Research Centres Support Assistant

The University of Edinburgh; City of Edinburgh; Hybrid; GBP 26,000 - 29,000; Full time

Job summary

A prestigious educational institution in Scotland is seeking a full-time Research Centres Support Assistant. The role involves administrative support for the Design Informatics and OPENspace Research Centres, along with responsibilities for managing exhibitions and student placements. Candidates should possess excellent communication skills, experience in financial administration, and strong IT abilities. This position offers a dynamic working environment and the opportunity to be part of a diverse community.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Generous holiday entitlement

Comprehensive staff benefits

Qualifications

• Strong understanding of communication across various stakeholders.
• Experience in financial and database systems management.
• Ability to prioritize tasks in a busy environment.

Responsibilities

• Provide administrative assistance to the Design Informatics and OPENspace Research Centres.
• Manage venue booking and diary for Inspace exhibitions.
• Assist with student placements and field trips in the Design Informatics programme.

Skills

Excellent communication skills

Financial administration experience

Strong numeracy skills

Highly developed IT skills

Ability to manage workload

Ability to work under pressure

Job description

Grade UE04: £26,093 to £28,778 per annum

CAHSS / Edinburgh College of Art / Research, Knowledge Exchange and Impact (RKEI) Office

Full-time: 35 hours per week

Open-ended: permanent

The Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh is seeking to recruit a full-time Research Centres Support Assistant on an open-ended basis.

The Opportunity

An exciting support opportunity has opened in the Institutes for Design Informatics, Inspace and OPENspace.

The successful postholder will provide and contribute administrative assistance and support, working within established processes and procedures, as well as advising of new ones, for the running of two of ECA’s Research Centres: Design Informatics and OPENspace. Design Informatics works across teaching, research and engagement, including the public-facing Inspace venue which this role provides additional support for (e.g. venue booking and diary management, front of house invigilation during exhibitions). This role also supports the ECA Postgraduate Office with administrative assistance for the student placements and field trips within the Design Informatics teaching programme. OPENspace is an international research centre for inclusive access to outdoor environments, this role provides administration for work including OPENspace’s research seminar series.

Inspace runs a select programme of exhibitions, open to the public, at key times throughout the year. During these times, the working days for this role are usually Tuesday – Saturday 9.15am-5.15pm. In the month of August and occasionally for key strategic events (e.g. Science Festival, Edinburgh Doors Open Day, Summer Festivals), the working schedule can be adjusted to include Sunday and Monday working (maintaining a 5-day week).

This role will usually be based on campus but we are able to accommodate some limited hybrid working.

Skills and Attributes for Success

• Excellent communication skills orally and in writing, with the ability to communicate well with both internal and external contacts.
• Strong numeracy skills with previous experience of financial administration, and financial and database systems.
• Highly developed IT skills and experience, and ability to quickly learn and use new packages and booking systems.
• Ability to understand own work priorities and those of colleagues, in order to plan and prioritise workload on a daily basis, to facilitate achievement of research project timetable of events, and to manage time across two research centres.
• Ability to work under pressure in a busy environment, to use initiative and judgment to resolve many day-to-day problems independently.

Application Information

Please ensure you include the following documents in your application:

• CV
• Cover letter

As a valued member of our team you can expect:

• A competitive salary
• An exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work.
• To be part of a diverse and vibrant international community
• Comprehensive Staff Benefits, such as a generous holiday entitlement, competitive pension schemes, staff discounts, and family-friendly initiatives. Check out the full list on our staff benefits page

Championing equality, diversity and inclusion

The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter and we are also Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champions, actively promoting LGBT equality.

Prior to any employment commencing with the University you will be required to evidence your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on our right to work webpages.

The University is unable to sponsor the employment of international workers in this role. International applicants will therefore be unable to apply for and secure a Skilled Worker visa. They will only be able to take up this role if they can demonstrate an alternative right to work in the UK.

Key dates to note

The closing date for applications is 9th October 2025.

Unless stated otherwise the closing time for applications is 11:59pm GMT. If you are applying outside the UK the closing time on our adverts automatically adjusts to your browsers local time zone.