Senior Operations Officer; Research Administration

Overview

Salary £29,740 to £36,446 per annum pro-rata depending on skills and experience. Salary progression beyond this scale is subject to performance.

Area Social Sciences

Location University Park

Closing Date Monday 16 February 2026

Interview Date To be confirmed

Reference SOC
224025X1

The role-holder will work within the Rights Lab’s Operational team as Senior Operations Officer (Research Administration). You will be part of an integrated team with responsibility for the coordination, implementation, and continuous improvement of a range of research project delivery and activities. You will work flexibly, and have a can-do attitude to ensure the delivery of excellent and seamless support for Rights Lab’s externally funded research project activity throughout the full research lifecycle, from project award to project completion.

In this role, you will offer guidance, support, and advice to senior academic and managerial colleagues, ensuring that all aspects of research administration are handled efficiently and effectively. Our projects are internationally focused, and you will play a key role in coordinating and supporting project teams and stakeholders.

You will work with limited direct supervision and therefore be required to use your initiative, take personal responsibility, think analytically and creatively to solve problems and use excellent interpersonal and communication skills to build and maintain relationships and work collaboratively with academic staff and external stakeholders both UK and International to deliver innovative, high quality and compliant research project administrative support.

This role is part of the University’s Rights Lab. The Rights Lab is the first large-scale research platform for ending modern slavery, and home to the world’s leading modern slavery experts. Our challenge-led, team-based approach to research fosters interdisciplinary collaboration between Rights Lab researchers representing 17 different disciplines from five different university faculties. The Rights Lab works closely with stakeholders in government, civil society, business, and intergovernmental institutions to deliver practically impactful research that speaks directly to the antislavery movement and those working in the field.

We are committed to ensuring our work is relevant, timely, responsive, accessible, and actionable. This is captured in our wide variety of collaborative projects and strong long-standing relationships with key players in the global and local antislavery movement(s), our curation and development of policy and practice resources (as well as academic outputs), and our responsive research agenda.

The Rights Lab is based on University Park in Highfield House, and we have a very strong in-person working environment within our team.

You will have a keen interest in working in a research support environment, providing expert administration to our academics and stakeholders.

Here are some examples of the type of expertise we are interested in, however this list is not exhaustive and exclusive:

• You have an eye for accuracy, you enjoy a challenge, and working with spreadsheets and budgets.
• Enjoy working in a busy challenging environment, and when deadlines clash, you can prioritise your workload.
• Previously you have prepared workshops and meetings and comfortable attending and hosting these from an operational support side, both face-to-face and online.
• Enjoy working as part of an administrative team, but also capable of working independently.
• You have significant relevant experience, or prepared to adapt your transferable skills into a research administrative environment.

• A friendly, diverse, and supportive working environment;
• A vibrant on-campus research environment, supported by expectations that our team is based within the Rights Lab in Highfield House on University Park for at least 80% of the working week (e.g. minimum four days in the office).
• Generous holiday entitlement of 27 days annually (or pro rata) plus standard bank holidays and five university closure days, including closure between Christmas and New Year;
• A University…