Ref Support Analyst

Administration / Corporate Support
Analytical
Audit
Business Management and Improvement
Digital
Information Technology
Intelligence
Internal Audit
Medical
Operational Delivery
Operational Research
Planning
Project Delivery
Quality
Statistics
Strategy
Surveying
Other, An exciting opportunity to support UK’s next research assessment exercise.
We require systems to be delivered to enable:
+ Administration of the exercise
+ The submission of large volumes of research data from all participating HEIs
+ The dissemination and assessment of all elements of the research data submitted.
We are seeking proactive and passionate support analysts to assist a broad user base with a variety of systems. You will be working in the heart of an agile development team following a user centred design approach.
This is an exciting opportunity for an IT support professional to be exposed to all aspects of software development lifecycle, in a close-knit team.
OUTPUTS & ACTIVITIES
+ Liaise with users where issue resolution is dependent on their input or action
+ Proactively resolve complex queries and errors investigating and reporting any REF system related issues, with suggested solutions to the functional specialist leads or process owners
+ Contribute to the maintenance of an effective and efficient REF systems
+ Review user guidance documents ensuring they are clear and match with the specification/operation of the systems
+ Where appropriate identify any standard responses for users of REF systems
+ Where appropriate identify trends based on customer feedback and analysis of contact data to drive improvement and increase service standards
+ Provide support to other areas within the REF team, in the systems team
+ Contribute to meetings where appropriate that are for the benefit of continuous improvement
+ Share, help and mentor staff from other areas to increase knowledge and expertise across the funding service teams for more flexible working, We are committed to developing employees in their roles throughout their career. Learning and development plans enable employees to continue their professional development through training and development opportunities such as e-learning, classroom training and on-the-job experiences. We encourage our employees to share their learning across teams and organisations.

+ Experience of a support environment (IT or non-IT)
+ Excellent verbal and written communication skills
+ Good analytical and problem-solving skills
+ Proficient in information technology (IT), including a good working knowledge or MS Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint
+ Confident supporting users in ad-hoc scenarios, using multiple devices (Microsoft/Apple/Mobile/Tablet)
+ Proven ability to work flexibly in a small team, demonstrate good teamwork and support for other team members
+ Strong documentation skills (articles, knowledgebase, videos, training)
+ General understanding of application areas e.g. front end, back end, database, etc.
+ Ticket/support system experience

The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is the system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions, with the most recent exercise concluding in 2021. It is a peer review assessment process involving submissions from higher education institutions across the UK. Research England delivered REF 2021 on behalf of the four UK funding bodies and the results have driven the annual distribution of approximately £2 billion of research funding to UK higher education institutions (HEIs).

Alongside your salary of £28,498, Research England contributes £8,255 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides., UKRI can offer the successful candidate:
- Flexible Working
- 30 days annual leave + Public Holidays
- Access to Civil Service Pension Scheme
- Various everyday discounts through our dedicated provider
Visit our dedicated benefits webpage for more info: Benefits of working at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Medical
Successful candidates will be expected to have a medical.

Nationality requirements
Open to UK nationals only.

Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.