Recruiting staff
As soon as you have confirmation that your funding application has been successful you should prioritise recruitment as it takes approximately 3 months to recruit to a position and applicants’ notice periods must also be accounted for, which are typically between 4 weeks and 3 months. Applicants requiring Visas may take longer. The member of support staff within your School with responsibility for recruitment will guide you through the process (please contact your Dean’s PA to find out who this is for your School if you are unsure).
New positions at grade 6 and above require job evaluation and approval to advertise. Your School recruitment contact can provide you with templates for job descriptions, person specifications and job advertisements and will talk you through the approval process and timescales.
If you are concerned that waiting for contracts to be signed is delaying recruitment and your ability to meet the funder requirements regarding the project start date, you can ask the member of the Research Support team who is allocated to your project to request Dean’s underwriting for your project. Subject to Dean’s approval, the Research Support team will then be able to set up a J-Code account for you and you can request approval to advertise. You should not make a formal offer of employment until contracts are finalised.
If you have not done so already, you will need to attend the Staff Development ‘Recruitment and Selection’ course. Visit the My.HR Learning portal (login using your University username and password) to search for the next available dates. Further guidance on the recruitment process is available on the HR website.
Salary scales for Research Council funded projects
Important: For Research Councils, the salary spinal point you applied for (as shown on the RX2) is higher than the level you can appoint to. This is to account for inflationary salary increases during the period of employment. Research Assistants are normally recruited at the bottom of the grade 6 salary scale. If you wish to appoint at a higher level than this, or if your project start date gets delayed, please contact the member of the Research Support team allocated to your project for advice on what level of staffing you can afford against your awarded budget.
Salary scales for other funders
For all other funders, you should appoint at the level and for the duration requested on your application. If you wish to change your staffing requirement or if your project start date gets delayed, please contact the member of the Research Support team allocated to your project for advice on what level of staffing you can afford against your awarded budget.