Senior Programme Manager - School of Social Policy and Society - 104943 - Grade 8

University of Birmingham; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 46,000 - 56,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Birmingham is seeking a Senior Programme Manager to oversee large projects in the Centre for Evidence and Implementation Science. This full-time role requires significant project management experience, strong stakeholder engagement skills, and a commitment to fostering diversity and inclusion in the workplace. The position offers an attractive salary and benefits package in a progressive academic environment.

Benefits

40 days paid holiday a year

Pension scheme

Generous benefits package including sick pay

Paid day for volunteering

Qualifications

• Significant project management experience in large or complex projects.
• Proven ability to engage and collaborate with stakeholders.
• High level of self-motivation and personal accountability.

Responsibilities

• Manage multiple projects across the School or College, ensuring objectives are met.
• Develop and implement evaluation strategies and reporting procedures.
• Guide and manage diverse staff to achieve targets within resource constraints.

Skills

Project Management

Stakeholder Engagement

Analytical Skills

Communication Skills

People Management

Budget Management

Education

Relevant degree or equivalent qualification

Formal Project Management qualifications such as APMP, Prince2 or MSP

Tools

MS Office

Job description

Position Details

School of Social Policy and Society

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £46,735 to £55,755 with potential progression once in post to £62,728

Grade: 8

Full Time, Permanent

Closing date: 5th August 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, andweare 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 todevelopthrough our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programmewhichprovides allprofessionalservices staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential.With almost 5,000professionalservices jobs in a wide-range of functionsin Edgbaston andin our campus inDubai, there are plenty of opportunities foryou to be able to develop yourcareer 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 andtothe success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer avarietyof 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 dayspaid holidaya 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 thebenefits of working for the Universityof Birmingham

Background

Centre for Evidence and Implementation Science (CEIS) is a leading interdisciplinary research centre that aims to improve health and social care decision-making through applied evaluation, evidence synthesis and evidence-based policy.

CEIS is home to more than forty staff across four research groups, who provide Health Technology Assessment , Evidence Synthesis , policy & methods (including the Applied Research Centre ), and evidence-based surgery. We conduct research on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care, Department for Education, the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the UK National Screening Committee amongst others. The Senior Programme Manager is a key role for CEIS and is responsible for managing the research projects for the institute.

Role Summary

To manage large or multiple projects across a School, College or professional service area, or make a significant contribution to larger University-wide projects as part of a project team.

Main Duties

Project Delivery

Responsible for managing large or multiple projects that may have contributors from multiple areas.This will include some or all of the following:

• leading on the management of the project, including influencing and developing complex project plans;
• creating and maintaining an overall project management plan for the whole project or projects using project management principles and using appropriate software;
• identifying objectives and indicators of success;
• planning, organising and maintaining a regular schedule of project meetings and ensuring sufficient engagement by all relevant parties to the project;
• establish effective networking relationships with all stakeholders;
• managing the budget for the project as required;
• delivering project outputs agreed with senior management, on time, to budget and to the agreed quality standard.

Monitoring, evaluation and communication

• Develop and implement a comprehensive evaluation strategy for the project.
• Establish and implement reporting procedures which meet requirements, and ensure all necessary data is gathered in a timely and efficient manner.
• Analyse data to determine if it is fit for purpose, and take appropriate action to ensure data quality where necessary.
• Develop reporting mechanisms for the project then report on project progress to the project board or equivalent and highlight any risks.
• Maintain a risk register as appropriate, and communicate risks in a timely manner, proactively proposing solutions.
• Engage and communicate with a variety of stakeholders to ensure progress but also to disseminate outputs of the project as appropriate.

People management

• Manage diverse groups of staff ensuring relevant targets and goals are achieved within resource constraints.
• Create a motivating environment where staff are challenged, developed, encouraged and supported to achieve outstanding results.
• Responsible for ensuring all annual review processes, including Performance and Development Reviews are conducted in the service area.
• Identify appropriate opportunities for development and change and encourage other team members to do the same.
• Guide staff through periods of change, communicating a clear and positive vision.

General

• Actively manages equality, diversity and inclusion through monitoring and evaluation and actively challenging unacceptable behaviour.
• Supports the University’s sustainability agenda through resource efficient working.
• Any other duties commensurate with the grade.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Relevant degree or relevant equivalent professional qualification, plus significant project management experience (in increasingly large and/or complex projects) or substantial relevant experience evidencing the experience required in this role.
• Formal Project Management qualifications such as APMP, Prince2 or MSP.
• Authoritative knowledge of the work practices, processes and procedures relevant to the role, including broader sector/commercial awareness.
• Evidence of literacy and numeracy, with the ability to write clearly for a variety of audiences, and to produce and analyse source material, information and data.
• Proven ability to meet targets, with minimal supervision to deadlines.
• Substantial experience of engaging, and collaborating, with internal and external stakeholders.
• Proven analytical and problem solving skills that will help to identify and implement improvements and efficiencies across the project or projects you work on.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to influence and negotiate effectively with a range of stakeholders.
• Experience of managing large financial budgets along with experience of budget planning and forecasting.
• Highly proficient IT skills, including the MS Office suite.You should be confident and able to quickly learn new IT skills and software packages as required.
• Excellent people management skills, with proven experience of leading, motivating and managing teams.
• High level of self-motivation and personal accountability with ability to plan and deliver goals to deadlines under pressure.
• Ability to monitor and evaluate the extent to which equality and diversity legislation, policies, procedures are applied.
• Ability to identify issues with the potential to impact on protected groups and take appropriate action.
• Experience of championing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in own work area.

Informal enquiries to Susan Davies, email: [e-mail]

View our staff values and behaviourshere

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 .