Senior Research Operations Officer
Department: Chemistry
About us
The Department of Chemistry is a friendly and vibrant department within the Faculty of Natural, Mathematical and Engineering Sciences, which incorporates five academic departments who have a wide-ranging portfolio of established taught programmes and are highly rated in research activities.
The Department of Chemistry is supported by an experienced professional services team, working in partnership with academic colleagues, as well as faculty and central directorates to provide a high-quality administrative support service and student and staff experience.
About the role
We are looking to recruit a Senior Research Operations Officer who, together with the Research Operations Manager, has an important role providing efficient research operations support through the full grant life cycle (pre and post award administration), implementing new, and the improvement of existing, processes and enabling the department’s research culture by coordinating research-focussed meetings, ensuring research is showcased on communication platforms and supporting the department’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) contribution.
Celebrating diversity and supporting staff is important to us and we offer a range of provision, training opportunities and support – please see our Staff Benefits pages.
The role will be based at primarily at Britannia House near Borough Tube Station (part of Guy’s Campus). Professional services staff are currently working on a hybrid basis, meaning the role holders will spend part of their working week on campus and the remainder working remotely.
This is a part-time post (21 hours per week), and you will be offered a one-year fixed term contract.
Secondment applications from internal applicants are welcome.
About you
To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:
Essential criteria
- Proven Professional Services skills gained within the Higher Education sector (or similar) and a knowledge of the regulatory, policy and procedural context.
- Proven strong knowledge of Research Operations (e.g. Pre and Post Award) in UK Higher Education including experience of data management systems (e.g. WorkTribe, Funder Portals, Unit 4 Business World, PeopleXD or other equivalent systems).
- Highly numerate with proven expertise in financial and data analysis, demonstrating strong numeracy skills and experience in budget management and cost control
- Relevant experience in the use of Microsoft Office applications, including Excel, Word, and SharePoint
- Proactive commitment to ensuring good practice and following process/procedure
- Demonstrate ability to work effectively both independently using initiative to make informed decisions and as part of a team.
- Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate clearly and appropriately with a range of professional service and academic staff
- Ability to balance competing, shifting priorities under pressure of deadlines and workload in a busy environment
Desirable criteria
- Experience in supporting or contributing to the delivery of high impact, high quality research activities
Downloading a copy of our Job Description
Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the page. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.
Further Information
At King’s, we believe that the diversity of our community and a culture that is welcoming, open, inclusive and collaborative, are great strengths of the university.
The Equality Act of 2010 protects the rights of our students and staff and provides a framework to fulfil our duties to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and in addition, to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. At times, this will include balancing rights and beliefs that can feel in tension.
We are committed to free speech and to academic freedom, believing that our foundational purpose as a university, is to create spaces where a wide range of ideas, including ideas that are controversial, can be discussed and debated, and where members of our community can express lawful views without fear of intimidation, harassment or discrimination.
When engaging in the robust exchange of ideas, we ask that our community is mindful of our Dignity at King’s guidance.
We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the person specification section of the job description. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is evolving rapidly, and we recognise its growing role in professional work. Applicants may use AI tools to support preparation of their application, for example to research the role or structure written responses. However, applications must reflect the applicant’s own work and experience. AI tools should not be used during interviews or assessment activities unless this has been agreed in advance as a reasonable adjustment. Further guidance on the use of AI in recruitment can be found here.
We reserve the right to close adverts early due to the volume of applications we receive. While the closing date may change, all adverts will close at 23:59 to allow sufficient time for applications to be submitted on that day.
We encourage you to apply at the earliest opportunity to avoid disappointment as once we have closed a vacancy you will be unable to submit your application.
To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages.
Grade and Salary: £39,076 - £43,909 per annum, pro rata including London Weighting Allowance
Job ID: 161005
Post Date: 19-Oct-2026
Close Date: 16-Nov-2026
Contact Person: Kelly Lawless
Contact Details: Kelly.lawless@kcl.ac.uk
