actions, and distributing to attendees
• Supporting the team members with responses to reporting requirements
• Ensuring that appropriate project documentation (electronic and otherwise) is maintained and stored correctly
• Requisitioning of services on Oracle for the project activities (raising purchase orders etc.)

 Other

• Maintaining engagement list (contacts) with key individuals from involved organisations
• Maintaining records, data entry and technical administration
• Liaising with suppliers and contractors to manage queries and resolve issues
• Booking accommodation and travel requirements for team members 

Education/Qualifications/Training Required:

Essential:

• Familiarity with MS Office programmes (in particular, MS Word, Outlook and Excel)
• Education to level of completed apprenticeship as a minimum 

Desirable:

• Project/programme management qualifications (PRINCE, Agile, etc.)

Previous Work Experience Required:

Essential:

• Experience with managing of budgets
• Project management/team management experience 

Desirable:

• Experience in construction or environmental sustainability projects

Knowledge and Experience:

Essential:

• Ability to follow technical procedures to achieve results
• Good organisational skills and ability to prioritise and manage multiple activities
• Ability to work with specialist software packages (once appropriate training has been provided)
• Highly organised

Personal skills/Behaviours/Qualities:

Essential:

• Personal integrity
• Good communication skills
• Good interpersonal skills
• Attention to detail
• Enthusiastic and a willingness to learn
• Proactive
• Ability to work as part of a team and self-motivated to work independently

Working Relationships:

The post-holder will be required to build relationships with colleagues in various departments at Harwell as well as with the other two MRC Institutes and Head Office functions. Furthermore, the post-holder will need to work closely with other team members, as well as professional services and contractors. 

Further information:

This role will be based at the Mary Lyon Centre at MRC Harwell (MLC) but will sit within the Estates and Major Projects Directorate at MRC, which works with all our Institutes and Higher Education Institution (HEI) units.  The post-holder will report to the MRC Programme Director Environmental Sustainability Programme. The post-holder will be required to be available in person if this is critical but will be in control of the diary and the priorities of work; the team works flexibly from various locations and embraces hybrid working.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• Choosing to come to work at the MRC (part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)) means that you will have access to a whole host of benefits, from a defined-benefit pension scheme and excellent holiday entitlement, to access to employee shopping/travel discounts and a salary sacrifice cycle-to-work scheme. In addition, you will have the opportunity to contribute to the work of a world-class medical research organisation

Job contact :

• Name : UKRI Recruitment Team
• Email : Recruitment@ukri.org

Recruitment team

• Email : Recruitment@ukri.org