Head of Research Administration - UNIC

The University of Nicosia invites applications for the role of Head of Research Administration based at the UNIC Nicosia Campus.

The Head of Research Administration leads the operational administration of the University's research portfolio and ensures that faculty and researchers receive timely, accurate, and practical support throughout the research funding lifecycle. The role combines institutional service leadership with hands-on administration of proposals, research contracts, grant agreements, consortium documentation, reporting obligations, and funder communications.

The postholder contributes to the implementation of the University research strategy by strengthening research support processes, improving compliance and service quality, building effective relationships with funders and partners, and enabling Schools and Departments to compete successfully for external funding.

This is a demanding, high-volume role requiring judgement, responsiveness, and strong coordination across academic and professional services teams. The postholder will handle daily enquiries from faculty, researchers, Project Coordinators, and external stakeholders on funding opportunities, eligibility, proposal procedures, budgets, contracts, amendments, deliverables, audits, and reporting requirements.

The role is expected to provide informed administrative guidance on schemes including Horizon Europe, Research and Innovation Foundation (RIF) programmes, Erasmus+, and other national, European, and international funding calls. Scientific leadership remains with the Principal Investigator or Project Coordinator; the Head of Research Administration ensures that the administrative, contractual, procedural, and compliance dimensions are robust and professionally managed.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership and research administration

• Contribute to the planning, implementation, and monitoring of UNIC's research strategy in consultation with the Executive Director and relevant University bodies.
• Coordinate the day-to-day delivery of RIO research administration services, ensuring clarity of responsibilities, consistency of advice, and timely completion of tasks.
• Support the development, revision, and implementation of research administration policies, procedures, templates, guidance notes, and internal workflows.
• Identify operational risks, bottlenecks, and service gaps, and propose practical improvements to strengthen institutional research support.

Funding Intelligence, enquiries and pre-award support

• Monitor, interpret, and disseminate relevant funding opportunities for faculty and researchers across Schools and Departments.
• Respond accurately and promptly to enquiries on Horizon Europe, RIF, Erasmus+, and other funding programmes, including eligibility, administrative requirements, deadlines, documentation, submission routes, and funder conditions.
• Advise faculty and researchers on appropriate funding schemes, call requirements, application procedures, institutional approvals, partner documentation, and proposal submission processes.
• Coordinate administrative checks for proposals, including completeness, institutional data, declarations, and submission readiness.
• Liaise with funders, National Contact Points, coordinators, partners, and internal teams to clarify requirements and resolve administrative issues before submission.

Research Contracts, grant agreements, and project execution

• Support the administration, review, negotiation, signature routing, execution, amendment, and archiving of research contracts, grant agreements, consortium agreements, collaboration agreements, data-sharing documents, and related project documentation.
• Coordinate with Legal, Finance, Procurement, HR, Schools, Departments, and project teams to ensure that contractual terms, budgets, deliverables, reporting obligations, and institutional responsibilities are understood and actioned.
• Maintain oversight of research contract and project documentation from award notification through execution, implementation, amendments, reporting, and closure.
• When formally delegated, act as authorised institutional/legal representative or coordinate institutional representation in funding portals, board meetings, consortium meetings, and related governance processes.

Post-award coordination, compliance, and reporting

• Liaise with Principal Investigators, Project Coordinators, Finance, and administrative teams on project timelines, deliverables, reporting schedules, funder communications, audits, and documentation requirements.
• Support compliance with funder rules, institutional policies, contractual obligations, procurement requirements, ethical approvals, data protection expectations, and audit trails.
• Track key project milestones, reporting deadlines, amendments, deliverables, meetings, and risk points, escalating matters where appropriate.
• Provide practical support for project start-up, implementation, monitoring, and close-out, ensuring that administrative requirements are clear and recorded.

Training, communication, and research community support

• Organise and contribute to workshops, briefings, guidance sessions, and internal communications on funding calls, proposal preparation, contract procedures, post-award obligations, and research administration good practice.
• Develop user-friendly templates, FAQs, checklists, and guidance material for faculty, researchers, and administrative teams.
• Serve as an accessible point of contact for research administration matters while ensuring that complex issues are routed to the appropriate internal expert or decision-maker.

External engagement and partnership support

• Build constructive working relationships with funders, partner universities, research organisations, industry, community stakeholders, and relevant national and international bodies.
• Represent RIO and the University in external meetings, networks, information days, consortium discussions, and funder engagements, including travel where required.
• Support the creation and maintenance of internal and external research networks that improve funding readiness and research collaboration opportunities.

Data, systems, record and performance reporting

• Maintain accurate records of proposals, awards, contracts, amendments, funder correspondence, project status, and key performance indicators.
• Use institutional systems, funder portals, shared trackers, and reporting tools to ensure data integrity and visibility across the research portfolio.
• Analyse research administration activity, identify trends, and prepare reports for the Executive Director, University committees, Schools, Departments, and other stakeholders as required.

People, service quality and professional standards

• Coordinate workloads, priorities, and service standards within the research administration function, escalating resource pressures and urgent risks appropriately.
• Promote a professional, service-oriented, and solutions-focused culture within RIO and in interactions with faculty, researchers, partners, and funders.
• Demonstrate a strong commitment to equality of opportunity, confidentiality, transparency, integrity, and responsible research administration.

Education:

• A Bachelor’s degree in a relevant filed. (in Management, Public Administration, Research Policy, European Studies, Finance, Law)
• A Master’s degree in a relevant field (in Management, Public Administration, Research Policy, European Studies, Finance, Law) will be considered an advantage.

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience in an academic, research, funding, public sector, or comparable project administration environment
• Experience in a University Research Office or central research administration function

Research Funding: 

• Strong working knowledge of pre-award and post-award research administration, including proposal procedures, budgets, contracts, reporting, compliance, monitoring, and audit preparation.

Contracts and Compliance:

• Experience supporting funded research contracts, grant agreements, amendments, partner documentation, institutional approvals, and funder terms and conditions.

• Research administration judgement: understands the full research funding lifecycle and can identify the administrative implications of funder rules, contracts, budgets, deliverables, audits, and institutional processes.
• Responsiveness and service orientation: manages a high volume of enquiries with professionalism, accuracy, and appropriate prioritisation.
• Planning and project coordination: tracks deadlines, dependencies, approvals, documentation, risks, and stakeholder actions across multiple proposals and funded projects.
• Analytical capability: interprets guidance, call documentation, contract terms, data, and operational evidence to support sound decisions and recommendations.
• Relationship management: builds credibility with academic colleagues, funders, partners, and professional services teams, including in situations requiring tact and persistence.
• Communication and drafting: produces clear advice, correspondence, reports, templates, minutes, guidance material, and briefing notes for varied audiences.
• Integrity and confidentiality: handles sensitive institutional, personal, contractual, and financial information with discretion and in accordance with applicable policies.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and Greek, with the ability to translate complex requirements into clear operational guidance.
• Confident use of Microsoft Office and collaborative work tools; ability to maintain accurate trackers, records, and reports.

• Highly organised, detail-oriented, and able to manage multiple priorities under tight deadlines.
• Proactive, practical, and solutions-focused, with the confidence to escalate risks and propose improvements.
• Professional, dependable, cooperative, and able to work both independently and as part of a dynamic team.
• Resilient under pressure and comfortable operating in a complex, deadline-driven institutional environment.
• Committed to equality of opportunity, respectful collaboration, and continuous improvement.

• The postholder may be required to attend meetings outside normal working hours or travel locally and internationally for funder, consortium, partner, or institutional meetings.
• Duties may evolve in line with institutional priorities, changes in funder requirements, and the development of the Research & Innovation Office.
• The role must be performed in accordance with University policies, funder requirements, applicable legislation, and high standards of professional conduct.

Application Procedure:

Interested candidates are invited to apply by submitting the following documents:

• Cover Letter: Describe your interest in the position and how your background aligns with the role.
• Curriculum Vitae (CV): Detailed CV highlighting relevant experience and achievements.
• References: Contact information for at least two professional references.

How to Apply:

Please submit your application through our online recruitment system.

Application Deadline:
Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.

The University of Nicosia (UNIC) is one of the leading comprehensive research-oriented universities in the Mediterranean region, committed to teaching, research and innovation, sustainability, societal engagement and contribution to culture.

The University offers more than 100 conventional face-to-face (on campus) and distance learning online programmes at the Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degree level, hosting more than 11,700 students from over 100 countries.

UNIC conducts extensive, high-quality, basic, applied, and interdisciplinary research that benefits society on a national and global scale. Our teaching and research staff excel in many academic disciplines and are acknowledged for their contribution to the creation and advancement of knowledge and technology transfer, with a particular focus on emerging technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and their impact on society.