UK Data Service Business Operations Manager

Job Description

Job title: UK Data Service Business Operations Manager

Grade: PRS2

Directorate:  Higher Education and Research

Department: Content and Discovery / UK Data Service

Reports to: UK Data Service Director of Impact

Working style:  Hybrid: A blend of working from your hub office and home working.  Days in the office are not mandated, and the frequency of time worked in the office is agreed with your manager. Meeting in person is something we value so you may need to travel on occasion to our hub offices*.

*Given the nature of our collaborations with other partners in the UK Data Service, travel and overnight stays will occasionally be required.

About the role

The UK Data Service team at Jisc focus on making census aggregate data and international microdata available to researchers, as well as evidencing and promoting the impact of the whole UK Data Service collaboration and the data it holds. We’re a small team covering a lot of different activities and we’re looking for someone who can manage our day-to-day operations.

You will be responsible for developing, implementing and managing our business operations strategy and processes. A key part of this role is to manage how we ensure the data and platforms members of the team work, through:

·       oversight, management and development of our team documentation, maintenance calendars, Jira boards and working processes.

·       responsibility for managing the team’s compliance with Cyber Essentials and ISO 9001 and 27001

·       responsibility for ensuring compliance with Jisc policies and procedures, including for accessibility, cyber security, access reviews and secure development

·       line management

We work with a range of high-level stakeholders and partners, including national and international data producers, researchers, charities, think tanks local and national government. We are looking for someone who can:

·       lead on negotiations to make data accessible to our users

·       support  focus groups and interviews to ensure we align our service with our user needs.

You will be responsible for reporting internally and to our partners, stakeholders and funder (the Economic and Social Research Council/UKRI). This will involve:

·       collection, collation and analysis of data from our services

·       producing accurate and detailed written reports for internal use and for our stakeholders, including the UKDS senior leadership team and advisory board, as well as for our funder  and other stakeholders.

You will engage extensively across Jisc to develop productive relationships that will support our standard management operations and enable the optimisation of business processes. This will include:

·       managing close working relationship with our finance, procurement and technical operations teams

·       ensuring that our business processes are aligned to the Jisc Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) methodologies.

You will organise our event schedule, including online and in-person training, webinars and impact conferences.

Key responsibilities and deliverables

·       Developing, implementing and managing our business operations strategy and processes

·       Leading negotiations with national and international governmental and NGO data providers

·       Collating, analysing and communicating about how our data is accessed and used in written reports internally within Jisc and to partners, stakeholders and our funder

·       Building and managing relationships across Jisc which support smooth running of our business operations, including with Jisc’s finance, procurement and technical teams

·       Organising online and in-person events and conferences

·       Oversight and management of team documentation, technical maintenance and update calendars, Jira boards and working processes

·       Responsibility for ensuring the team complies with Jisc policies and procedures

·       Line management

Experience

Need to have

·       Proven experience of line management

·       Proven experience of managing relationships with stakeholders at different levels

·       Experience of writing reports

·       Experience in a customer/user-focused role

·       Experience of finance a systems

Nice to have

·       Experience of working in environment with both technical / non-technical roles

·       Experience of negotiating deals, licences or similar

·       Experience of ISO 9001 and/or ISO 27001

Skills & personal qualities

Need to have

·       Excellent interpersonal, communication and presentational skills

·       Well-developed analysis and report writing skills

·       Excellent organisational skills

·       Strong relationship-building skills at a range of levels

·       Good general IT skills

·       An ability to work independently and collaboratively as part of a virtual team

·       Ability to take ownership of multiple projects and activities and run with them in an organised manner

·       A keen, proactive approach to solving problems and approaching challenges

·       A self-starter who finishes work to a high standard

·       A customer/user-focused approach

Nice to have

·       Knowledge of Cyber Essentials

·       Working knowledge of Project Management software (e.g. Jira)

·       Understanding of agile/scrum approaches to working

·       Ability to communicate in both technical and non-technical terminologies.

Qualifications & training

Need to have

•     Relevant experience in a similar role

Nice to have

·      n/a

Driving licence required No

We are constantly changing and evolving at Jisc, so this job description just gives a flavour of what the role involves. It will change as our operations develop.