Project Manager (Alkaline team) - School of Physics and Astronomy - 106435 - Grade 7

University of Birmingham; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 36,000 - 47,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading global university located in Birmingham seeks a Manager for their School of Physics and Astronomy. The successful candidate will provide high-level project management support, coordinate events, and foster an inclusive working culture. Applicants should have significant managerial experience and a proven track record in project management. This full-time position is fixed-term until August 2026, with a competitive salary range of £36,636 to £46,049.

Benefits

Generous paid holiday (40 days)

Occupational sick pay

Pension scheme

Flexible working arrangements

Qualifications

• Qualified to Degree level or equivalent plus practical managerial experience.
• Proven track record of successful project management.
• Excellent budgetary management skills and experience.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for managing one or more projects and providing project management support.
• Coordinate the organisation of conferences and workshops.
• Maintain an up to date knowledge of project management methodologies.

Skills

Project management

Budget management

Interpersonal skills

Communication skills

Education

Degree level or equivalent

Tools

Project management tools

MS Office

Job description

Position Details

School of Physics and Astronomy

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 August 2026

Closing date: 30th October 2025

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 School of Physics and Astronomy is a world-leading physics department, excelling in both research and teaching. Our physics research was recently ranked top in the UK for 4-star-category research, and 4th by GPA, by the Research Excellence Framework 2021. The 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Professor Mike Kosterlitz and Professor David Thouless jointly for their work into the discoveries of the properties of matter, work which started when they were at Birmingham together. The 2017 Prize was awarded for the detection of gravitational waves, in which Birmingham staff played a key role. The School is an excellent environment for an upcoming academic. The School’s research portfolio is wide-ranging, and covers three principal themes: Quantum Matter; Particle and Nuclear Physics; and Astronomy and Experimental Gravity. It has over 120 academic and research staff together with 120 graduate students with around 50 technical and clerical support staff.

The School of Physics and Astronomy is an Institute of Physics Juno Champion since 2014 and holder of the Athena SWAN Silver Award. Both initiatives recognise the School’s commitment to promote diversity and equality, and to encourage better practice for all members of the community, whilst also working towards developing an equitable working culture in which all students and staff can achieve their full potential.

Role Summary

We are looking for a managerial role in our group. Our group carries out activities related to quantum physics and quantum technology. There are 25 researchers in our group, including PostDocs and PhDs. If you are a first timer or have little experience in a managerial role, we would still encourage you to apply, provided you are committed to learning through your hard work. The current position is full time for a limited period but with the possibility of further extension.

Main Duties

• Responsible for the delivery of one or more projects or for contributing to larger University 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 (eg on project budgetary management), and presenting to appropriate meetings such as Project Board or to other key stakeholders;
  • providing executive support to Project Boards, 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 as you deem appropriate issues and risks, including monitoring risk registers;
  • stakeholder management, ensuring effective liaison with project partners, funders, Project Boards 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 if required.
• Develop and deliver communication strategy for the project(s), 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.
• Promotes equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
• Supports 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, preferably using one or more project management tools such as Prince2.
• Evidence of literacy and numeracy, with the ability to write clearly, and to produce and analyse information and data.
• Excellent people-management skills.
• 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.

Informal enquiries to Prof. Yeshpal Singh, email: [e-mail]

View our staff values and behaviours here

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.