Job Description

Operations Officer

Salary: £30,895 per annum.

Grade: UKRI Band C.

Hours: Full time or Part time (Minimum 0.8 FTE).

Contract Type: Fixed Term until 30 June 2027.

Location: Polaris House, Swindon, Wiltshire.

Closing Date: Tuesday 6th October 2026

About the Team

The ESRC Operations team is a small and central team within ESRC that brings together corporate operational activities for ESRC and supports the ESRC Chief Operating Officer (COO) in the leadership and delivery of ESRC operational matters. We work closely with key UKRI business partners and provide the critical operational interface with UKRI corporate services.

We have a wide remit of activity and work collaboratively with colleagues across all the teams in ESRC and, where appropriate, offer advice and guidance on a breadth of operational matters.

The team has a varied portfolio of operational activity and together we:

• Manage the ESRC interface with UKRI corporate services, including HR, Finance, Internal Comms, and Digital, Data and Technology.
• Provide coherent oversight and coordination of resourcing, recruitment and OpEx budgetary matters across ESRC.
• Oversee and manage ESRC internal comms and employee engagement activities.
• Oversee and manage ESRC local training framework and associated activities.
• Lead and/or support ESRC’s operational delivery of specific UKRI change projects which fall within the remit of the operations team.
• Support the delivery of consistent and high-quality line management across ESRC.

Job Purpose

The main purpose of this role is to support a range of activities in ESRC’s operations space. The Operations Officer will collaborate closely with team members to provide essential administrative support across the breadth of the team’s work, delivering against operational priorities within the COO’s remit of activities.

You will provide critical business continuity on key activities such as delivery of internal communications and employee engagement events; supporting recruitment, resourcing, and interviews; and maintaining ESRC’s training, learning and development provision.

The role will involve working flexibly across these activities and may also involve supporting strategic operational projects, responding to emerging and changing priorities with clarity of purpose and to tight deadlines.

Key responsibilities

• Support activities related to ESRC internal communication channels such as ESRC News (internal) publishing, keeping our intranet content up to date and relevant, and will include writing for internal audiences.
• Support internal campaigns and events that promote engagement with, but not limited to, training, line management, organisational change, and strategy.
• Support activities of the ESRC corporate training programme, including the scheduling of events, internal promotion, managing attendance, and evaluation.
• Provide interview support activities and manage unexpected on-the-day issues.
• Ownership and maintenance of key Operations Team documentation that ensures information is accurate and relevant for its audience.
• Shared mailbox and general query management that draws on operational knowledge of processes and policies and provides a professional service to assist
• ESRC colleagues.
• Provide secretariat support to groups under the COO’s remit, including preparing meeting arrangements, agendas, papers, and minutes.
• Drive continuous improvement by identifying issues and trends, collaborating with colleagues across ESRC, UKRI and UK Shared Business Service to develop solutions and support the effective operation of ESRC.
• Provide cover and business continuity for other team members’ business-critical activities, when required.
• Undertake the role of Champion, expert guides from across the organisation in a range of functions, such as Purchase Order (PO) champion.
• You will be expected to deliver high-quality work, act diligently, and handle sensitive data and situations across all the activities above.

Person Specification

The following criteria will be assessed at shortlisting (S), at interview (I) or both (S/I). We ask that applicants state how their skills and experiences meet these criteria in a covering letter (maximum 2 pages).

Essential:

• A degree in a relevant discipline, or demonstrable experience of working in a relevant environment or role. (S).
• Planning and organisational skills, including an ability to prioritise and manage multiple or complex activities. (S/I).
• Quality focused, with demonstrable attention to detail and pride in accuracy. (S/I).
• Ability to take a positive approach to solve problems and overcome challenges. (S/I).
• Effective personal communication and interpersonal skills, communicating using the appropriate methods and style for the intended audience. Confident speaking with internal audiences face-to-face and dealing with sensitive issues calmly and professionally. (S/I).
• Ability to build and maintain collaborative and good working relationships with team members, stakeholders, and others at all levels to deliver excellent service and outcomes. (S/I).
• Self-motivated, enthusiastic and possesses flexibility to adapt, change and cope with ambiguity. (S/I).
• IT competency, including Microsoft Office suite. (S).

About hybrid working

We support a hybrid approach, and you can expect a mix of working from home and on-site in the office and at other UK locations. From the 1 October 2026, you can expect to spend 40 - 60% of your time on-site, including travel for stakeholder engagement. At times, this may involve overnight stays and/or occasional work outside of standard office hours.

Employee Benefits

We recognise and value our employees as individuals and aim to provide a favourable pay and rewards package. We are committed to supporting employees' development and promote a culture of continuous learning!

We are offering this position with a whole host of benefits including:

• 30 days' annual leave in addition to 10.5 public and privilege days (full time equivalent).
• Flexible working hours.
• An excellent defined salary pension scheme.
• Easily accessible public transport links/ free parking
• Excellent learning and development opportunities.
• Employee discounts and offers on retail and leisure activities.

For further information on our benefits please see: Benefits of working at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

Please apply online, if you experience any issue applying, please contact Recruitment@ukri.org.

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.

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.

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be rejected and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.

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.