Medical Research Council
Executive Assistant
Salary: £36,650 per annum
Band: UKRI Band D
Team: Challenge-Led Directorate
Hours: Full time
Contract Type: Open Ended
Location: Polaris House, Swindon, Wiltshire - Hybrid working available
Closing Date: 26th September 2025
This is an exciting position at the very heart of the organisation, where you will be exposed to scientific communities and Government partners across MRC and UKRI. You will play a vital role within the MRC Challenge-Led Directorate, providing proactive and strategic diary management, coordinating travel arrangements, and ensuring that briefings and essential materials are prepared and delivered promptly. In addition you will act as a key point of contact, managing the flow of information, supporting stakeholder engagement, and anticipating the needs of senior leaders to ensure their time is used effectively.
This is a varied and ambitious role supporting the Executive Director of Challenge-Led Themes, the Director of Research Talent, Skills and Careers, and the broader directorate. It requires you to build relationships across academia, business, and Government. You will have great attention to detail with the ability to execute tasks with speed and efficiency whilst communicating and collaborating effectively with a variety of stakeholders.
Key Responsibilities
* Managing diaries and travel, using initiative to make considered judgements.
* Keeping key individuals informed of diary issues and alerting them to any potential problems regarding the future diary schedule.
* Ensuring that appropriate briefing and support is in place for all meetings.
* Building close working partnerships with internal and external stakeholders whilst demonstrating a high level of tact, diplomacy, integrity, and discretion
* Managing information flow, using knowledge and judgement to respond or to divert relevant information/queries to others where appropriate.
* Monitoring and handling correspondence and e-mails, taking the initiative to redirect queries to the right team or individual where appropriate; filtering and prioritising inward communications.
* Ensuring appropriate preparation for meetings by collating meeting papers, briefings and travel directions.
* Providing administrative support including preparing correspondence and expense claims.
* Taking notes of meetings, drafting resulting decisions and actions of meetings and following up on actions.
* Working flexibly to support colleagues and contributing to the overall functioning of an effective, efficient, and friendly executive support team.
* Finding opportunities for continuous improvement of activities.
* Raising purchase orders and receipting them
* Conducting research on behalf of senior leaders, such as finding key contact details, and gathering business intelligence.
* Assisting in formatting PowerPoint presentations, Word documents, and other materials to ensure clarity, professionalism, and consistency.
* Processing and submitting expense claims for senior leaders while also approving annual leave and expense submissions for team members where applicable.
* Carrying out any other duties appropriate to the role.
Person Specification
The below criteria will be assessed at Shortlisting (S), Interview (I) or both (S&I)
Essential
* Experience using Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Office and other software packages (e.g. Monday.com) (S/I)
* Excellent organisational skills (S/I)
* Able to work independently and as part of a team, taking a lead role when appropriate (S/I)
* Proactive in identifying and addressing tasks and challenges, taking initiative to resolve issues before they escalate (S)
* Able to juggle multiple demands and prioritise tasks to meet deadlines (I)
* Demonstrates a high level of tact, diplomacy, integrity, resilience, patience, and discretion (I)
* Able to take a positive approach to identify and deal with problems and initiate solutions (I)
* Attentive to detail and quality focused (S)
* Excellent communication and interpersonal skills (verbal, presentational and written) (S/I)
* Ability to work with competing priorities and to tight deadlines (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!
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)
UKRI is an Equal Opportunity & Disability Confident Employer.
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, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy/ies. 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.
The role holder will be required to have the appropriate level of security screening/vetting required for the role. UKRI reserves the right to run or re-run security clearance as required during the course of employment.
Within UKRI, the MRC seeks to improve human health by investing in world-class research, from fundamental science to early clinical trials and preventive medicine. Working in partnership with other UKRI councils, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and devolved administrations, the NHS, charities and industry, we are a dynamic organisation continually evolving and embracing new opportunities to achieve our mission first framed over a century ago. With an annual budget of over £800m, MRC provides support both to individuals, through fellowships and grants, and to institutions, such as the MRC Laboratory for Molecular Biology and the Francis Crick Institute.
For more information about MRC, please click here