Senior portfolio managers

Senior Portfolio Managers Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Salary: £46,743 per annum Hours: Full time or Part time (minimum 0.8 FTE considered) Contract type: Fixed Term 23 Months Location: Polaris House, Swindon, Wiltshire Grade: UKRI E Positions available: 2 Closing date: 23:59 on 2nd July 2026 Proposed interview date: Interviews will be held in person at Polaris House, likely on the week commencing 20th July. There will be no further stages of assessment. EPSRC are advertising several vacancies for Senior Portfolio Managers at this time. Applicants are welcome to apply for one or more than one position. A separate application will be required for each post which should be tailored to the specific post. If you are shortlisted for interview for more than one post with the same criteria, you will only need to attend one interview. About Us Are you passionate about research? Are you keen to work with researchers, business and Government, defining and implementing strategy to enable excellent research that delivers real impact for the economy and society? Senior Portfolio Managers sit at the interface between strategic leadership and delivery. You will use your communication skills to develop and implement key priorities, policies, and strategies. You will lead the development and delivery of future activities, building strong relationships with colleagues across UKRI and a wide range of external stakeholders. You will be encouraged to constantly learn and be empowered to explore your curiosity in this rewarding role. Overall you will ensure we fund people and ideas of the highest quality, to implement new, innovative research programmes. We recognise and value employees as individuals and aim to provide a pay and rewards package that motivates staff to perform to the best of their ability. The reward package includes a flexible working scheme, a Career Average Revalued Earnings pension scheme, 30 days annual leave allowance and a number of other benefits. EPSRC is a team-based organisation, and no team or directorate works in a silo. An important part of your role will be to work with others to deliver results. Successful candidates will be placed in a team with a vacancy following interviews. We have vacancies across various teams within EPSRC, including our Quantum Technologies and International Partnerships teams. If you are invited for an interview, we will update you on current vacancies and you will have the chance to state any preference you have for a particular team, though we will not be able to guarantee to honour all preferences. The Senior Portfolio Manager in the International Partnerships team will be based in a small team with a strong emphasis on collaborative working across internal teams and with external international and UK stakeholders. You would be responsible for managing funding schemes and projects associated with EPSRC's international partnerships, as well as contributing to the development of strategy and EPSRC positioning in an evolving global research funding landscape. The Senior Portfolio Manager in the Quantum Technologies team will be helping to deliver the UK National Quantum technology Strategy and support the UKRI IS8 quantum technologies programme. You would be responsible for managing funding schemes and projects within the quantum technologies portfolio, as well as contributing to the development of strategy. There is a strong focus on stakeholder engagement, across UKRI, as well as externally and with government and its arms-length bodies. Hybrid Working These posts are based at our Swindon office, but hybrid working is available with regular office attendance and travel across UKRI offices. This post also requires travel to attend external visits and meetings. We welcome applications from candidates with special requirements. Purpose As a Senior Portfolio Manager in EPSRC, within 6-12 months, you will have a deep knowledge of your area of responsibility (which could be multiple portfolios or programmes), understanding its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. You will use that knowledge to collaborate and lead on defining, influencing, and implementing strategy. Main outputs and activities: Contribute to, as well as shape the development and delivery of strategy across one of EPSRC's themes. Deputising for team leads, including in meetings with senior internal and external stakeholders. Line-manage and/or project manage colleagues: providing leadership and support for personal development and driving a culture of high-performance teamwork. Building and fostering strong relationships working across EPSRC, UKRI and beyond UKRI, including across the academic community, government, and other stakeholders to ensure that investments are robust, informed, and impactful. Providing high quality expertise and advice in your areas of responsibility, informed by evidence and engagement with relevant stakeholders. Leading the development and delivery of investment plans, calls and associated peer review processes, and cases for investment, ensuring that these are of a high quality and in line with UKRI values, principles, and practices. Contributing to the development of appropriate monitoring, assurance, and evaluation approaches for EPSRC's investments. Personal Specification The below criteria will be scored during Shortlisting (S), Interview (I) or both (S&I). Assessment of the following skills will be made via shortlisting, and an in person interview which will include a presentation: Essential Knowledge and experience of programme, portfolio and/or project management of research-related or innovation activities, including managing packages of work within projects and programmes (S) Sophisticated analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills, and an ability to think strategically (S/I) An ability to engage with a range of internal and external stakeholders at all levels, and to influence others to achieve outcomes and improve performance (S/I) An ability to work as part of a team, including leading and developing staff through behaviour and empathy, to achieve organisational goals (S/I) Strong communication skills (both written and oral) with an ability to produce clear, concise, and accurate presentations and written documentation to successfully inform and influence a wide range of audiences (I) Strong strategic awareness of how the UK research and innovation system operates, and the context and landscape within which EPSRC and UKRI operates (I) Desirable A graduate (or equivalent experience), who can demonstrate the potential to succeed (S) How to apply The closing date for applications is 23:59 on 2nd July 2026. Online applications only are accepted for this role. Please submit a CV and "Application Statement". Each document should be no more than three pages. Across the two documents, you are expected to give evidenced examples that clearly explain how your abilities, experiences and skills demonstrate each of the shortlisting criteria listed above. While this is not the only approach, you are advised to familiarise yourself with the STAR methodology (see: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/STAR-method.htm ), which is a useful framework for providing these examples. Please ensure that the job reference number is included in the filename description of each document uploaded. Note that failure to address the above criteria, exceeding the page limit or submission of an application without an 'application statement' may result in the application not being considered. Assessment will only be based upon the content of your submitted 'application statement' and CV and not the 'experience' section of the application. If successful at the shortlisting stage, you will be invited to an in-person interviews that is expected to take place in Swindon likely during w/c 20th July 2026. You will be asked to provide evidenced examples that demonstrate that you are able to cover the interview criteria. You will also be asked to give a short presentation on a topic that will be provided to you in advance. This is the final stage of the selection process. Please note, dates are subject to change. 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. Your application and performance through this recruitment process may be used for other opportunities that arise within an appropriate timeframe. 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. Contact Further information about the role can be discussed with Lydia Gardner (Joint Head of Quantum Technologies), who is leading this recruitment. Please email lydia.gardner@epsrc.ukri.org to arrange a mutually convenient time to speak. Additional Information Developing talent We are committed to developing employees in their roles throughout their career. Learning and development plans enable employees to continue their professional development through training and development opportunities such as e-learning, classroom training and on-the-job experiences. We encourage our employees to share their learning across teams and organisations. 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! A list of benefits below: An outstanding defined benefit pension scheme. 30 days' annual leave in addition to 10.5 public and privilege days (full time equivalent). Employee discounts and offers on retail and leisure activities. Employee assistance programme, providing confidential help and advice. Flexible working options. Plus, many more benefits and wellbeing initiatives that enable our employees to have a great work life balance. For further information on our benefits please see: Benefits of working at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Please note, if you will require sponsorship to work in the UK, as part of your sponsorship application, you and any dependants travelling with you, will be required to pay costs directly to The Home Office for the application before you start your role with us. UKRI is normally able to reimburse some, or all of these fees after you have become an employee and this can be discussed with the Hiring Manager. For more information, please visit https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa/how-much-it-costs or 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. 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. 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. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Council (EPSRC) is a partner organisation within UKRI, providing essential research and skills for all sectors of the economy, and through this aims to enhance long-term societal well-being and prosperity. EPSRC is the main UK government agency for funding this research and training in engineering and the physical sciences. They invest over £850 million a year in a broad range of subjects from mathematics to materials science and from information technology to structural engineering. Further details about EPSRC can be found here