Project Officer (Geostatistics)

University of Birmingham; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 40,000; Part time

Job summary

A leading UK university is seeking a Project Officer to join their Research Delivery team. The successful candidate will coordinate a significant Gates Foundation-funded global health research project, manage communication across international partners, and support operational delivery. Candidates should be highly organized and possess strong communication skills, with a degree level education or significant relevant experience. This position offers an opportunity to contribute to impactful research in a dynamic team environment.

Benefits

40 days paid holiday

Occupational sick pay

Pension scheme

Subsidised day nurseries

Qualifications

• Significant practical experience in a similar role.
• Ability to write clearly and analyse information.
• Experience in a research or public health environment.

Responsibilities

• Support project delivery and manage communication with partners.
• Maintain project documentation and track milestones.
• Organise meetings, prepare reports, and disseminate information.

Skills

Organizational skills

Communication skills

Coordination skills

Analytical skills

IT proficiency

Education

Degree level education or equivalent

Tools

MS Office Suite

Project management tools

Job description

Position Details

College of Medicine and Health

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £33,002 to £35,608 with potential progression once in post to £39,906

Grade: 6

Part Time (18.75 hours per week)

Fixed Term contract up to November 2029

Closing date: 28th January 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 moedf 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

We are seeking a highly organised, proactive, and motivated Project Officer to join the Research Delivery team, part of the College of Medical & Dental Sciences Research Office, to support the effective coordination and delivery of a large Gates Foundation‑funded global health research. The successful candidate will play a central role in managing communication across international partners, maintaining project documentation, supporting reporting requirements, and ensuring smooth operational delivery across all project components.

This position offers a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of global health, international research collaboration, and project management within the newly established Geostatistics for Population Health research group at the University of Birmingham. The post holder will support a multi‑country research programme by coordinating activities, tracking progress, preparing reports, organising events and meetings, and supporting dissemination and visibility of the group’s work.

The Project Officer will work closely with Prof. Emanuele Giorgi and Dr. Claudio Fronterre, ensuring that project milestones are met, partner interactions run smoothly, and programme activities remain well coordinated with the international collaborators. The role will involve regular liaison with the NTD Modelling Consortium (University of Oxford), the Task Force for Global Health, WHO/ESPEN,ود partner قتل institutions worldwide. The post holder will also support the production of communication and dissemination material on online platforms and assist with the preparation of reports and stakeholder updates.

This role is particularly suited to candidates with strong organisational, communication, and coordination skillstsa and an enthusiasm for supporting international research programmes in global health. Applicants from backgrounds in project administration, public health, international development, or research support are welcome.

About the project

The Geostatistics for Global Health (GGH)_SWAP initiative is a four‑year, Gates Foundation‑funded programme led by Dr. Claudio Fronterre and Prof. Emanuele Giorgi at the University of Birmingham, in partnership with the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) Modelling Consortium (University of Oxford), the Task Force for Global Health, WHO/ESPEN, and regional research institutions across Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

The project aims to develop, validate, and operationalize advanced spatial and spatio‑temporal statistical methods for mapping and analysing neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). These methods will enhance the precision of disease surveillance, improve targeting of control interventions, and strengthen programme evaluation across endemic regions.

GGH will deliver open‑source geostatistical tools, reproducible R‑based analytical pipelines, and accessible training resources to ensure sustained use of these methods by partner institutions and national disease programmes. A key focus is on embedding geostatistical modelling capacity within African research centres to enable independent analysis and local ownership of spatial data systems.

The project’s research portfolioYou'll include methodological innovation in geostatistical model development, integration of serological and entomological data, modelling of infection intensity, and the design of surveillance and post‑elimination sampling strategies. Close collaboration with operational partners ensures that scientific advances translate directly into programme‑relevant decision tools, thereby contributing to global NTD elimination goals.

Role Summary

The Research Delivery nonprofit area, part of the College of Medical & Dental Sciences Research Office, is a vibrant hub for Professional Service staff (~120 individuals) supporting high‑value, strategically important projects and游戏下载 programmes. We work closely with both Professional Services colleagues and Academics across the University and partner organisations, to maximise the impact of funded research, and lead on the development of renewals for large infrastructure awards. The portfolio of research supported is wide ranging (https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/medical-dental/index.aspx) and includes the recently renewed NIHR Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre (https://www.birminghambrc.nihr.ac.uk/)- and the NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery (https://www.globalsurgeryunit.org/global-surgery-our-teams/).

You will support the effective coordination and delivery of the Geostatistics for Global Health (GGH) programme, a four‑year Gates Foundation‑funded international research initiative led from the University of Birmingham. You will assist in managing designated workstreams, contribute to project planning and monitoring, and ensure smooth communication and reporting across a wide network of partners in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the UK.

Working closely with Prof. Emanuele Giorgi and Dr. Claudio Fronterre, you will help maintain project documentation, track milestones, support progress reporting requirements, and organise project meetings and research activities. You will also contribute to drilling, including preparing communication materials and supporting the online visibility of the project.

To support flexible resource use, you may be asked to contribute to other activities within the School or College as required.

Main Duties

The Project Officer will manage project components or support the management of multiple workstreams within the GGH programme by providing well‑developed and timely project management support. You will be expected to work proactively, and use initiative and planning skills to set your own priorities to ensure progress is maintained as expected, identify any issue and propose solutions.

• To support Research Project delivery, Project Boards, workstreams and working groups led by the University of Birmingham and international partners.
• Support may include some or all of the following:
  • carrying out project planning activities;
  • identifying milestones which will need to be adhered to;
  • data collection and analysis;
  • milestone tracking/key performance indicator tracking across partners;
  • developing and proposing solutions for any issues;
  • recommending той improvements to project management;
  • preparing progress reports for project boards or other meetings;
  • assisting in budgetary monitoring and management, including reporting to funder;
  • assisting with stakeholder management, maintaining regular contact with collaborators (e.g., NTD Modelling Consortium, Task Force for Global Health, WHO/ESPEN, and regional partners) to understand needs and ensure coordinated progress.
  • organise and support regular consortium calls, workshops, training sessions, and coordination meetings, including preparing agendas, taking minutes, and monitoring follow‑up actions.
  • assessing and escalating issues and risks as appropriate.
• Contribute to developing communications plans, including preparing presentations, project summaries, newsletters, and maintaining online content to promote the project.
• Maintain an up to date knowledge of project management methodologies.
• Determine short term priorities for own work, ensuring you maximise quality, efficiency and continuity.
• Assist in the evaluation and review of projects.
• You may be asked to manage other colleagues working on the project/s and this will include allocating work.
• Supports the University’s sustainability agenda through resource efficient working.
• Promotes equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
• Any other duties commensurate with the grade.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Educated to Degree level (or equivalent qualifications). Where no equivalent qualification is held, significant practical relevant experience and expertise in a similar role will be required.
• Significant practical experience in a similar role, experience of using project management tools, ideally within a research, academic, public health, or international development environment.
• Evidence of literacy and numeracy, with the ability to write clearly, and to analyse information and data.
• Highly proficient IT skills, including the wider MS Office suite of programmes including Excel and PowerPoint.
• Ability to understand policy, processes and procedures, but also to recommend improvements and implement changes.
• Excellent analytical skills used to produce reports, identify issues and resolve them decisively.
• Excellent interpersonal skills. The post holder must inspire confidence and command authority with a range of colleagues and provide excellent customer service at all times.
• A high degree of professionalism, tact, and diplomacy, and the ability to exercise discretion regarding the handling and management of sensitive information/issues.
• A high degree of initiative, personal judgement, resourcefulness, flexibility, and a self‑motivating approach.
• Ability to work effectively in a large, complex organisation, and to develop a good understanding of how the University and higher education institutions work.
• 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

• Experience supporting multi‑country or multi‑partner research programmes.
• Experience working in global health, international NGOs, universities, or research consortia.

Further particulars can be found here

Informal enquiries to Jo Sartori, email: [e-mail]

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彩彩票平台. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy.

You can find out more about our workدن to create a fairer university for everyone on our website .