Project Officer

The Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), part of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), is the UK’s Centre of Excellence for research in the terrestrial and freshwater environmental sciences.

Are you looking to either enhance or reskill in project coordination with some opportunity for overseas working, within a highly-motivated team and support the delivery of high profile projects with demonstrable impact on local communities in Africa?

We are looking for an enthusiastic and committed project officer to work on high profile international projects supporting a research team based at our Wallingford site. The main project being supported is running the International Project Office of iLEAPS (integrated Land Ecosystem Atmosphere Process Study: ileaps.org) which is one of the Global Research Programmes of Future Earth (futureearth.org). In addition, the role will support the running of several other international research programmes focused on delivery of hydro-climate services to the developing world with a major focus on Africa.

Apprenticeship Opportunity

We will support you to complete an internationally recognized level 4 NVQ in Associate Project Management; accredited by the chartered body APM. This will involve on the job learning and formal training (approx. 30 days off the job) with QA Apprenticeships over 24 months.

Main Duties

The post will be within the Land Surface Processes team based at CEH Wallingford. The focus of the role is on project coordination and communication of several large international projects. The main duties will be as follows:

• Coordinate project office activities for major projects, supporting project managers to deliver on budget and to time
• Manage all communications for the projects (email-lists, newsletters, social media, wikis, websites)
• Liaise and network with project partners and international science committee members to ensure good communication about progress and delivery of outputs
• Independently organize and run workshops and meetings, including budgets, travel, accommodation and other meeting requirements
• Support for the Monitoring and Evaluation work of projects

Skills Required

You will be expected to have excellent organizational skills and demonstrate the ability to work independently, be confident in decision making and manage your own time effectively to deliver long and short term tasks to agreed deadlines. You will have the ability to communicate effectively with a range of stakeholders with the ability to use modern communication systems (websites, wikis, social media).

You will be expected to take an efficient approach, using effective IT skills and will demonstrate the ability to produce well regarded internal reports and documents.

In addition to managing the administrative work, an important part of the job is to understand the aims and objectives of the projects and to have some enthusiasm for the science areas being researched. Most of the communication will be around the themes of global sustainability and environment and some background or appreciation of the issues is required. You will need good interpersonal and negotiation skills as you will need to deal with people both in the UK and abroad.

Much of the overseas work takes place in French speaking West Africa. An ability to speak French would be desirable. You must be able and willing to travel overseas to attend meetings and conferences of short duration.

Qualifications

This post focuses on communication and networking internationally around the general area of science and environment. A good degree (preferably science or business related) or relevant experience is essential.

Full time - 37 hours per week

Fixed Term Contract - 24 months

Based in Wallingford

Apprenticeship - Level 4 Associate Project Manager, with QA Apprenticeships https://www.qa.com/apprenticeships

Applications closing date: Sunday 17th September

Interview date: Friday 22nd September

How to Apply

If you would like to apply, please send your CV and covering letter addressing the following two questions to recruitment@ceh.ac.uk:

1. What skills and knowledge specific to this role can you offer?

2. Please indicate what you consider to be your key achievement of relevance to this post?