Assistant Director Leverhulme Trust

Assistant Director Leverhulme Trust page is loaded Assistant Director Leverhulme Trust Apply locations 100VE time type Full time posted on Posted Yesterday time left to apply End Date: August 13, 2025 (11 days left to apply) job requisition id R-74907

Please Note: The deadline for applying is 23.59 the day before the job posting end date.

Job Title: Assistant Director Leverhulme Trust

Location: 100VE

Work-Level: 2C

JOB PURPOSE

The role of Assistant Director is broad ranging and involves three major activities. In order of time-commitment these are: supporting the Deputy Director in managing the Trust's grant-making, with specific responsibilities associated with the Research Project Grant (RPG) and Triennial grant schemes; representation of the Trust in meetings with partners and academic colleagues, and leading on specific areas of policy development.

Ensuring the timely and efficient processing of grant proposals is one of the major responsibilities of the role. The Trust receives in excess of 4,000 applications for funding each year. Each of the Trust's award schemes is 'responsive-mode', which leaves the choice of subject matter and approach to the applicant. All applications are externally peer reviewed and all awards are made competitively. In many respects, therefore, the Trust's operations are analogous to those of a Research Council. The Assistant Director will be responsible for a significant part of thie peer-review process and the subsequent allocation of awards.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Day-to-day operational work associated with end-to-end application-to-award processes for several of the Trust's largest funding schemes.
• Identifying and dealing with appropriate peer review experts, who provide opinions and recommendations to the Trust Board on applications to the RPG and other Trust schemes. This includes liaison with the Leverhulme Advisory Panel, who have a key role in the RPG, Major Research Fellowship and Visiting Professorship schemes.
• Preparing briefing notes for each detailed RPG proposal, based on the peer review, to enable Board members to navigate and understand the peer review and make appropriate funding decisions.
• Taking responsibility for the Research Leadership and Arts Scholarships Triennial schemes.
• Leading on specific areas of policy development, namely Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Research Culture/misconduct and GDPR.
• Making presentations of the Trust's work to academic colleagues, notably in talks given during visits to the institutions concerned. Typically, these visits are to universities, but there is also a representational role in liaising with the arts institutions funded by the Trust.
• Supporting the Deputy Director/ Director in preparing papers for the Board, and in any other aspects of Grant management.

Main relationships

• Supporting the Deputy Director in the leadership of the grants teams.
• Liaison with the Director of Finance on aspects of post-award grants administration, and budget-handling more generally.
• Line managing Grants Officers/ Senior Grant Officers and with significant liaison with the Grant Managers
• Across all of these areas of responsibility the Assistant Director will be required to work flexibly, in order to deal with activities ranging from the strategic to operational, and to ensure that the activities for which he or she is responsible complement those being undertaken by colleagues handling other Trust business. We also change our schemes from time to time and hence the grant responsibilities may also change over time.

ALL ABOUT YOU

• Experience of working at a senior level in a higher educational or research environment.
• A higher degree (doctorate or equivalent), preferably in a science-related area, although candidates with experience in other subject areas will also be considered.
• Understanding and experience of managing peer review processes.
• Senior administrative experience.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Excellent communication and writing skills.
• The ability to work flexibly and as part of a cohesive team-based organization.
• The ability to handle a complex workload and work under pressure without losing accuracy and focus.
• The ability to respond quickly and appropriately to inquiries from grant-holders, applicants and senior university representatives.
• Integrity in handling sensitive commercial, scientific, personal and financial information.
• Confidence in public speaking.
• IT literacy and experience of on-line grant-management systems and processes.

NOTES

Please apply via this portal as e-mail applications may not be processed and include your Future Fit Plan if possible.

By applying for this vacancy, you are confirming that you have made your Line Manager aware of your application and that you are at a point in your career with Unilever where it is appropriate for you to be applying for other positions.

Should you require additional information or reasonable adjustments to allow you to present your best self during this process, please contact your Talent Partner chris carr on

What we offer

Whilst the role is advertised on a full-time basis, we would be happy to discuss possible flexible working options and what this may look like for you. We strive to achieve a family-friendly and inclusive workplace and to, above all, create possibilities for all.

Diversity at Unilever is about inclusion, embracing differences, creating possibilities and growing together for better business performance. We embrace diversity in our workforce. This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants and continuing development of all employees regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity.We are also more than happy to provide reasonable adjustments during our application and interview process to enable you to be present your best self. To find out more, including about our Employee Resource Groups, please click here Equity, Diversity & Inclusion () .

Location

In June 2020 we announced our plan to consolidate a number of Unilever's offices across the South East of England into a new Unilever campus in Kingston-upon-Thames in or around early 2025. However, on the 08 August 2024 we announced to our existing staff our proposal to retain our central Head Office in London, 100 Victoria Embankment ("100VE") until our lease expires in 2027. As a result of this new proposal, we will be consulting with our existing staff, and new joiners who join during this period of consultation at 100VE, on the proposal made in August 2024. During consultation we will clarify the future location of each team and function. This means your role will either be based in 100VE until 2027 or in Kingston-Upon-Thames from early 2025. As we are yet to commence consultation on the proposal you agree, until such a time when consultation has concluded, your normal place of work as set out in the enclosed Statement of Terms & Conditions will be 100VE. You agree that on the conclusion of the consultation your place of work will be 100VE or 100VE until early 2025 and then Kingston-upon-Thames ("the locations") and you will be notified of which of the locations will be your place of work after that consultation ends.

Relocation to the UK

Please be aware if you are applying for this role from outside the UK, if successful, your application will be treated as a self-initiated Change Location Outside of Country (CLOC) transfer. This means any relocation costs must be self-funded with the potential to reclaim some specific pre-approved expenses up to £5,000. Please speak to your Talent Partner if you have any questions.

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