Job Description

Research England - Business Support Officer

Salary: £30,895 per annum

Band: UKRI Band C
Contract Type: Open ended
Hours: Full-time or Part Time (minimum 0.8 FTE) (flexible working available)
Location: Westward House, Bristol

Closing Date: 12th April 2026

Interviews: w/c 27th April 2026

Research England is one of the nine Councils within UK Research and Innovation set up in April 2018. As a key component of the research funding system, Research England will oversee UKRI’s England-only functions in relation to university research and knowledge exchange (KE). This includes providing grant funding to English universities for research and KE activities; developing and implementing the Research Excellence Framework in partnership with the UK Higher Education funding bodies; overseeing the sustainability of the Higher Education research base in England; overseeing the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund; and administering the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF). Research England will create and sustain the conditions for a healthy and dynamic research and KE system in English universities. It works closely with its counterparts in the Devolved Administrations.

For more information about Research England, please visit www.ukri.org/re

Purpose

• The Business Support Officer will play a key role in ensuring the smooth operation and administrative efficiency of the organisation.
• Providing vital support to various individuals and departments, supporting office functions, handling internal and external communications, and maintaining organisational systems to improve workflow.
• Enabling the accurate application of business processes.
• Developing and demonstrating an understanding of the context within which Research England operates to provide effective and proactive support to colleagues.
• Communicate and effectively engage with internal and external stakeholders

Reporting lines

• Line managed by: Head of Operations
• Line manager to: N/A

Responsibilities

Providing high quality support to the business as required, including but not exclusively:

Organisation business support

• Providing high quality assistance across various departments, ensuring smooth daily operations for the business.
• Effectively undertaking a wide range of administrative tasks, including coordinating meetings and events, taking minutes, handling communications, preparing reports, assisting with data entry and mail merge documents.
• Organise UK/international travel and accommodation, ensuring plans are efficient and cost-effective.
• Raising requisitions and dealing with budget related queries and data.
• Building and maintaining relationships with key internal and external stakeholders at all levels as necessary.
• Contribute to team meetings and ensure the planning of value-added activity from the Business Support function.
• Recognition of urgent issues raising them as necessary and appropriate.
• Develop a knowledge of the areas of work being supported.

Associate Director Support

• A forward thinking and adaptable approach to supporting the Associate Director’s needs and contributing to the overall efficiency of the team or department.
• Proactively and effectively manage multiple complex diaries, making appropriate use of time and resources, taking advice as necessary.
• Managing calendars, scheduling appointments, arranging travel, and handling correspondence.
• Assisting with meeting preparations, preparing reports or presentations, and maintaining confidential information.
• Relationship management with internal and external stakeholders.

Project Support

• Assisting teams with administrative needs throughout the project lifecycle.
• Supporting the coordination of project activities, including facilitating information flow, monitoring schedules and timelines and flagging issues where visible.
• Helping to maintain project documentation, tracking progress, preparing reports, and addressing administrative tasks that keep the project on track.
• Communicate with stakeholders and contribute to problem-solving efforts to ensure the successful delivery of projects.

Business Support Team service delivery

• Enable flexible use of resources within the service offering.
• Engage in team service models as designed and developed.
• Understand and follow process and policy that support the functionality of the Business Support team and enable continuous improvement.
• Meet the criteria for quality and timely support and adhere to KPI’s within the team.
• Attend all team meeting and planning sessions to enable forward planning and providing feedback and updates when required.

Other key information

Research England is based in Bristol, co-located with the Office for Students. UK Research and Innovation’s head office is in Swindon, with a further office in London. This is a hybrid working role with a balance of home working an in-office working. The post-holder will be based in Bristol but required to attend meetings in other locations occasionally. Additionally, the post-holder may sometimes be required to work outside core business hours.

Shortlisting / Interview criteria

Essential:

• A professional administrator with experience of providing high-quality support to a variety of different stakeholders, remotely as well as face to face. (S/I)
• A confident and approachable communicator able to communicate with people at all levels, in a clear, concise, and fluent manner, in written and verbal format. (S/I)
• Able to proactively manage workloads, resolve competing demands, and cope with changing priorities flexibly, whilst remaining calm and professional. (S/I)
• A creative and adaptable approach to problem-solving, use initiative, questioning established ideas and generating solutions to problems, showing an awareness of the impact of any decisions and actions. (S/I)
• Experience of working collaboratively with different groups of people to achieve results and meet business critical deadlines. (S/I)
• High level of ICT skills and the ability to work with a variety of IT systems and applications, including MS Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. (S/I)
• Educated to at least ‘A’ level standard or equivalent professional experience. (S)

UKRI - UK Research and Innovation

UKRI is an organisation that brings together the seven disciplinary research councils, Research England and Innovate UK. Together, we build an independent organisation with a strong voice and vision ensuring the UK maintains its world-leading position in research and innovation.

Supporting some of the world’s most exciting and challenging research projects, we develop and operate some of the most remarkable scientific facilities in the world. We are pushing the frontiers of human knowledge through fundamental research and delivering benefits for UK society and the economy through world-class research, skills and business-led innovation.

More information can be found at www.ukri.org

Choosing to come to work at UKRI means that you will have access to a whole host of benefits from a defined benefit pension scheme, excellent holiday entitlement, access to employee shopping/travel discounts and salary sacrifice cycle to work scheme. For more details, visit benefits of working for UKRI

How we support EDI in the workforce

At UKRI, we believe that everyone has a right to be treated with dignity and respect, and to be provided with equal opportunities to thrive and succeed in an environment that enables them to do so. We also value diversity of thought and experience within inclusive groups, organisations and the wider community. For further information, please visit ‘How we support EDI in the workforce’.

Disability Confident Employer

As users of the disability confident scheme, any candidate who opts into the scheme and best meets the essential criteria, will be shortlisted for interview. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

How to apply

Online applications only preferred for this role. Please submit a CV and covering letter which clearly outlines how you fulfil the criteria specified along with your motivation for UKRI and the role. Ensure that the job reference number is included in the filename description of each document uploaded. Note that failure to address the above criteria or submit an application without a covering letter may result in the application not being considered. Assessment will only be based upon the content of your submitted covering letter and CV and not the ‘experience’ section of the application.

UKRI seeks to ensure it creates and maintains a system of openness, fairness and inclusion – a collaborative, trusted environment, which is attractive to and accessible to everyone who is interested in developing their career with us.

As part of the pre-employment checks there is a requirement to undergo Baseline Personnel Security Screening. BPSS is a pre-condition of employment and failure to achieve it may mean that the employment offer is rescinded. UKRI reserves the right to run, or re-run, security clearance as required during the course of employment.