Research Contracts Officer

Salary: £40,000 - £42,500

Hours: 37 hours

Employment Type: Permanent/Full Time

Contract Length: Permanent

Closing Date: 27 February 2026

Organisation position and purpose

The Research Contracts Officer is a critical member of the Knowledge Exchange and Commercialisation (KEC) team, and will support The Pirbright Institute's strategy by drafting, reviewing, and negotiating a variety of contracts related to our research. The role will be responsible for ensuring that contracts meet the expectations of academic staff, and external collaborators, while protecting the Institute's interests and obligations. The position plays a key role in the Institute's reputation externally.

The role is well suited to a confident self-starter who thrives in a fast-paced environment, managing competing priorities and multiple demands.

Main duties and responsibility

• Drafting contracts using Institute templates, tailored as appropriate to the specific research project
• Reviewing contracts drafted by external partners
• Ensuring that contracts support the academics' overall research programme
• Ensuring that contracts do not breach or otherwise contradict previous agreements, including funding agreements
• Understanding and protecting the Institute's legal interests
• Ensuring contracts comply with Institute policy

Responsible for maintaining and building relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including but not limited to:

• Internal research teams
• Internal support services, such as Finance and Grants Administration
• External contracts or legal teams, which may be based in the UK or abroad, and within commercial, academic, or charitable organisations

Responsible for updating and maintaining the KEC team's agreements and projects database:

• Ensuring the database contains complete and accurate information relating to contracts
• Setting up appropriate alerts to manage contractual milestones
• Communicating payment schedules, reporting schedules, and other necessary information to the appropriate internal teams.

Supporting the Institute's compliance with legal frameworks, such as Trusted Research and Innovation and the Nagoya Protocol:

• Ensuring that contracts are aligned with Trusted Research and Innovation requirements
• Determining access and benefit sharing requirements of biological material used by research groups, and taking the necessary actions to comply, e.g. negotiating benefit sharing agreements
• Supporting internal cross-team processes for the Institute's compliance with legal frameworks

Specific requirements Essential:

• Bachelor's degree in biosciences, or equivalent relevant professional experience
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate clearly with a range of audiences
• Highly organised, with the ability to prioritise a varied workload and work to strict deadlines
• Ability to work effectively both independently and collaboratively, including as part of a multidisciplinary team
• Ability to use standard office IT systems, including word processing, spreadsheets, and databases, to record, manage, and maintain accurate information

Desirable:

• Experience of drafting, reviewing, or negotiating contracts, ideally in a research or commercial context
• Experience working within the public, academic, or charitable sector
• Understanding of intellectual property concepts relevant to research, such as ownership, licensing, and confidentiality
• Understanding of Trusted Research and Innovation and the Nagoya Protocol, or similar regulatory or compliance frameworks

If you are interested in applying for this role, please follow the link to the full job description