Research Fellow - Engineering and Physical Sciences

Position Details

• Location: Unipart Rail Office, Doncaster
• Area: School of Engineering, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences
• Salary: Full time starting salary is normally in the range £30,942 to £40,322 with potential progression once in post to £42,792
• Grade: 7
• Hours: Full time
• Duration: Fixed term until 30th June 2023
• This post will be part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund

Job Description

This is an exciting, rewarding opportunity for a talented individual who wants to apply their research knowledge into application with the SME community in the Sheffield and Doncaster regions. You will work with the Unipart Rail team, based in the company's Doncaster site, to deliver innovation projects and technical support to the region's SMEs, in support of new products, new services and new business in the rail industry. As well as your Unipart Rail colleagues, you will also work closely with the research and innovation team in Birmingham to apply the University of Birmingham's expertise into projects, where relevant.

About the Project

The Digital Rail Demand-led Demonstrator (DIGI-RAIL) is a substantial project part-funded by ERDF, University of Birmingham and Unipart Rail. 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 including Rail Alliance, Network Rail, HS2, RIA, RSSB, TfL, and a range of expertise in key domains of Digital Rail, including Traffic Management; the European Train Control System; Automatic Train Operation; Energy Management; Rolling Stock Design; BIM; Smart Ticketing; Future Wireless Networks; Fault Management; Smart Stations; Station Information Systems; IoT & Cyber Security.

Based in Unipart's Doncaster Offices, DIGI-RAIL will establish a cluster of Digital Rail Demand-led Demonstrators (with staff working actively across the Sheffield City Region Area) to showcase & offer long-term innovation support to SMEs looking to develop digital products & services for the rail industry.

This opportunity is for a highly-qualified innovation-specialist Research Fellow to join a team of University of Birmingham and Unipart Rail experts. You will provide advice, support and resource for companies during the technology-appraisal and technology-readiness development phases of projects to implement new technologies. The Research Fellows will support the Business Engagement Manager in enlisting SME companies and identifying their needs and relevant opportunities, providing expert advice, sharing knowledge and undertaking work to develop technologies as appropriate.

The post will be primarily based in Unipart's Doncaster Offices, although the post holder will be expected to work on various locations from time to time (including the School of Engineering at Birmingham). The role will also involve extensive collaboration with SMEs within the Sheffield City Region Area. Therefore, the ability to interact with external commercial organisations and to travel regularly to Birmingham and across the Sheffield City Region areas 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. Using the Digi-Rail strategy as a guide, 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 post holder.
• Be involved in aspects of decision-making and planning for the Digi-Rail project.

Management of technology transfer projects

• For each SME, 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 client 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 an expert consultant in the technology areas covered, working closely with the academic and research staff at the University of Birmingham, staff at Unipart Rail and with the SME partner(s)
• Ensure records and information are collected, collated and delivered as required to the Programme Manager and other project team members. Comply with all health and safety requirements of SME site, Unipart Offices 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

Support the project management and leadership by:

• Contributing to 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

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

Person Specification

Knowledge and Skills

• Strong data and analysis skills.
• Knowledge and experience in technology transfer, management of intellectual property and licencing.
• Awareness of the specific requirements of ERDF projects and willingness to develop expertise in these.
• Knowledge of academic research and knowledge transfer practices, funding streams and motivations.
• Experienced in developing plans for significant projects, ideally technology transfer/adoption projects.
• 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.
• Able 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.
• Good networking and relationship-building skills across many disciplines and working functions, within and outside the university.
• An entrepreneurial and innovative approach to solving client's needs.
• Proficiency in IT and in using all main Microsoft Office products.
• Able to work flexibly in leading tasks and groups effectively, with academic and external stakeholders.

Qualifications and Experience

Minimum requirement is an Honours degree in an engineering or related discipline with relevance to the railway engineering industry. Candidates who hold a PhD degree (or are near to completion) or possess equivalent experience in an engineering or related discipline (with relevance to the railway engineering industry) will hold an advantage.

Experience of carrying out research and development in topics including sensors, sensing technologies, signal processing, embedded systems and electronic design is advantageous, as is experience of Microcontroller programming, Real-Time Operating System, Matlab, Object-Oriented Design and Embedded C++.

Proven skills in planning and managing complex projects, and negotiating solutions against potentially conflicting priorities in order to meet deadlines.

Significant experience working in industry, ideally in the SME sector, and ideally in the application of new technology.

N.B. Please outline how you fit the person specification, particularly in relation to your experience in or associated with the rail industry, introducing new products/concepts to an organisation, and your experience working with SME companies.

Informal enquiries to Javiera Squadritto - j.e.squadritto@bham.ac.uk

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