Policy Advisor

Contract Type: Fixed Term (12 months). 

Hours: Full-time/ Part Time (minimum 0.8 FTE) (flexible working available). 

Employees applying for any opportunity which may mean being away from your substantive role for a temporary period of time, please refer to the Recruitment Policy for further information in the first instance. If you are made an offer, please ensure you liaise with your Line Manager and the designated HR Team as soon as possible in order that implications of any move are clear and understood, prior to a move taking place.   

About the role 

The Research Policy Directorate brings together our expert policy functions that provide funding to Higher Education Providers (HEPs) for research and infrastructure, and that look to enhance research cultures, supported by data, evidence, and analysis. You will lead and/or support work on Research England’s broad research funding and people, culture and environment portfolios. 

Your responsibilities: 

• Working with colleagues, and independently, to develop and/or implement RE policy with considerable levels of engagement with colleagues across UKRI and government, universities and other external organisations.
• Day-to-day management of the Expanding Excellence in England (E3) fund including:
  • Financial monitoring of current and past E3 awards, including preparation of governance papers.
  • Developing effective relationships with E3 units (includes some travel) & internal contacts.
  • Responding to requests and queries.
  • Internal and external communications activity.
  • Supporting evaluation processes and developing evidence to feed into improvements for future rounds.
• Supporting and leading policy on:
  • Responsible Research Assessment (how research is assessed and the role it plays in the ecosystem).
  • Research Integrity (how research is done, maintaining rigour and integrity).
  • Open Research (how research is done, in an open, visible, and coordinated way, including how research outputs are made available).
  • Talent and Skills (supporting researcher’s career development across career stages, and promoting equality, diversity and inclusion). 
  • Public Engagement (how researchers can actively engage the public in their research). 
• Representing Research England at external meetings and addressing external groups (usually alongside a more senior member of the team). 

This role requires flexibility to travel to meetings, including in locations that may require travel outside of work hours. 

About you /Personal Specification  

The below criteria will be scored during Shortlisting (S), Interview (I) or both (S&I). 

• A degree level qualification or relevant equivalent education or experience (S).
• Experience of monitoring and/or evaluation, or the equivalent applicable skills (S/I).
• Experience synthesising information from different sources to draw conclusions (S/I).
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate with a wide variety of collaborators including by email, preparation of committee papers and during meeting discussions (S/I).
• Experience of working effectively with internal and external stakeholders (S/I). 
• Proven experience managing projects and working collaboratively to deliver outputs (S/I).
• Ability to manage own workload, resolve competing demands, and cope with changing priorities in a flexible and proactive way (S/I).

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! 

 For further information on our benefits please see: 

Benefits of working at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)  

Closing Date: 4th May 2026.

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