The University of Sheffield is a remarkable place to work. Our people are at the heart of everything we do. Their diverse backgrounds, abilities and beliefs make Sheffield a world-class university.

We offer a fantastic range of benefits including a highly competitive annual leave entitlement (with the ability to purchase more), a generous pensions scheme, flexible working opportunities, a commitment to your development and wellbeing, a wide range of retail discounts, and much more. Find out more about our benefits (opens in a new window) and join us to become part of something special.

Overview

Working across the University and nationally with the UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN), you will support projects to accelerate open research practices, embed an open research culture, and enhance research transparency, reliability, and reproducibility.

Under the direction of the University’s new Office for Open Research and Scholarship, you will contribute to key open research projects on the University’s Research Culture Action Plan, including activities around open research reward and recognition, understanding reproducibility in different disciplines, and open research information. You will also advocate for and support open research practices and communities across the University, including the Open Research Champions and the Data Stewards Network.

As the institutional Open Research Coordinator and Administrator (ORCA) for the UKRN Open Research Programme (ORP), you will also play an active role in the ORP Training Project (funded by Research England until August 2026). You will raise awareness of the UKRN across the University, coordinate recruitment to the ORP Training Project, support Sheffield researchers who have completed train-the-trainer courses in open research practices and realise the benefits of the ORP at Sheffield.

You will be comfortable with cross-team working and developing relationships with both academic and professional services. You will work with stakeholders from across the University, including Research Partnerships and Innovation, Research & Innovation IT, Faculty and School research leads, individual researchers, and research-enabling staff. Based within the University Library’s Scholarly Communications Team, you will report to the Head of Open Research and work in liaison with the University’s academic Research Practice Lead.

Main duties and responsibilities

• Working with stakeholders across the University, support researchers to engage with open research practices in alignment with the University statement on Open Research;
• Contribute to the delivery of open research projects on the University’s Research Culture Action Plan, including activities around open research reward and recognition, recognising diverse forms of and contributions to research, understanding reproducibility and non-traditional research outputs in different disciplines, and open research information.
• Develop and deliver training in open research practices, and lead on outreach activities relating to open research for the University Library.
• Engage with others in the sector to work on collaborative projects, share best practice, and keep up to date with new developments.
• Support the monitoring of the adoption of open research practices at the University and report on these to appropriate stakeholders.
• Advocate for and support open research communities at the University, including the academic-led Open Research Working Group, the Open Research Champions network, and the Data Stewards Network, in coordination with the Research Data Steward in the University Library.
• Directly manage and supervise staff with responsibilities related to open research and research data management.
• Gain familiarity with and play an active role in the UKRN Open Research Programme (ORP) Training Project, including contributing to the development of sustainability plans for the training programme beyond the lifetime of the ORP.
• Promote and recruit to UKRN ORP training, and locally administer the ORP programme evaluation.
• Provide follow-on support for Sheffield researchers and research-enabling staff who attend ORP training and grow the ORP Training Community of Practice.
• Support national project activities, liaising with external stakeholders including Open Research Coordinators and Administrators (ORCAs) at other UKRN institutions and ORP training providers, and facilitating good relationships between the University and the project partners.
• Collate learning and outputs from the ORP to proactively shape the development of the University’s support and services for open research practices and share good practice at Sheffield across the ORP and more widely, including via the UKRN web platform.
• Design and prepare internal and external communications, such as email updates, webpages, and blog posts.
• Carry out other duties, commensurate with the grade and remit of the post.

Person Specification

Our diverse community of staff and students recognises the unique abilities, backgrounds, and beliefs of all. We foster a culture where everyone feels they belong and is respected. Even if your past experience does not match perfectly with this role's criteria, your contribution is valuable, and we encourage you to apply. Please ensure that you reference the application criteria in the application statement when you apply.

Further Information

Next steps in the recruitment process

Details of the next steps will be provided to shortlisted candidates. We plan to let candidates know if they have progressed to the selection stage within two weeks of the closing date, subject to the volume of applications received. If you need any support, equipment or adjustments to enable you to participate in any element of the recruitment process you can contact library-hr@sheffield.ac.uk

Our vision and strategic plan

We are the University of Sheffield. This is our vision: sheffield.ac.uk/vision (opens in new window).

What we offer

• A minimum of 41 days annual leave including bank holiday and closure days (pro rata) with the ability to purchase more.
• Flexible working opportunities, including hybrid working for some roles.
• Generous pension scheme.
• A wide range of discounts and rewards on shopping, eating out and travel.
• A variety of staff networks, providing opportunities for social interaction, peer support and personal development (for example, Race Equality, LGBT+, Women’s and Parent’s networks).
• Recognition Awards to reward staff who go above and beyond in their role.
• A commitment to your development access to learning and mentoring schemes; Professional Services Shared Skills Framework
• A range of generous family-friendly policies
  • paid time off for parenting and caring emergencies
  • support for those going through the menopause
  • paid time off and support for fertility treatment
  • and more

More details can be found on our benefits page: sheffield.ac.uk/jobs/benefits (opens in a new window).

We are a Disability Confident Employer. If you have a disability and meet the essential criteria for this job you will be invited to take part in the next stage of the selection process.

Closing Date : 22/10/2025 

We are a research university with a global reputation for excellence. Our ideas and expertise change the world for the better, making a real difference to society. We know that when people come together with different views, approaches and insights it can lead to richer, more creative and innovative teaching and research and the highest levels of student experience. Our University Vision (www.sheffield.ac.uk/vision) outlines our commitment to building a diverse community of staff and students that recognises and values the abilities, backgrounds, beliefs and ways of living for everyone.