Rare Disease Project Manager (Maternity cover)

Rare Disease Project Manager (Maternity cover)

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced, highly motivated individual to join our vibrant, multidisciplinary rare disease research team. The Project Manager will provide project management expertise to ensure the successful, strategic development of high-quality rare disease research. This role provides an opportunity to work in partnership with academic and clinical colleagues, professional support teams, community groups, policy makers, and industrial collaborators. In collaboration with senior colleagues, you will help develop, manage, monitor, and report on the implementation of strategic projects within a range of rare diseases. You will provide support for a collaborative research environment that fosters a culture of trust and mutual respect. The role requires excellent interpersonal skills alongside scientific and technical understanding relevant for rare diseases.

Although individually rare, which means affecting less than 1 in 2,000 people, all rare diseases together affect ~475 million people globally, with more than 110,000 people affected by rare diseases across Northern Ireland. Recent rare disease initiatives by our team include the development of an online support tool for carers of people living with a rare disease – Caring with Rare, appraisals of the impact of socioeconomic factors, novel approaches for molecular diagnostics, building digital infrastructure to support diagnosis and care pathways, and the recently funded £12 million LifeArc Centre for the Acceleration of Rare Disease Trials.

About the person:

The successful applicant will have a University degree or equivalent, or substantial relevant project management experience and a professional project management qualification at practitioner level. Substantial relevant experience must demonstrate project management of a complex project from inception to completion, planning, delivering, budgetary reprofiling and management, leading multidisciplinary teams and managing people, good negotiating and influencing skills. We seek someone with the ability to organise, with a detail-oriented methodological approach, with a positive, creative, and flexible approach to resolving problems.

This is not an exhaustive list. To be successful at shortlisting stage, please ensure you clearly evidence in your application how you meet the essential and, where applicable, desirable criteria listed in the Candidate Information.

What we offer:

Beyond a competitive salary, the University offers an attractive benefits package including a holiday entitlement of up to 8.4 weeks a year, pension schemes and development opportunities. We support staff wellbeing with flexible working options, work-life balance initiatives and support for physical and mental health. You can find more detail on all of this and more at

Queen’s University is committed to promoting equality of opportunity to all. We subscribe to Equality Charter Marks such as the Diversity Charter Mark NI and Athena Swan and have established staff networks such as iRise (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and International Staff Network) and PRISM (LGBTQ+) which help us progress equality. For further information on our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, please visit

If you are an international applicant and don’t already hold a visa that permits you to take up the role you are applying for, please use the information provided on our website to self-assess whether the University is likely to be able to support a visa application –

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