Scientific Project Officer/ Scientific Project Manager

Our EMBL-EBI Training Team has a new opportunity for an experienced Scientific Project Officer or Scientific Project Manager for a 13 month absence cover. In this position you’ll play a key role in delivering an international portfolio of grant-funded projects, working at the intersection of science, training, project management and stakeholder engagement.

You will join our highly collaborative Training Team of around 20 colleagues, delivering face-to-face, virtual and online learning to a global audience. Our work spans the life sciences and bioinformatics communities and includes major externally funded programmes involving training, facilitation, project management and community strengthening.

This is a role where your scientific background, training and project management expertise, and ability to bring people together can make a tangible difference. Delivery of activities may, on occasion, require work outside of normal office hours and may involve some international travel.
 

Your role 

You will help ensure the successful delivery and continuity of a portfolio of grant-funded projects, working with colleagues across EMBL-EBI and partners in international consortia. Depending on your experience and level of appointment, you will either contribute to the coordination of projects or take independent ownership of significant project activities and work packages.

Your work will include:

• Driving project delivery – managing plans, milestones, dependencies, risks, KPIs, budgets and reporting to keep projects on track, in collaboration with key colleagues across the organisation.

• Working internationally – building productive relationships with project partners, funders, collaborators and stakeholders across EMBL-EBI and beyond.

• Creating impactful training – co-developing, delivering and evaluating high-quality training and knowledge-exchange activities across face-to-face, virtual and on-demand formats.

• Understanding community needs – conducting stakeholder and training-needs analysis, identifying emerging skills requirements and developing competency frameworks and communities around shared goals.

• Coordinating collaborative work – supporting or leading work packages, meetings and working groups, ensuring decisions and actions translate into delivery.

• Strengthening capability – contributing to train-the-trainer approaches, fellowships and participant-support activities, helping others develop their skills and expertise.

• Supporting the wider community – engaging with ELIXIR and other relevant international activities.

• Managing resources and quality –  Maintain clear documentation and provide an orderly handover at the end of the absence-cover period, protecting continuity of project knowledge, decisions, relationships and next actions.
   

You will have the autonomy and responsibility appropriate to your experience, with the opportunity to take the lead on projects and guide colleagues where appropriate.

You have 

We are looking for someone who combines scientific credibility and training expertise with strong project and people skills.
 

You will have a PhD or equivalent expertise in molecular life sciences or a related subject, together with significant experience contributing to or managing international grant-funded projects.

You will also bring:

• Demonstrable experience designing and delivering training, engagement or learning programmes for specific audiences across multiple formats.

• Experience in stakeholder analysis, training-needs analysis and competency development.

• Strong project management, organisational and time-management skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities and deadlines.

• Excellent communication, facilitation and negotiation skills, with the ability to engage diverse audiences and build effective relationships.

• Experience using digital collaboration and project-management tools.

• A commitment to building trust, setting realistic expectations and working collaboratively across organisational and professional boundaries.

You may also have

• Experience of community strengthening, train-the-trainer approaches, coaching or mentoring, outreach and communications, European research infrastructures, ELIXIR or international research consortia. 

• Experience working with project budgets, forecasting and expenditure tracking.

• Familiarity with bioinformatics tools and resources, Agile working or product ownership.

• A teaching or training qualification.

• A project management certificate or equivalent formal project-management training.

We recognise that strong candidates can bring different levels of experience. The role may therefore be appointed at Grade 5 (Scientific Project Officer) or Grade 6 (Scientific Project Manager).

At Grade 5, you will contribute to the coordination and delivery of assigned projects, working closely with colleagues and partners to ensure activities are delivered effectively.

At Grade 6, you will take greater independent ownership of assigned projects, with responsibility for coordinating delivery, budgets, risks, reporting and stakeholder relationships, and will be expected to lead project activities and provide guidance to colleagues where appropriate.

The final grade will reflect your experience, expertise, autonomy and demonstrated level of responsibility.

Contract length: 13 months (absence cover)

Salary: Grade 5 or 6, monthly salary from £3,452 or £3,861 after tax plus generous benefits and allowances based on family circumstances. Excluding personal pension and insurance contributions. 

Interviews: Tentative dates for virtual interviews: 1 - 2 October 2026.

Why join us
Do something meaningful
At EMBL-EBI you can apply your talent and passion to accelerate science and tackle some of humankind's greatest challenges. EMBL-EBI, part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, is a worldwide leader in the storage, analysis and dissemination of large biological datasets. We provide the global research community with access to publicly available databases and tools which are crucial for the advancement of healthcare, food security, and biodiversity.
 

Join a culture of innovation
We are located on the Wellcome Genome Campus, alongside other prominent research and biotech organisations, and surrounded by beautiful Cambridgeshire countryside. This is a highly collaborative and inclusive community where our employees enjoy a relaxed atmosphere. We are committed to ensuring our employees feel valued, supported and empowered to reach their professional potential.  Watch this video to see how EMBL-EBI makes an impact.

Enjoy lots of benefits:

• Financial incentives: Monthly family, child and non-resident allowances, annual salary review, pension scheme, death benefit, long-term care, accident-at-work and unemployment insurances

• Flexible working arrangements - including hybrid working patterns 

• Private medical insurance for you and your immediate family (including all prescriptions and generous dental & optical cover)

• Generous time off: 30 days annual leave per year, in addition public holidays

• Relocation package including installation grant (if required)

• Campus life: Free shuttle bus to and from work, on-site library, subsidised on-site gym and cafeteria, casual dress code, extensive sports and social club activities (on campus and remotely)

• Family benefits: On-site nursery, 10 days of child sick leave, generous parental leave, holiday clubs on campus and monthly family and child allowances

• Benefits for non-UK residents: Visa exemption, education grant for private schooling, financial support to travel back to your home country every second year and a monthly non-resident allowance.

For detailed information please visit our employee benefits page here. 

What else you need to know

• International applicants: We recruit internationally and successful candidates are offered visa exemptions. Please take a look at our International Applicants page for further information.  

• EMBL is a signatory of DORA. Find out how we apply DORA principles to our recruitment and performance assessment processes here.

• Diversity and inclusion: At EMBL, we believe that diverse teams drive innovation and scientific excellence. We encourage applications from candidates of all genders, identities, nationalities and/or any other diverse backgrounds.

• How to apply: To apply please submit a cover letter and a CV through our online system. Applications will close at 23:59 CET on the date shown below. We aim to provide a response within two weeks after the closing date.

Closing Date