Research Finance Officer

Cardiff University / Prifysgol Caerdydd; Cardiff; Hybrid; GBP 27,000 - 31,000; Full time

Job summary

A major UK university in Cardiff is hiring a Research Finance Officer to support the effective management of research projects. Candidates should have strong organizational skills, be proactive in problem-solving, and have a good command of financial processes. This full-time, fixed-term role offers a salary of £27,644 - £30,805 per annum, with a blend of on-site and flexible working options.

Benefits

Flexible working arrangement

Opportunities for progression

Welcoming environment

Qualifications

• Experience in financial project management.
• Ability to learn funder terms and conditions rapidly.
• Experience of handling large volumes of financial data.

Responsibilities

• Proactively manage a portfolio of externally funded research projects.
• Build good working relationships with academic departments.
• Prepare financial claims and cost statements for internal and external review.

Skills

Strong organizational skills

Proactive problem-solving

Communication skills

Attention to detail

Education

GCSE passes at grades A-C in English & Mathematics

Relevant practical accounting qualification

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Outlook

Job description

Advert

Research Finance Officer

The Research Service is recruiting for the exciting role of Research Finance Officer. Working within the Research Post Award Team the main purpose of the role is to provide comprehensive administrative and professional support to the Post Award Team and stakeholders to support the effective management of research projects/contracts.

Role

You will form strong working relationships with other members of the wider Research team, other Finance colleagues, and academics. Your role's key purpose is to:

• To proactively manage a portfolio of externally funded research and research related projects from acceptance to closure including ensuring the completeness and accuracy of claims and invoices and identifying issues on projects. Post holders will be expected to work independently and without supervision for much of the time.
• To demonstrate a service ethos, building good working relationships with stakeholders (particularly those in academic departments) through close communication and information sharing, and collaborative working.
• To be knowledgeable on funder and University rules to ensure compliance so that all relevant and eligible costs are claimed, and financial clawback and sanctions are avoided. To effectively communicate rules to internal stakeholders
  
  

The ideal candidate will possess strong organizational skills, a proactive problem-solving approach, and the ability to collaborate effectively.

This role is eligible to be offered on a blended working basis, meaning that as well as spending time working on campus you can also choose to spend some time working from another location, e.g. your home. The University is committed to offering this flexibility, wherever the role and business need allows, supporting work-life balance. The Research Service has adopted a blended flexible working approach, with staff attending the office at least 2 days a week and remote working for the remaining days, subject to business need requirements.

As the biggest university in Wales – and a major employer, with more than 7,000 staff – we are an ambitious and innovative university located in a beautiful and thriving capital city. We can offer you the chance to work in a vibrant organisation, with great benefits and opportunities for progression.

This role is full-time and fixed-term until 31st March 2026, to cover a period of maternity cover.

Salary: £27,644 - £30,805 per annum (Grade 4).

Date advert posted: Friday, 1 August 2025

Closing date: Friday, 15 August 2025

Cardiff University is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse range of staff from many different backgrounds. We therefore welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of sex, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, trans identity, relationship status, religion or belief, caring responsibilities, or age. In supporting our employees to achieve a balance between their work and their personal lives, we will also consider proposals for flexible working or job share arrangements.

Applications may be submitted in Welsh, and an application submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application submitted in English.

Job Description

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Key Duties

• To establish working relationships with key contacts on your allocated research projects, developing appropriate communication links with the University's Schools/ Directorates and outside bodies, as required, as well as regular liaison with other Finance sections.
• To maintain updated rules, terms and conditions of the research funder and advise academics and project partners of their obligations under same.
• To gather and analyse data from research project financial reports, monitor project budgets, and advise principal investigators of any estimated under or overspends so as to enable informed future project decisions.
• To ensure that all financial records relating to the University and research partners are maintained in order to satisfy both internal and external audit requirements, including advising on eligibility of all project expenditure and the requirement regarding supporting documentation, whilst acting as the main contact point between the University and research project partners on financial issues.
• To prepare financial claims and cost statements, both electronically and manually in a timely manner, for both internal and external review, whilst ensuring claims from the external funder are in line with either the University's Financial Regulations and Policies or agreed funder's Terms and Conditions.
  
  

Specific Duties

• Prepare and submit reconciliations, claims and invoices:
• Perform financial reconciliations and prepare monetary claims for projects in line with funder deadlines (co-ordinating where Cardiff is the lead).
• Ensure claims and invoices are complete and accurate and, following line manager review, submit to funders in line with strict funder eligibility rules and deadlines. Complete claims on various external funder systems as required
• Project Financial Management & Control:
• Regular communication (including meetings with your line manager) with departments across the University (for example: ongoing project management; or closedown).
• Identify changes to projects (for example: in the start or end date) and implications of these through close communication with departments. Act, as appropriate, in agreement with or through escalation with line manager.
• Knowledgeable on funder rules and University Financial Regulations and Policies, including effectively advising departments on application of these, and identifying related issues, escalating to line manager as necessary; keeping up to date with changes and communicating these, and the implications of them, to internal stakeholders as appropriate.
• Monitor research projects which have ended and ensure that appropriate actions are taken for a prompt and orderly close for archiving.
• Liaise with accounts receivable and funders regarding debt chasing and escalate issues where necessary to your line manager.
  
  

Audit

• Support the Research Finance Manager to arrange audits, prepare documentation for these, and respond in a timely manner to basic audit queries from external or internal auditors.
  
  

General Duties

• Abide by all University policies and undergo appropriate personal and professional development.
• Perform other duties which are not included above, but which will be consistent with the role.
• Uphold the Professional Services Values & Behaviours or local equivalent.
  
  

Person Specification

We want to employ people with a wide variety of experiences. We welcome applications from all sections of the community regardless of sex, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, trans identity, relationship status, religion or belief, caring responsibilities, or age. We are particularly seeking applications from candidates who come from backgrounds that are underrepresented at the University, including people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities.

We are looking for a team player who will work with colleagues to provide a great service to colleagues.

This role may be an opportunity for you to build on your experience from working in a previous administrative role or environment with particular interest in research finance showing your transferable skills and aptitude to be successful in the role. You should be enthusiastic about developing your knowledge and skills to become a valued member of the team.

Your application will be assessed against the following essential and desirable criteria for the role. Please copy and paste this section into a new document and give clear examples of how you can evidence meeting each criterion by writing under each one. You can draw on elements from any aspect of your life (e.g. work, home, education/qualifications or community life) if you focus on their relevance to the role.

Essential Criteria

Qualifications and Education

• GCSE passes at grades A-C in English & Mathematics and/or relevant practical accounting qualification, such as A.A.T and/or experience in financial project management.
  
  

Knowledge, Skills And Experience

• Post-holders must be highly proficient in their use of IT systems, especially Microsoft Excel and Outlook or close equivalent.
• Experience of handling large volumes of financial data and working to a high standard of accuracy and attention to detail.
• Ability to learn new areas of knowledge and skills rapidly (for example, to understand funder terms and conditions).
  
  

Customer Service, Communication and Team Working

• Good verbal/written communication and interpersonal skills, i.e., ability to communicate financial information effectively, by way of email or visual media (e.g. Zoom/Teams), to range of research project stakeholders with varying levels of understanding.
  
  

Planning, Analysis and Problem Solving

6 Ability to adapt to a flexible working environment and plan your time and tasks accordingly.

7 Ability to manage a variety of tasks at any one time, work under pressure and achieve strict deadlines whilst maintaining a high standard of customer service.

8 Evidence of ability to solve problems using initiative and creativity.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience of using Oracle finance system or equivalent.
• Experience of working effectively in a large complex organisation.
• Experience in higher education/research finance role or similar environment.
• Studying towards a CCAB professional accounting.
• Fluency in Welsh, written and oral.
  
  

Important note: It is the University’s policy to use the person specification as a key tool for short-listing. Candidates should evidence that they meet ALL of the essential criteria as well as, where relevant, the desirable. As part of the application process you will be asked to provide this evidence via a supporting statement. Please ensure that the evidence you are providing corresponds with the numbered criteria outlined below. Your application will be considered based on the information you provide under each element.

When attaching the supporting statement to your application profile, please ensure that you name it with the vacancy reference number, e.g. Supporting Statement for 20445BR.

Additional Information

HOW WE WILL SUPPORT YOU IN PERFORMING THIS ROLE

We want to support and develop you in the role, using a combination of the following to help you reach your full potential.

• Regular one-to-one meetings with your team leader.
• An experienced and supportive team around you.
• Support to undertake job-relevant training and development, as identified by your Line Manager. This could be informal or could be an apprenticeship leading to a formal qualification, such as Business administration NVQ.
• A staff mentoring scheme.
• Support to learn Welsh or to update language skills.
  
  

About The Research Service

Cardiff is an ambitious and innovative university located in a beautiful and thriving capital city. Our world-leading research was ranked 5th for quality amongst UK universities in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework and we provide an educationally outstanding experience for our 30,000 students. With an annual budget in excess of £500 million and around 6,000 staff, Cardiff is a member of the Russell Group of the 24 leading UK research-intensive universities. The University has 24 academic schools grouped into three colleges: Biomedical & Life Sciences, Physical Sciences & Engineering and Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences.

The University’s ambition is to rank consistently among the top 100 universities in the world. Cardiff is also developing its Innovation System through a focused programme of investment in people and infrastructure. Research funding secured from competitive, external sources exceeds £100 million annually and the University aims to grow this further through winning grants from a wide range of national and global sources.

The Research Service supports the University’s research community in initiating and delivering research and innovation activities. Led by the Director, Vanessa Cuthill, we provides services via over 100 expert staff organised in five specialist teams: Research Grants Office; Research Integrity, Governance and Ethics; Research Development; Research Commercialisation and Impact; Research Strategy and Operations and Business Engagement and Partnerships. The Department works closely with academic and professional services staff from all areas of the institution.

Salary Range Min.

27,644

Salary Range Max.

30,805

Job Category

Admin / Clerical

Grade

Grade 4