The Purpose of the Role

The ADAPT Centre is looking to employ a Research Assistant in Project Management to facilitate the direction, coordination and governance of the Marie-Curie Doctoral Network ‘LegumeLegacy’ research programme. This role will involve working closely with the Irish and international partners, and the project’s cohort of 11 doctoral students, to manage the delivery of the research and training programme. The Research Assistant in Project Management will monitor the research work packages and oversee the timely and successful delivery of the doctoral training programme and research activities within the project. This will include tracking the research and training activities and mapping them against the schedules and budgetary roadmaps, and the organisation of research and training events for the project participants. This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a leading edge programme that combines statistics and agriculture, and is focused on developing solutions for improved sustainability of farm practices. The successful applicant will be working with a multi-disciplinary and international team of experienced researchers and newly hired doctoral candidates. The position will also have a portion of its time dedicated to other research and industry projects  within ADAPT’s Design & Innovation Lab (dLab). 

Context

LegumeLegacy is a new Marie-Curie Doctoral Network project with full title: ‘LegumeLegacy – Optimising multiple benefits of grass, legume and herb mixtures in crop rotations: modelling mechanisms and legacy effects’. This project is led by its Principal Investigator Professor Caroline Brophy of TCD and the ADAPT Centre, and brings together 14 partner institutions from across Europe and one Canadian partner. The Doctoral Network will hire and train 11 doctoral researchers and will implement a research programme aimed at improving the sustainability of farming across Europe. The doctoral researchers will be located in Ireland and across the partner institutions. The partners and the doctoral researchers will meet for research and training events 2-3 times annually during the project. The expertise of the project partners spans many disciplines, including statistics, ecology, agronomy, plant breeding and animal nutrition. 

Main responsibilities

Based in the ADAPT Centre in Trinity College and reporting to the Principal Investigator, the Research Assistant in Project Management will 

• Work closely with the Principal Investigator, the collaborators from the partner institutions, and the doctoral researchers to understand and document project requirements and priorities.
• Have a clear understanding of the different research project components, deliverables and milestones.
• Monitor compliance with project legal agreements, including project deliverables and milestones.
• Coordinate the hiring process to recruit the 11 doctoral researchers. 
• Organise research and training events for the network, and liaise with the local host. 
• Assist in the implementation of the research and training plans – this includes but is not limited to: work break-down, resource planning, schedule development, budgeting and reporting requirements.
• Ensure that all research objectives are clearly defined and are delivered to the established levels of quality, and on time and within budget. 
• Monitor the performance of all aspects of the project and resolve issues or escalate as required. 
• Manage project risk and change.
• Devise and implement a network-wide internal and external communications strategy.
• Manage  website content.
• Provide project progress and status reports on all aspects of the project to leaders and key stakeholders. 
• Oversee financial accounts and reporting.
• Ensure intellectual property assets are managed appropriately.
• Work with members of the Design and Innovation Lab on other industry and research projects.

Person Requirements

Qualifications:

• The successful candidate must have a minimum of 3 years’ project management experience, ideally within the higher education setting.
• Professional accreditation(s) in project management methodologies is an advantage. 

Knowledge:

• Familiarity with research goals and methodologies.
• An awareness of the scientific evaluation and publication process. 
• Knowledge of working on European research projects is desirable.
• Knowledge or interest in either statistics, agriculture or sustainability is desirable, but not essential.

Experience:

• Experience in working with multi-disciplinary and dispersed teams. 
• Have excellent computer skills with experience of project management and collaboration tools. 
• Experience with designing and mobilising project management processes. 
• Experience of (or knowledge of) implementing the entire lifecycle of a research project. 
• Experience in event organisation.
• Experience working in a diverse, multicultural environment.

Skills:

• Excellent organisational, interpersonal and conflict resolution skills. 
• Excellent written and oral proficiency in English (essential).
• Excellent communication skills, including verbal, written and digital / online communications. 
• Ability to coordinate activities across multiple national and international project partners.
• Ability to problem solve, to brainstorm and to generate innovative ideas and solutions.
• Proven ability to prioritise workload and work to deadlines. 
• Ability to learn quickly and adapt to changing requirements.

Benefits

Application Process

To assist the selection process, candidates should submit a Curriculum Vitae and a Cover Letter (1x A4 page) via this link: https://forms.gle/ix7oRUeYd3fbQn5F7.

In their application, applicants should clearly address their project management experience in working on complex projects with a number of work packages with diverse teams and goals.

Diversity

ADAPT is committed to achieving better diversity and gender representation at all levels of the organisation, across leadership, academic, operations, research staff and studentship levels. ADAPT is committed to the continued development of employment policies, procedures and practices that promote gender equality. On that basis we encourage and welcome talented people from all backgrounds to join ADAPT.