Research Grants and Contracts Facilitator Full Time NEW

North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) are working towards merging as one organisation from July 2026.

This will create an exciting future that brings together the best of both organisations. As a single, strong and sustainable organisation, we will not only be able to deliver better outcomes for our patients and fairer care for our population, but it will also provide greater opportunities for our people.

Should you join NBT as an employee prior to our organisations merging, your employment will be automatically transferred across to UHBW. Should your employment begin after our two Trusts merge, you will be employed directly by UHBW and therefore UHBW terms and conditions of service will apply

Our job adverts may close as soon as sufficient applications have been received. Considering this, if you are interested in this role, please do apply as soon as you can.

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Job Overview

Are you ready for the next step in your career? We are looking for two people to join our vibrant team and help drive the development of new research across the Trust and manage a diverse portfolio of active grants. These posts are ideal for those who wish to build on their existing administration experience and contribute to the development of evidence-based patient care.

If you are motivated, dedicated, with exceptional organisation/planning skills and have great attention to detail this offers a fantastic opportunity for career development. In addition you’ll get to work with researchers from across the whole spectrum of research, from those just starting out through to large well-established, successful, research teams.

You’ll be based in the Research and Development (R&D) Office at Southmead Hospital and the roles will be offered with the option of hybrid working. The posts will sit in the Research Development and Grants Team, who manage a large and diverse portfolio of research grants, both internally and externally funded (>£50m). The team are forward thinking; striving to engage new staff and clinical areas in research, make research accessible to all, develop the highest quality research grants, employ continuous improvement, and ultimately improve outcomes for patients across the NHS through our research.

Please note that these are fixed term posts in line with current research funding available and we cannot guarantee extension beyond this time

Main duties of the job

In These Vital Roles, You Will

We are seeking to appoint two roles into the team, both will be trained up the general duties and responsibilities of the Research Grants and Contracts and Facilitator roles but will sit in different areas of the team; development (pre-award, management of internal funding streams and grants (post-award and contracts):

• Facilitate the running of internal funding calls, from supporting staff to apply, organising award panel meetings, preparing and sending award letters, support with setting up awards and tracking active projects (finance, progress reports and impact reports).
• Maintain logs, and track, grants in development for external funding calls and active grants; preparing reports for team meetings, Senior Leadership Team and Trust Governance meetings.
• Provide support to the grants team in developing external funding applications, including collating costs, as well as managing active research grants including supporting set-up, finance and contract management.
• Assist our Contracts Officer & Quality Manger in logging contracts, setting up contracts for agreements in a timely manner, liaising with other organisations in the negotiation of contracts, preparing schedules (e.g. finances) and arranging signatures.

Working for our organisation

North Bristol NHS Trust employs over 12,000 staff providing healthcare to the residents of Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset from our award-winning hospital building at Southmead. We are the regional Major Trauma Centre, and an internationally recognised centre of excellence in a range of services and major specialities. Our vision is that by enabling our teams to be the best that they can be, we will provide exceptional healthcare, personally delivered.

North Bristol NHS Trust values all people as individuals. We aim to be an anti-discriminatory organisation and are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We welcome applicants from all underrepresented groups.

The Research and Development (R&D) Office at Southmead Hospital, has been awarded Silver accreditation with “Investors in People” which underlines our commitment to support and lead our staff to be the best they can be.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description for full details of the main duties and responsibilities that the post holder is required to undertake.

Grant support

Work with the Research Development Lead, and research development grants team to generate high quality grant applications by:

• Co-ordinating appropriate and timely input (university and Trust finance and other support departments) into online grant application systems and providing administrative support where necessary.
• Adaptable and flexible working where necessary to ensure deadlines are met.
• Co-ordinating confirmation by all signatories that the content of submissions is acceptable and ensuring the application process (including on-line and wet-ink signatures) is completed correctly and within defined timeframes.
• Anticipating and planning arrangements for exploitation of intellectual property, before and following grant be award.
• Completing and accurately maintaining tracking information about grant applications and their status.
• Providing reports as required by the Research Development and Grants Manager and other senior members of R&I staff.
• Disseminating relevant information to (potential) researchers.
• Coordinating the application process for pump-priming grants; working with the Research Funding Committees secretary to advertise calls and update forms.
• Monitoring progress against plan for pump priming grants.
• Agreeing finances and invoices for pump-priming grants working with our local charity, NHS and university partners.

Contracts management

Work with Senior Research Grants Officers and Contracts & Quality Officer to support efficient setup of successful grants by:

• Developing, implementing and maintaining a system for effective and timely contracts management.
• Working with the senior contracts advisor and R&I team to ensure that the correct suite of contracts required to conduct the research is identified as soon as the grant is awarded.
• Developing close working relationships with chief investigators and their collaborators to set up grants effectively, realistically managing expectations of all parties to achieve a positive outcome, particularly in relation to timelines.
• Planning and managing the process of development and signature of contracts/collaboration agreements/SLAs with contracting partners to ensure timelines are met.
• Selecting contract/agreement templates for use and developing and modifying contract/agreement templates as appropriate with relevant financial and other details, including contract variations, in consultation with the Senior Contracts Advisor and Grants Manager.
• Issuing and receiving contracts to/from collaborators/contract partners within defined timeframes, collecting and collating feedback and negotiating and modifying contracts/collaboration agreements/SLAs as required to generate executable documents.
• Maintaining accurate and up-to date information about the status of contracts and their variations.

Person specification

Education

Essential criteria

• Graduate qualification and some experience in a relevant area, or minimum five years relevant experience

Desirable criteria

• Evidence of continuing professional development

Experience

Essential criteria

• Good understanding of the purpose of research in the NHS
• Expertise in working with research contracts

Desirable criteria

• Good understanding of Research Governance in the NHS
• Up to date knowledge and understanding of local, national and international regulatory requirements relating to research.
• Good understanding of and commitment to the patient and public involvement agenda in NHS research.
• Experience of working across organisations to facilitate contract agreement

Knowledge/skills/abilities

Essential criteria

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal, demonstrating the ability to work with a broad range of people at all levels, and an ability to build relationships effectively with internal and external stakeholders.
• Effective team worker, demonstrating excellent influencing skills and the ability to build credibility.
• Evidence of problem solving skills
• Proven ability to work to strict deadlines
• Proven highly developed administrative, organisational and project management skills.
• Ability to work under own initiative, including an ability to use judgement in complex situations and an associated awareness of when to escalate problems
• Commitment to the provision of a high-quality service, which supports improvements in the conduct of NHS research and care of research subjects.

Please note that if you apply for a position with North Bristol NHS Trust, you may be contacted via TRAC or via email. This includes invites for job interviews. We therefore recommend that you regularly check your TRAC Account and email accounts including junk and spam folders.

If you apply for this vacancy and have not received a communication from North Bristol NHS Trust within three weeks of the closing date, please assume that on this occasion your application has been unsuccessful.

Please note that North Bristol NHS Trust does not reimburse travel expenses relating to interview attendance.

If you feel you meet the requirements of the Disability Act / Two Ticks scheme and require further support/advice, please contact us on tel 0117 414 1151.

North Bristol NHS Trust are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

The successful applicant(s) will normally commence at the minimum of the scale unless they have previous NHS service at the same band. Progression through the scale is by annual increments.

At North Bristol Trust (NBT), we know diverse and inclusive environments lead to happier and healthier teams and improved patient care and outcomes. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are currently underrepresented in NBT’s workforce at Band 8a and above. These include people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, disabled people and LGBTQIA+ people.

Please note that stringent pre-employment checks are undertaken on all successful applicants prior to commencement in post.