Ashley Blake

• Delivering improved performance
• Growing research income
• Pre/Posy award process improvement
• Creating a strategic programmed to have a 1 team vision.
• Staff support
• Audit and year end assistance.
• Help support research income allocation.
• Aged debt recovery assistance 99% success rate achieved to date.
• Research assurance checks and training.
• Risk management and due diligence checks.

• Work closely with the Financial Controller (FC) to ensure that timely and accurate
monthly management information and project reports are produced for stakeholders
in the organization.
• Liaise with stakeholders to ensure that the financial performance for their business area
or projectis adequately monitored and managed, that they have useful financial
information and that any issues are identified and resolved.
• Attend management accounts meetings as required.
• Support, and provide detailed strategic and financial analysis for the preparation of
long-termbusiness plans, budgets, and forecasts for the organization.
• Co-ordinate and support the annual budget process.
• Co-ordinate and support the organizations forecasting processes.
• Work with other members of the Finance team to ensure maximum data integrity and
accuracy.
• Assist with the continuous improvement and development of systems across the
organization.

• Managing a team 19 staff members
• Managing internal audits
• Completing project contract amendments
• Dealing with VAT queries
• Conducting team training in areas that require improvement.
• Managing team restructure
• Reporting to the director of research on KPIs
• Managing the integration of a new research management system.
• Monitoring month end closure process
• Attending EU/UKRI training and networking events
• Staying up to date in the ever-changing landscape of research terms and conditions
• Strengthening working links between research finance and central finance.
• Analyzing the impact, the effect of Brexit on research for Sussex.
• Managing UKRI FAP Visit.

• Managing fund call (challenge fund)
• Reviewing project proposals
• Analyzing proposal budgets for value for money
• Discussing potential project collaborations with institutional leads
• Creating an interdisciplinary group to manage the challenge funds core objectives.
• Attending proposal development meetings
• Measuring the impact of proposals

• Producing monthly accounts for departments within child services.
• Manage and oversee the structural change over of Northampton Children Services to
transitioninto a trust, owned by the Northants County Council.
• Compiling monthly forecasts and detailing any budget variances.
• Complete month-end tasks.
• Creating budget packs for new financial year.
• Audit advice.
• Complete UAT for new trust.
• Complete VAT registration for new trust.
• Manage VAT returns.
• Calculate provision for bad debt.
• Calculate forecasts for adoption services.
• Overall budget of child services is 120 million.
• Manage grant funds and reporting from DfE.
• Improve year-end processes.

• Costing and pricing for external and internal projects.
• Helping implement change within research finance department.
• Improve processes and reporting schedules.
• Managing the full life cycle or research grants from application to completion.
• Pricing and costing.
• Contract negotiation.
• Award management.
• Writing reports to demonstrate the contribution that excellent research makes to
society and theeconomy.
• Complete month-end time table for all external grant tasks.
• Agresso testing.
• Testing for new finance system or current finance system upgrade.

To have a thorough understanding of the grant application process as well as knowledge of
multiple typesof funders core research councils).

• Manage a portfolio of grants to reconcile research awards from various funding bodies.
• Successfully cost projects and making sure all the costs of research projects are met.
• Using FEC methodology to cost research projects when submitted to research councils.
• Managing 4 members of staff, to help manage their workload and deliver on various
deadlines tonumerous funding bodies and share best working practices.
• Update processes and procedures to improve KPIs.
• Keep to up to date with all research legislation changes and disseminate to the wider
team.
• Help increase research activity and grow research income to meet the universities
strategic goaland keep in-line the universities mission statement.
• Creating and maintaining close links with key contacts in the commercial industry and
with keystakeholders at various funding bodies.
• Manage various deadlines to submit internal and external reports.
• Meet with academics to discuss the departments core functions and how we fit into
the grantmanagement process.
• Deputize for the HoD in meetings.
• Meet with auditors to discuss best practice for the management of EC projects.
• Partner with academics to help construct research applications from proposal to award
stage.
• Manage contract negotiations for all contract and research projects awarded to the
university.
• Determine the VAT treatment of all contracts and research projects.
• Negotiate the IP split for all research projects with our project partners.
• Work closely with departments and research centers to support academic staff in
developingresearch applications to a range of UK, European and international
sponsors.
• Working with academic colleagues to advise on the presentation of the proposal to
meet thespecific demands of the funder, and compliance with their terms and
conditions.
• Ensure compliance with School regulations with respect to budgeting and cost recovery.
• Monitor the developing external policy context (UK, EU and international) with respect to
researchfunding policy and funding opportunities, in particular the UK Research
Councils, European Commission and charities and foundations, and use this expertise
to advise their departments themore relevant opportunities in the context of each
departments research priorities.
• Take initial responsibility for the negotiations with sponsors including for the large
scale/major research projects and programmes on which the Grant Applications
Manager has contributed at application stage.

• Responsibility for all aspects of financial management within the Directorate, including
monitoring ofperformance and providing advice on corrective action as necessary.
• Ensure that R&D and E&T income and costs are accounted for appropriately within
Service to linereports
• To have project management overview of CLAHRC and any other R&D funding.
• To ensure financial implications for service change within the Directorate are evaluated
through theapproved business case process and benefits are delivered.
• To have overall responsibility for the development and maintenance of the 3 year Cost
ImprovementPlan R&D and E&T.
• To provide management reports and analysis to support the consolidation of the Trusts
financialreports within deadlines
• Overall responsibility for reporting to the Deanery, NHS London and National Institute
for HealthResearch.

• Develop and maintain costing models in line with internal and external guidelines
including theidentification of appropriate cost drivers to allocate costs to key areas of
university activity.
• Assist the Management Accountant (Academic Departments) with the annual Transparent
Approach to Costing (TRAC) return to the Higher Education Funding Council.
• Develop an Activity Costing framework, consistent with TRAC principles, within the
university to be applied to a range of university activities, such as cost of teaching, new
programmes of study, shortcourses, and consultancy.
• Approve the financial terms of all bids before institutional signing off and scrutinize and
finalize foracceptance project contracts with external bodies.
• Assist with the periodic reports to the funding body; ensure that the obligations of the
contract arebeing fulfilled and that proper audit trails exist,
• Liaise with outside bodies such as Research Councils, Government Bodies and Industrial
Sponsors andresolve any post-award project management queries that arise.
• Be responsible for the HESA and year-end reporting of all research income and
expenditure for theassigned academic departments including ensuring that all external
reporting requirements are adhered
To.

• To account for internal and external funded grants, including preparation of financial
reports tofunders.
• Complete external funding body reports and returns for assigned research areas.
• Undertake the regular review and reconciliation of external grant income and
expenditure, taking corrective action where required to ensure financial terms and
conditions compliance, and update Grant Reconciliations and Reserves register as
required.
• Assist in the provision of grant costing information pre- and post-award, assist in the grant
approvalworkflow process.
• Completing grant reconciliations and preparing returns for external funding bodies.
• Establishing and maintaining comprehensive grant records (electronic and where
appropriate hard copy), including ensuring that adequate external grant records are
maintained on file, and that correctgrant, project and related post funding dates are correct
on Agresso.
• Ongoing review and correction of income and expenditure actuals and accruals, including
checkingmonthly financial statements prior to circulation to budget holders.
• Provide written narrative to both Senior Management explaining key variances between
actuals andbudgets, and to support any projected full year variances.
• Ensure full year forecasting undertaken on regular basis, at least quarterly, and fully
reflects theproject outcome for the financial year, in accordance with discussions with
budget holders.
• Perform annual five year budgetary process for assigned budget holders
• Assist the Head of Grant Accounting and Financial Systems and Deputy Director of
Finance in theproduction of annual accounts, HEFCE submissions and other regularly
returns.
• Carrying out all aspects of staff management for Assistant Research Accountants,
including regularappraisals, identifying and supporting learning and development needs,
recruitment and induction

• Manage the process around externally funded research grants to ensure support provided
to facultythrough the process and compliance with both the schools and the funding
bodys policy and procedures
• Pre-Award: advise faculty regarding funder specific financial guidelines, and School financial
policies, produce an informed costing for application which demonstrates value for money,
and liaise with faculty and Research & Faculty Office (RFO) to complete internal sign-off
and formal application.