London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Job Title: UK-PHRST Project Coordinator
Department: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Faculty: Epidemiology and Population Health (EPH)
Location: Keppel Street, London
Full-time/ Part-time/ Casual: Full-time
Hours: 35 hours per week
Grade: 5
Reports to: UK-PHRST Project Manager(s)
Accountable to: UK-PHRST Programme Manager
Overall Purpose of the Job
The post-holder will be responsible for providing proactive and efficient administrative, logistical and financial support across a large portfolio of research projects within the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST), an innovative government-academic partnership funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and co-led by UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), with a consortium of academic and implementing partners in the UK and internationally. Current research and capacity strengthening projects with LMIC partners include epidemiological, mental health, social science, clinical and laboratory studies in infectious disease outbreak detection, preparedness and response.
The post-holder will develop a good understanding of the funder terms and conditions for the Programme and work collaboratively with administrative staff, scientific colleagues and programme partners to support the management and delivery of a diverse portfolio of collaborative projects in lower and middle income countries (LMICs). The post-holder will provide sound advice in all aspects of grant administration and ensure compliance with funder and LSHTM policies and procedures, including the School’s Financial Regulations. The post-holder will sit within the UK-PHRST Programme Management function and will be accountable to the Project Managers and Programme Manager.
GENERAL INFORMATION
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is renowned for its research, postgraduate studies and continuing education in public and global health.
Our mission is to improve health and health equity in the UK and worldwide; working in partnership to achieve excellence in public and global health research, education and translation of knowledge into policy and practice.
We embrace and value the diversity of our staff and student population and seek to promote equity, diversity and inclusion as essential elements in contribution to improving health worldwide. We believe that when people feel respected and included, they can be more creative, successful, and happier at work. While we have more work to do, we are committed to building an inclusive workplace, a community that everyone feels a part of, which is safe, respectful, supportive and enables all to reach their full potential.
History
Founded in 1899 at the London Docks, LSHTM is now based in Bloomsbury, where it has two main sites at Keppel Street and Tavistock Place, and additional sites in The Gambia and Uganda. Today, our staff, students and alumni work in government, academia, international agencies and health services across the world.
Research
Research income has grown to more than £180 million per year from national and international funding sources including UK government and research councils, the European Union, the Wellcome Trust, Gates Foundation and other philanthropic sources.
Our diverse research talents, skills and experience underpin our position as a leader in public and global health. These range from the molecular to the global, the theoretical to the applied, the analytical to the political. Our staff are conducting research in more than 100 countries.
Staff community
We have 3,300 staff based all around the world with core hubs in London and at the MRC Units in The Gambia and Uganda, which joined LSHTM in February 2018. Our outstanding, diverse and committed staff make an impact where it is most needed – deploying research in real time in response to crises, developing innovative programmes for major health threats, or training the next generations of public and global health leaders and researchers.
Partnerships
Working in partnership is central to achieving our mission. Our strategic collaborations in the UK and across high-, middle- and low-income countries deliver health and socioeconomic benefits across the world, especially in the most disadvantaged communities.
LSHTM is also a member of the M8 Alliance of Academic Health Centers, Universities and National Academies, the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region, and the Consortium of Universities for Global Health.
Education
We deliver research-led educational programmes to future health leaders, managers and researchers across the world. We have more than 1,200 face-to-face Master’s and Doctoral students, 3,000 studying by distance learning, and 1,000 each year on short courses and continuous professional development. Our free online courses are studied by more than 270,000 participants globally.
Excellence in research and education
We perform strongly in various global university league tables. In the ShanghaiRanking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2020 we placed 3rd in public health (1st in the UK). In the 2020 CWTS Leiden Ranking LSHTM is ranked the UK’s top university for the proportion of academic research with women listed as authors, and third in Europe for publishing open access research.
In the US News Best Global Universities Ranking 2021, we ranked 3rd in the world for public, environmental & occupational health, 4th in the world for infectious diseases, 11th in the world for social sciences & public health, and 12th best University in the UK overall. We ranked 27th for medicine in the 2019 QS World University Rankings.
In 2017, the inaugural Center for World University Rankings by Subject placed LSHTM first in the world for tropical medicine research, second for parasitology and seventh for infectious diseases, public, environment and occupational health, and social sciences and biomedical.
LSHTM was named University of the Year 2016 by Times Higher Education and awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2017 in recognition of our response to the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa. LSHTM does not appear in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings as universities are excluded if they do not teach undergraduates.
LSHTM is one of around 20 specialist institutions that receive institution specific funding from the Office for Students (OfS). This funding recognises the additional costs that LSHTM incurs because of its unique range of teaching, specialist facilities, and the scale of its contributions to national and international agencies.
FACULTY INFORMATION
Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health
The Faculty of Epidemiology & Population Health (EPH) houses a large group of epidemiologists, demographers, statisticians and nutritionists working on issues of major public health importance in the UK and globally. EPH has approximately 400 staff members organised into four research departments:
• Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology
• Department of Medical Statistics
• Department of Non-communicable Disease Epidemiology
• Department of Population Health
The Faculty has a teaching programme consisting of ten MSc courses: Epidemiology, Demography and Health, Medical Statistics, Public Health in Developing Countries (run jointly with the Faculties of Infectious & Tropical Diseases and Public Health & Policy), Nutrition for Global Health, Reproductive & Sexual Health Research, Veterinary Epidemiology (run jointly with the Royal Veterinary College), Global Mental Health (run jointly with Kings College London–- Institute of Psychiatry) and the Distance Learning courses in Epidemiology and Clinical Trials. The Faculty also has approximately 120 research students studying for an MPhil, PhD or DrPH degree.
The Dean of Faculty is Professor Elizabeth Allen
DEPARTMENT INFORMATION
Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology (IDE)
The Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology conducts research on the epidemiology and control of infectious diseases of public health importance. Work is carried out in low-, middle- and high-income countries, including the United Kingdom, in close collaboration with partners in each country. The Department has groups working on maternal, neonatal and child health; international statistics and epidemiology; vaccines, outbreaks and humanitarian crises; and modelling. Research methods include ecological studies of variations in disease frequency in different populations, observational casecontrol and cohort studies to define risk factors for disease, randomized controlled trials to evaluate the effectiveness of individual- and community-level interventions, and mathematical models to project the impact of public health interventions.
The Department Head is Professor Mark Jit.
The UK Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST)
Launched in 2016, the UK-PHRST is an innovative government-academic partnership funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and co-led by UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), with a consortium of academic and implementing partners in the UK and internationally.
It is comprised of a multidisciplinary team of public health professionals and researchers with a novel integrated triple-remit of outbreak response, research and capacity strengthening to prevent and control epidemics of infectious diseases in countries eligible for UK Official Development Assistance (ODA). Both institutes contribute and are responsible for delivery of the UK-PHRST triple mandate across outbreak response, research and capacity strengthening, with LSHTM leading the research programme and UKHSA who lead the outbreak response.
The UK-PHRST has the following objectives:
1. Support partners in LMICs to investigate and respond to disease outbreaks rapidly at source, with the aim of stopping a public health threat from becoming a health emergency.
2. Identify research gaps and deliver rigorous research with partners that improves the evidence base for best practice in disease outbreak prevention, detection and response in LMICs.
3. Develop in-country capacity for an improved and rapid national response to disease outbreaks and support implementation of International Health Regulations.
The UK-PHRST team is comprised of epidemiologists, microbiologists, infection prevention and control experts, social scientists, and in addition to the Director and Deputy Director for research, the core management team. It is underpinned by a cadre of multidisciplinary outbreak-focused research fellows.
UK Health Security Agency
At the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) our mission is to provide health security for the nation by protecting from infectious disease and external hazards. We are a trusted source of advice to government and to the public, focusing on reducing inequalities in the way different communities experience and are impacted by infectious disease, environmental hazards, and other threats to health.
Our mission is challenging, innovative and in the spotlight. We will work to ensure our people have the diverse skills, experiences and backgrounds we need to thrive, that our staff are representative of the communities we serve and feel valued and enabled to play their part in delivering our work. Creating our working culture is an ongoing process which we are developing by listening and learning together, hearing and acting upon diverse voices and opinions to develop a common sense of identity and effective ways of working.
The portfolio of duties outlined below will vary in accordance with the detailed expectations of the role (attached), which may be varied from time to time, and agreed at your annual Performance and Development Review (PDR).
Job Description
The role holder will be expected to:
Project coordination
• Oversee all non-scientific aspects of the project/ projects in the portfolio; including organising travel, visas, reimbursement of expenses, arranging project meetings, workshops and conference calls, ordering stationery, supplies and shipment overseas.
• Prepare and collate material for research grant applications; creating costings, completing funders’ web-based forms and ensuring that applications are submitted according to the funding regulations.
• Identify funding opportunities for future research, and advise on internal and external guidelines and requirements.
• Develop and maintain information management systems for appropriate administration of the project(s); contributing to the strategic trajectory of projects and sustainability beyond the current grant lifecycle
• Receive, understand and convey complex information that needs careful explanation/interpretation to project team members, Professional Services, funders and overseas collaborators.
• Identify or anticipate problems that may arise within the areas of administration/financial management and develop innovative and workable solutions, escalating when appropriate
• Act as a point of contact for funders in relation to the administration of projects where sub-contracts are held in the UK or overseas.
• Coordinate, and participate in, leadership team meetings and conference calls and assist with the arrangement of occasional large-scale meetings/conferences.
• Draft agendas, supporting papers and take minutes for team conference calls and other meetings, ensuring action points are followed up.
Finance
• Proactively manage the project budget(s), which may include budgets over a million pounds, maintaining accurate financial records, drafting budget justifications, budget re-profiles, uplifts and extensions.
• Take independent decisions on budget, expenditure and staff funding using own knowledge in conjunction with written guidelines/checklists and templates.
• Understand and adhere to the school Financial Regulations and funder regulations.
• Assist Research Operations with the establishment of sub-contracts with partner organisations, advising on reporting/ invoicing requirements and audits.
• Review financial reports submitted by sub-contractors/collaborators to ensure the expenditure is in line with the budget and funding regulations, keeping own records of budget vs expenditure for each collaborator.
• Provide financial management reports to the Principal Investigator, and advice on direction of spending and allocation of resources, including budget forecasting, interpreting trends/patterns and making predictions.
• Collate and submit evidence of expenditure, such as copies of invoices, receipts and timesheets, to funding organisations and auditors.
• Work with Research Operations to complete detailed financial reports for submission to funding organisations, collating and submitting evidence of expenditure as appropriate and ensuring these are delivered on time.
Human Resources
• Assist in the recruitment process for new staff members including drafting job descriptions and HERA job evaluations, arranging interviews and participating in short-listing/interview panels as appropriate.
• Pro-actively monitor staffing on projects, through staff forecasting and advise the Principal Investigator when funding shortfalls arise and work together to achieve a solution.
• Prepare Payroll Funding Variation Forms (PFVFs) to extend staff contracts and change funding or full time equivalent (FTE).
• Assist in the induction and training and of new staff or temporary administrative staff within the team.
• Support staff based overseas to operate effectively and in compliance with the school’s human resources and financial policies and procedures.
Communication
• Maintain webpages, including updating project and output/work package information and other communications materials.
• Respond to requests from LSHTM’s press office and other sources regarding press and other enquires.
• Contribute to drafting written non-scientific elements of annual reports, other documentation relating to the research project and communication, promotion and dissemination documents, such as newsletters.
• Keep an up-to-date list of publications and project outputs, and make researchers aware of open access publishing requirements.
Other
• Undertake visits to overseas sites to attend meetings and workshops as required.
• Work as part of a team and show awareness and consideration of other administrative roles in the department, covering periods of absence of others in the programme management team.
• Take responsibility for additional tasks and projects where there is capacity.
• Adhere to Faculty and School policy and procedures at all times.
• Demonstrate continuous professional development by acquiring relevant skills and competencies e.g. keeping up to date with changes in procedures/regulations, attending relevant training.
• Contribute to general activities of the Department and School that help to promote the objectives of the school.
Generic duties and responsibilities of all LSHTM employees
This job description reflects the present requirements of the post but may be altered at any time in the future as duties and responsibilities change and/or develop providing there is full consultation with the post-holder.
The post-holder will carry out any other duties, tasks or responsibilities as reasonably requested by the line manager, Dean of Faculty, Head of Department or Director of Professional Service.
The post holder will be responsible and accountable for ensuring all School policies, procedures, Regulations and employment legislative requirements are adhered to including equality and diversity and health and safety.
This job description is not a definitive or exhaustive list of responsibilities but identifies the key responsibilities and tasks of the post holder. The specific objectives of the post holder will be subject to review as part of the individual performance review (appraisal) process.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
This form lists the essential and desirable requirements needed by the post holder to be able to perform the job effectively.
Job Title: Project Coordinator
Department: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Essential Requirement
Education, Qualifications and Training
• Higher education to degree level or equivalent or substantial relevant experience.
• Evidence of continuous professional development including internal or external training and development programmes.
Experience
• Substantial relevant experience of providing proactive administrative support in Higher Education (or similar environment) and working closely with academic staff members.
• Significant experience of providing administrative/financial support for research projects.
• Proven ability to manage own work-load, organising and prioritising tasks to meet deadlines.
• Proven ability to monitor a budget and prepare accurate costings, projections and reports.
• Proven ability to understand and communicate/explain information (e.g. organisational policies and processes and funder terms and conditions) to others and to respond to a range of queries.
• Experience of planning and providing proactive support for meetings and/or events booking rooms/travel/accommodation, including preparing papers, taking and writing up minutes.
• Excellent relevant IT skills (e.g. MS Word and Excel) and willingness to learn new software packages.
• Experience of establishing or developing systems or processes to manage information.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills including proven ability to present financial and other information in a clear and logical format.
Knowledge
• An understanding of academic research and funding within higher education.
• Financially literate with sound knowledge of budgeting and resource management principles.
Personal Qualities
• Excellent interpersonal skills including the ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships.
• A collaborative and flexible approach with evidence of ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Proven ability to use initiative and judgement to solve problems and to suggest ways of working more efficiently or effectively.
Desirable Requirements:
Experience
• Working knowledge of funder terms and conditions and Full Economic Costing (FEC) methodology.
• Some experience of working in an outbreak response context or within a humanitarian organisation.
• Some experience of working on health research projects in a higher education context or within a global health organisation.
Salary and conditions of appointment
The posts are full-time, 1.0 FTE, 35 hours and fixed term until 31 March 2025.
The salary will be on the Professional Services scale Grade 5 in the range £36,438- £41,829 per annum (inclusive of London Weighting). The post will be subject to the LSHTM terms and conditions of service. Annual leave entitlement is 30 working days per year, pro-rata for part-time staff. In addition to this there are discretionary “Wellbeing Days”. Membership of the Pension Scheme is available. The post is based in London.
Asylum and Immigration
The School will comply with current UKVI legislation, which requires all employees to provide documentary evidence of their legal right to work in this country prior to commencing employment. Candidates will be required to email a copy of their passport (and visa if applicable) to HR prior to their interview and if appointed will be asked to bring the original documents in to be copied and verified before their start date.
Applications from candidates who require sponsorship to work in the UK will be considered alongside other applications. Applicants who do not currently have the right to work in the UK will have to satisfy UK Visas & Immigration regulations before they can be appointed.
Further information about Sponsorship and eligibility to work in the UK, can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-skilled-worker
How to apply
Applications should be made on-line via our website at http://jobs.lshtm.ac.uk. Online applications will be accepted by the automated system until 10pm of the closing date. Any queries regarding the application process may be addressed to [email protected]. Please quote reference EPH-IDE-2022-55.
The supporting statement section should set out how your qualifications, experience and training meet each of the selection criteria. Please provide one or more paragraphs addressing each criterion. The supporting statement is an essential part of the selection process and thus a failure to provide this information will mean that the application will not be considered. An answer to any of the criteria such as “Please see attached CV” will not be considered acceptable.
Please note that if you are shortlisted and are unable to attend on the interview date it may not be possible to offer you an alternative date.