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Core & Support Staff

Forum diners

Meet the teams that support the Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s research and keep the Â鶹ÊÓƵ running

Many of these teams offer apprenticeships for people looking to develop on-the-job skills in their area. Find out more by contacting our HR team.

Director’s Office

The Â鶹ÊÓƵ Director is Simon Cook who leads the Â鶹ÊÓƵ and reports directly to the Board of Trustees. The Director’s Office organises and supports the Director’s activities. Meet the members of in our People Directory.

 

Dr Simon Cook

Operations

Operation of the Â鶹ÊÓƵ is led by Simon Jones, Chief Operating Officer, who directly oversees many of the non-scientific functions of the Â鶹ÊÓƵ: Finance, Human Resources, Computing, Communications, Health & Safety, Estates, and Security, many of which are described further on this page. Simon is also the Company Secretary for the Babraham Group and as such reports directly to the Board of Trustees.

Simon Jones
Cass

Computing

The Computing team supports the Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s IT, Business Systems, and Web Technologies. The team is led by the Chief Information Officer, Cass Flowers. Her role oversees Information Technology and Information Systems to guide strategy, service provision, security and data compliance. The Computing team provide support, guidance and advice to Â鶹ÊÓƵ staff and students along with providing services to several other organisations on Babraham Research Campus.

Engineering

Adrian Bath leads the Babraham Campus Engineering team (BCE). The team is made up of qualified staff covering all aspects of mechanical and electrical engineering as well as building and civil engineering. They operate a standard working week with out of hours cover to maintain business critical systems. The team manage all planned preventative and reactive maintenance at the Â鶹ÊÓƵ as well as managing large capital projects. BCE also manage the utility infrastructure including water abstraction, effluent treatment, procurement of energy and onsite energy generation.

Campus view from a drone

Colourful lines that come to make a circle above the words "equity 4 success"

Equality, diversity and inclusivity

The Â鶹ÊÓƵ supports and invests in promoting equality and diversity in all aspects of our community. Work in this area is co-ordinated by the HR team, in partnership with the equity4success team who represent the Â鶹ÊÓƵ as a whole and work towards helping everyone feel valued and included at the Â鶹ÊÓƵ. Find out more on the equity4success pages.

 

Finance

Andy Hunt is the Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s Head of Finance. The team includes qualified and experienced staff together with those studying finance. They manage all financial transactions at the Â鶹ÊÓƵ including raising sales invoices, processing supplier invoices and paying suppliers, together with monitoring and claiming grant income and paying expenses. The management accounting team also produce the Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s annual budgets for board approval, monthly and yearly accounts and monitor the Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s cash flow. 

Finance data

Hall - drone shot

Governance and Project Office

The Governance and Project Office has oversight of the Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s project portfolio. We act as project managers at the Â鶹ÊÓƵ, providing project management expertise and support, and working alongside a range of different departments, committees and individuals, to develop software, events, policies and more. We also provide project management expertise and support to others on request.

We also support the Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s Governance Framework, looking at the systems and processes concerned with the overall direction, effectiveness, supervision and accountability of the Â鶹ÊÓƵ. The framework determines who makes decisions, how others make their voice heard and how the account is recorded.

Grants

The Grants Team supports the Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s researchers in identifying, preparing and applying for grants-based funding from research funding organisations both in the UK and abroad. Particularly for overseas grants, the team also provides ongoing support through the lifetime of a grant and can aid in evaluation and reporting of grant progress. Grant applications are subject to rigorous internal reviews by the Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s senior researchers before being submitted to the funder.

UKRI BBSRC logo
Aerial shot of the Babraham Research Campus



 

Health & Safety, Quality Assurance of Research (QAR), Safeguarding

Scientific research and its support activities include a variety of hazards not typically encountered in other work environments. The Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s Health & Safety team employs a pragmatic approach to ensuring everyone is well protected from hazards, whilst supporting efficient research progress. By proactively providing information, advice and training on all relevant hazards, risk assessment and the use of appropriate precautions, the team help to keep the Â鶹ÊÓƵ safe.



The team also manages policies, a code of practice, auditing processes and research integrity review in line with quality assurance of research. The procedure covers factors such as sample management and record keeping. By following research integrity and QAR practices, we can be confident that research at the Â鶹ÊÓƵ is performed to a high standard of quality and consistency. Priya Schoenfelder is the Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s Head of Health, Safety and QAR. She is also the Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s Designated Safeguarding Lead.

Housekeeping

The Housekeeping team aid in the maintenance and management of the Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s on-site accommodation. They help to ensure that our accommodation provision is clean and welcoming. In addition, they provide cleaning services for the Â鶹ÊÓƵ's offices in Babraham Hall.

Human Resources

Andrea Last leads the Human Resources team, which supports the proper employment and ongoing welfare of Â鶹ÊÓƵ staff and students, including our wellbeing, training and mentoring programmes. The team manage the recruiting process for vacancies, support the induction of new employees and provide a key point of contact for everyone during their time with the Â鶹ÊÓƵ. The Human Resources team are also equipped to support staff that need help or encounter challenges during their time at the Â鶹ÊÓƵ.

Nursery

Alison Bishop manages the Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s on-site Nursery, which provides childcare for Campus staff and families in the local area. The Nursery accepts children from six weeks and up and has been consistently rated Outstanding by Ofsted. It also operates the Babraham Primary School after school club and the fun-pack holiday club. Full details of the nursery and its services can be found on the .

Science Building Services

The Â鶹ÊÓƵ's Technical Services team is managed by Juliet Emery and is the first port of call for Â鶹ÊÓƵ scientists regarding all practical matters within the science buildings, laboratories and communal facilities. Their roles include, but are not limited to: providing assistance and advice to scientists regarding purchase, siting, installation, upkeep, maintenance and repair of technical equipment; office and laboratory relocations; media preparation and glass-washing services; management and maintenance of core specialised equipment and training for access to controlled specialist facilities. Technical Services ensure effective building and equipment management in compliance with relevant safety legislation. They operate on an out-of-hours rota to react to business critical equipment alarms and also as a back-up for scientific sample salvage. Technical Services are also closely integrated with the Â鶹ÊÓƵ's .

Stores

The Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s Stores & Purchasing team is led by Michael Norden. The team facilitate the purchasing and distribution of equipment and consumables for use across all aspects of the Â鶹ÊÓƵ. The Stores & Purchasing team ensure that our researchers, staff and students have access to everything they need to do their jobs and carry out their research. They also maintain relationships with the Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s suppliers to make sure we get the best deals on the resources we need to keep doing world-class science.