Job Description

Job Scope:

The Royal Society provides a range of grant schemes to support the UK scientific community and foster collaboration between UK based and overseas scientists. The Royal Society Grants team administers the Society's grants programmes including the major research fellowships, international collaborations, capacity building initiatives, and innovation and industry programmes.





The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) team within Grants is responsible for defining and documenting outputs, outcomes, and impacts of the Society's grant funding, reporting on these to our funders and other stakeholders, and working with the Society's committees to ensure that our grant programmes are achieving their objectives and are running effectively. The MEL team commissions external evaluations of our grants programmes to help ensure our internal and external accountability for the funding we provide.





The MEL Officer is responsible for developing and maintaining data collection tools and processes, with a focus on award holder reporting, which we use to collect evidence of outputs, outcomes and impact of Royal Society's grants funding. The successful applicant will need to be comfortable using narrative data to demonstrate this impact through creating case studies and researcher profiles, contributing to external communication of impact of our work, portfolio development and decision making. The role also supports the delivery of the grants evaluation programme, and other activities within the MEL team on an ad-hoc basis.





Reports to: Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager


Line manages: N/A


Hours: full-time, 35 hours per week


Location: Carlton House Terrace, London, SW1Y 5AG plus hybrid remote working


Pay Band: C


Salary: 38, 955


Contract type: permanent

The application closing date is 11 May 2025 at 23:59

Interviews will take place between 27 and 30 May 2025.

Please note that we are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.

Responsibilities:
To ensure the Royal Society can effectively monitor progress and outputs of its grant holders, by developing and maintaining award holder reporting tools and processes. The role holder will work with colleagues from the MEL team, wider Grants team, as well as with our funders, to ensure that data collection is aligned with internal and external data requirements. To manage data collection of annual reports from award holders, and the collection of other monitoring data from applicants and award holders, ensuring that non-compliance is escalated as appropriate, that reports are reviewed appropriately, and contributing to data analysis (i.e. with Excel or PowerBI) when required. To work with colleagues from the MEL team, other colleagues in the Grants team and across the Royal Society, on identifying and developing narrative evidence of outcomes and impact of our funding, such as case studies and researcher profiles. These case studies feed into Royal Society impact reports and other Royal Society activities. To work closely with the MEL manager to deliver the evaluation programme, working with external evaluation providers and funders as needed, to ensure its effective contribution to the wider Grants governance structures.

Additional responsibilities and Tasks

To actively take part in delivery of other work relating to monitoring and evaluation of grants, including measuring the longer-term impact of the Society's grant funding. To provide support to the Society's Evaluation Panel, as and when required. To support activities within the Grants team aimed at increasing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion including encouraging participation from under-represented groups and supporting the development and maintenance of policies and practices to foster greater inclusivity and to ensure that those who have followed a non-standard career path are encouraged to apply. To role model desired behaviours in line with the Grants Team Charter. To share experience and ideas with others in the Section and the Society and contributing broadly to the Royal Society's mission and priorities.

Key Knowledge and Skills Required:

EDUCATION/QUALIFICATIONS/KNOWLEDGE

Educated to degree standard or equivalent Essential


A good understanding of academic and/or research activities in science Desirable


Science degree Desirable

SKILLS

Excellent communication (oral and written) and interpersonal skills Essential


Excellent organisational and time management skills Essential


Strong IT skills Essential


Good presentational skills Desirable


Strong attention to detail Essential


Excellent numeracy skills Essential

EXPERIENCE

Experience of working in a team and across teams Essential


Experience of designing and working with questionnaires, surveys, or similar data collection tools Desirable


Experience of using IT systems (e.g. Excel) to collect, analyse and manipulate data Essential


Experience of effective internal and external engagement with people at all levels of seniority Essential


Competencies:

Self-management

Works unsupervised and can motivate self Produces results under pressure Can manage in stressful situations Pushes for the best results

Working with others

Contributes ideas and identifies opportunities to work with others both within the team and across the organisation Willing to provide feedback to sectional colleagues when requested Produces succinct presentations and papers for senior colleagues Understands when to seek senior advice on potentially delicate negotiations

Resource management

Makes the best of internal/external resources and coordinates well with external partners to best meet the needs of the Society Builds contingency into projects taking into account possible outside factors Sets and monitors performance against quality and results orientated targets. Focuses on both short and long-term goals

Critical thinking

Determines and clarifies the exact requirements of any situation Checks information for accuracy and raises concerns if information is inaccurate Extracts the key points succinctly, clearly and accurately Puts forward suggestions for improvement concerning current processes or systems Tries different ways of doing things to get the best results

Adaptability

Overcomes obstacles and is not deterred by setbacks; checks assumptions and first principles and works out alternative approaches Reacts proactively to new challenges and works in a flexible manner to produce solutions Provides feedback and participates in discussions surrounding new ideas approaches or projects

Managing people and relationships

Delegates effectively, setting clear expectations and authority Monitors results and feedbacks to team on a regular basis Recognises others' contributions and acknowledges their limits Helps others to identify ways to improve their performance Prioritises supervisory responsibilities and carries them out in a timely fashion * Understands and can identify client/stakeholder/staff needs and looks for opportunities to improve their experiences