Experience

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  Tesco plc

  Jan 2006 - May 2007

  Customer service team leader

  Inducted into Graduate Management Programme. Receiving on-the-job training to become a Customer Service Manager within 2 years. Responsible for day-to-day work activities as a Team Leader of 12 staff on a busy Customer Service Desk. Dealing with serious customer complaints and working with other section managers in the store or suppliers to resolve them where necessary. Training modules in managing and motivating staff, delivering training, health and safety assessments, cash office procedures, and customer and supplier relations. This was a very demanding role, and through it I learned a great deal on approaching difficult situations, being more assertive, effectively managing my time and managing staff. Show less

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  Barclays

  May 2007 - Nov 2008

  Financial services professional

  As part of this role it was necessary to gain formal accreditation with the Financial Services Authority in order to be able to speak to customers and clients regarding personal and business loans, financial planning and insurance. This involved 8 months of intense study, rigorous examinations and continuous assessments. Professionalism and courtesy in the role were of the utmost importance, as well as following strict codes of financial conduct and Data Protection laws. Meeting sales targets regarding new loan accounts was also an important facet of the job. Accuracy in processing customer requests on balance transfers, payment requests, loan agreements and updating data was of huge importance, and I maintained a 100% accuracy record and met all sales targets while I was with the Company. Show less

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  University of liverpool

  May 2008 - Nov 2013

  Promoted in office restructure to more senior role. Handling all aspects of research funding applications for the School of Environmental Sciences and Department of Physics.( I also worked with the Faculties of Humanities and Social Sciences, and School of Integrative Biology during periods while a dedicated officer was recruited, and I also assisted in training the new team members.) Duties included horizon-scanning for new research opportunities, advice on applying and eligibility, financial costings, bid writing, internal approvals, submission in external systems, departmental and University briefing events, staff induction programmes, training of new staff, set-up and acceptance of new awards including facilitation of contractual agreements with Legal team. Day-to-day contact with academics, line managers, project partners, research funders, charities and government departments handling a complex and varied workload. Show less Assistant to a team of senior University Research Support Officers in applying for and maintaining research awards held across the University. Collating and maintaining detailed project files with necessary correspondence for post-award management of successful funding applications and financial audit. Handling funded studentship payments and annual renewals by liaising with students and supervisors. Carrying out initial project costings and set-up of records in internal systems to facilitate further development by senior team members. Show less Working as part of a team of 8 responsible for developing, testing and launching a new University Research Management system. Role involved co-coordinating user testing, and logging and raising all issues to the appropriate development staff. It was important to work closely with the individuals testing, and have a good understanding of University financial structure to understand the issues raised. It was then important to concisely outline sometimes complex problems to the development team so they could be fixed and tested again.Successfully collated user feedback and made suggestions to enable numerous upgrades and modifications to improve the system for users. Show less

  • Research Support Officer

    Sept 2011 - Nov 2013

  • Research Administrator

    Sept 2009 - Sept 2011

  • System Tester

    Nov 2008 - Sept 2009

  • Recruitment Advisor

    May 2008 - Nov 2008
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  Northumbria university

  Nov 2013 - now

  Research development manager

  Part of the Research Development Team based in Research and Innovation Services.Active role to drive forward policy and development initiatives to increase the volume and quality of research grant and contract income at Northumbria University through:+ advising academic colleagues on appropriate funding opportunities in relation to their discipline and career stage and developing future plans;+ developing relationships with funding bodies to better understand their needs and interpret the research funding landscape;+ supporting academic staff to develop high quality funding applications through one to one support, training and development.I am currently aligned to our Faculty of Health and Life Sciences. Work closely with academic colleagues and senior managers to proactively develop and support individual and strateic research initiatives and proposals. This includes detailed one-to-one bid development, internal policies and initiatives, arranging funders visits and briefings and horizon scanning for future opportunities.Key achievements include:+Developing and implementing new approaches to Fellowship applications that have yielded more than 13 prestigious Fellowships from the Leverhulme Trust across their ECR and Research Fellowship routes, 8 AHRC Early Career Fellowships, a Wellcome Trust Early Career Fellowship and a first presigious UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship in Humanities.+Working with Faculties and Departments to implement bidding plans to focus activity and long term planning for appropriate funding opportuntities+Worked with fellow Research Development Managers to design and deliver cross-University training programmes aimed at different career stages+Assisting with development and implementation of robust Faculty-level peer review to improve the quality of funding applications+Completing a Post-Graduate qualification in Research Management certified by the Association of Research Managers and Administrators (ARMA) Show less