Senior Portfolio Manager – Future Communications in Swindon

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 until 31st March 2030

Location: Polaris House, Swindon, Wiltshire

Grade: UKRI Band E

Positions available: 1

Closing date: 23:59 on 2nd July 2026

About this role

Senior Portfolio Managers sit at the interface between strategic leadership and delivery. You will use communication skills to develop and implement key priorities, policies, and strategies, leading the development and delivery of future activities, building strong relationships with colleagues across UKRI and external stakeholders. You will ensure we fund people and ideas of the highest quality, implementing innovative research programmes.

Responsibilities

• Develop deep knowledge of your area of responsibility within 6-12 months, identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
• Collaborate and lead on defining, influencing, and implementing strategy.
• Deputise for team leads, including attending meetings with senior internal and external stakeholders.
• Line‑manage and/or project manage colleagues, providing leadership, personal development support and fostering a culture of high‑performance teamwork.
• Build and foster strong relationships across EPSRC, UKRI and beyond, with the academic community, government and other stakeholders.
• Provide high‑quality expertise and advice in your areas of responsibility, informed by evidence and stakeholder engagement.
• Lead the development and delivery of investment plans, calls, associated peer‑review processes and cases for investment, ensuring alignment with UKRI values.
• Contribute to the development of appropriate monitoring, assurance, and evaluation approaches for EPSRC’s investments.

Personal Specification

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.
• Sophisticated analytical, problem‑solving, and decision‑making skills, and an ability to think strategically.
• Ability to engage with a range of internal and external stakeholders at all levels, and to influence others to achieve outcomes and improve performance.
• Ability to work as part of a team, including leading and developing staff through behaviour and empathy, to achieve organisational goals.
• 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.
• Strong strategic awareness of how the UK research and innovation system operates, and the context and landscape within which EPSRC and UKRI operates.

Desirable

• A graduate (or equivalent experience), who can demonstrate the potential to succeed.

Benefits

• 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.

Disability Confident Employer

As a Disability Confident Employer, 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.

How to apply

Online applications only are accepted for this role. Please submit a CV and an application statement – each document should be no more than three pages. Include the job reference number in the filename description of each document. The closing date for applications is 23:59 on 2nd July 2026. You will be invited to an in‑person interview, including a presentation, if successful at the shortlisting stage. The interview is expected to take place in Swindon, likely during the week commencing 20th July 2026.

Additional Process Information

All examples and statements must be truthful and factually accurate. Plagiarism or use of artificial intelligence to produce content as your own may result in rejection of your application. As part of the pre‑employment checks, you will be required to undergo Baseline Personnel Security Screening (BPSS). Failure to achieve BPSS may result in the offer being rescinded.

Equal Opportunity Statement

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.