MRC-BHF CoRE Chief Operating Officer

This role will be essential in supporting the establishment and management of REACT, we are looking for an experienced and driven COO, who will operate in close conjunction with our first Director, Professor Mauro Giacca (King's College London), co-Directors Profs. Andrew Baker (University of Edinburgh) and Paul Riley (University of Oxford) and the other members of the Leadership Team. The COO will work in collaboration with the three hosting Universities and partners to ensure operational agility for REACT to reach its ambitious goal. The COO will also be responsible for financial management, business development and maintaining relationships with our funders and partners. This post will be based at King's College London, however regular travels to Oxford, Edinburgh and our current and future partners sites will be required to fulfil the role effectively.

We are seeking to appoint a dynamic and enthusiastic Chief Operating Officer (COO) to lead operations of a newly established MRC-BHF Centre of Research Excellence in Advance Cardiac Therapies (REACT)., To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience: Essential criteria

• PhD (in a STEM discipline preferred but not necessary)
• Proven financial management and analytical skills to underpin strategic financial strategic decisions and procedures
• Proven experience working at a strategic level with academic research collaborations, commercial partners, and/or research funders
• Experience working in either a higher education or research institution, a large research funder or a biomedical or other active research company in the private sector
• Experience in monitoring and completing complex projects and demonstrating ability to set budgets, timescales and deadlines
• Proven excellent communication, negotiation and influencing skills
• High level of work organisation, self-motivation, drive for performance and improvement, and flexibility in approach and attitude
• Ability to work independently, under pressure and meet deadlines
Desirable criteria
• Demonstrable experience in strategic planning and implementation
• Proven experience in managing complex teams
• Ability to collaborate constructively with internal and external partners to create conditions for successful partnership working
• Experience in initiating and leading project and partnership activity and maximising relations with relevant parties and services
  
  REACT is a national Centre supported by the Medical Research Council UK and the British Heart Foundation with £27M core funds for seven years, renewable to 14 years, with a start date in January 2025. The Centre aims to bring together world-leading scientists and clinical academics across the UK and internationally, together with premier biotech and pharma companies, with the overarching aim to develop innovative RNA- and gene-based therapies to regenerate the injured heart and reverse established heart failure. The Centre is firmly committed to training, career development and promotion of early career researchers, and will broadly disseminate its progress to public and patients., We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.
We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's. We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible. To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our pages. Interviews are due to be held on end of January or beginning of February We are able to offer sponsorship for candidates who do not currently possess the right to work in the UK. Company King's College London is one of the top 20 universities in the world and among the oldest in England. King's has more than 27,600 students (of whom nearly 10,500 are graduate students) from some 150 countries worldwide, and some 6,800 staff. King's has an outstanding reputation for world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) King's was ranked 6th nationally in the 'power' ranking, which takes into account both the quality and quantity of research activity, and 7th for quality according to Times Higher Education rankings. Eighty-four per cent of research at King's was deemed 'world-leading' or 'internationally excellent' (3
• and 4). The university is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of more than £684 million.
King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine, nursing and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar. King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services. For more information, visit: .

This is a full time, and you will be offered an fixed term contract for 3 years.