Senior Technical Officer - Engineering and Physical Sciences

Position Details

Engineering and Physcial Sciences

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range of £41,526 to £49,553. With potential progression once in post to £55,750

Grade 8

Full time

Fixed term contract until 31st March 2022

Closing date: 19th November 2020

This post will be part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund

Job Summary

This is an exciting, rewarding role for an exceptional individual with a thirst to work with companies and the rest of the Digi-Rail team to assess and lead innovation opportunities, apply their expertise in the rail industry and to work with clients on short product/service development projects. The ideal candidate will have experience working in the rail industry and with a demonstrable knowledge of the industry's product acceptance processes, its procurement channels and experience of establishing & managing short product/process development projects.

About the Digi-Rail project

The Digital Rail Demand-led Demonstrator (DIGI-RAIL) is an innovation project part-funded by ERDF and University of Birmingham. It started in late 2018 and continues until end March 2022 and provides support to Small and Medium Sized Enterprises for innovation in product and service development. Digi-Rail will bring together national and international rail industry buyers with the region's businesses and research expertise to solve challenges within the industry and access the increasing number of digital rail commercial/research opportunities that exist in the sector.

DIGI-RAIL will build on the University of Birmingham's established partnerships with major players in the Rail industry. These partnerships include the Rail Alliance, Network Rail, HS2, the Railway Industry Association and the Railway Safety and Standards Board.

Typical projects will involve colleagues' expertise in key domains associated with the Digital Railway, including: Traffic Management; the European Train Control System; Automatic Train Operation; Traction; Energy Management; Rolling Stock Design; BIM; Smart Ticketing; Future Wireless Networks; Railway Condition Monitoring; Fault Management; Smart Stations; IoT & Cyber Security.

DIGI-RAIL is establishing a cluster of Digital Rail Demonstrators with staff distributed across Greater Birmingham and Solihull, Coventry and Warwickshire and Black Country Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) to showcase & offer long-term innovation support to businesses looking to develop digital products & services for the rail industry.

We are looking for a highly qualified Senior Innovation Specialist (Senior Technical Officer) at the University to provide advice, support and resource for companies during the technology-appraisal and technology-readiness development phases of projects to implement new technologies. The Senior Technical Officer will work with the Business Engagement Managers and other team members to develop SME projects in key technologies as appropriate. They will also be required to join some technical meetings and may be responsible for assisting Business Engagement Managers and Technical Officers in the identification of the technical scope of the project. The majority of these projects will be undertaken with SMEs from the Greater Birmingham & Solihull LEP and Coventry & Warwickshire LEP areas. The ideal candidate will be able and willing to travel to clients in these areas.

The post will be based in the School of Engineering at Birmingham, although the post holder will be expected to work on various locations from time to time. The role will also involve extensive collaboration with SMEs. Therefore the ability to interact with external commercial organisations is a prerequisite for this position.

Main Duties

• Developing and implementing plans for technology transfer
• Work with the Digi-Rail project team, academic researchers, and other colleagues to agree technologies of application via the Digi-Rail project.
• Work with the Digi-Rail and University of Birmingham Strategic Projects team to identify and agree the Digi-Rail strategy, agree the business opportunities for the technologies in question and plans to reach and enlist SMEs for projects, in the areas(s) of expertise of the postholder.
• Lead aspects of decision-making and planning for the Digi-Rail project and be involved in guiding the activities of the Technical Officers.
• Management of technology transfer projects
• For each project, work with the client to agree a technology transfer project and plan. Establish an effective project team by identifying team members within the organisation and by negotiating and liaising with the company's senior management for team members' time. Plan and manage the project accordingly.
• Advise and steer the SME clients through the technology transfer processes, its mechanisms and other requirements, so as to ensure each project is completed on time and to budget.
• Act as a highly expert consultant in the technology and industry areas covered, working closely with the academic and research staff at the University of Birmingham, and with the SME partner(s)
• Ensure records and information are collected and delivered as required to the Programme Manager and other project team members.
• Comply with all health and safety requirements of the SME site and the University of Birmingham; ensure risk assessments are completed and logged with the Programme Manager. Comply also with all mitigations outlined in the project Risk Register and report any nonconformities to the Programme Manager.

Management and Leadership

• Guide and support the project management and leadership by:
• Leading the planning and organising of the programme and/or specific research activities;
• Preparing papers and presentations for management groups and other bodies;
• undertaking related management/administration required to deliver the research objectives;
• Analysing and interpreting the results of own research and generating ideas based on outcomes of benefit to the sustainability of DIGI-RAIL;
• Providing guidance to other staff and partners on own specialist area;
• Maintaining accurate and auditable time recording assigned to specific project work packages.

Other Duties

• Identify and undertake other duties, as necessary and when these arise, as directed by Team leaders within the project.

Person Specification

In your application, please outline how you meet our specification for the ideal candidate:

• Hold a PhD degree or equivalent experience in an engineering or related discipline with relevance to the railway engineering industry.
• Understand and, ideally, have experience, of product acceptance in the rail industry; quality assurance processes; and managing product development or equivalent projects.
• Expert knowledge and awareness of the digital railway agenda and the resulting opportunities for the SME community.
• Have significant experience working in or with the rail industry, ideally in or with the SME sector, and ideally in the application of new technology.
• Proven excellent communication skills: verbally, written and presentation. Able to summarise complex issues/concepts, presenting them appropriately and making them accessible for a range of audiences.
• Proven ability to plan, manage and prioritise own workload, respond to changing priorities and deliver innovative solutions to deadlines, maintaining a consistently high standard of service and meeting client needs.
• Proven networking and relationship-building skills across many disciplines and working functions.
• An entrepreneurial and innovative approach to solving client's needs, together with an ability to think strategically for the benefit of the client and its business.
• Be aware of the specific requirements of ERDF projects and willing to develop expertise in these.
• Be proficient in IT and in using all main Microsoft Office products.
• Be able to work flexibly in leading tasks and groups effectively, with academic and external stakeholders.

Informal enquiries can be made to Jane Hewitt - J.E.Hewitt@bham.ac.uk

We value diversity at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community

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