Funding Analyst

At Research England, we're committed to strengthening England's higher education sector by investing in research and knowledge exchange that tackles global challenges, drives innovation, and delivers benefits for society and the economy. Behind every funding decision is a team of dedicated professionals ensuring public investment is allocated fairly, transparently, and effectively. As a Funding Analyst, you'll play an important part in this mission. Your work will help ensure that funding reaches the institutions where it can have the greatest impact, supporting world-class research, fostering collaboration, and enabling discoveries that shape the future.

Purpose of the role

As a Funding Analyst at Research England, you will be in a key position to design, deliver and operate analytical tools and processes that directly support the allocation of £2 billion of strategic institutional research funding and knowledge exchange funding to higher education providers in England. Working as a member of a fast-paced team committed to innovation and continuous improvement, you will be responsible for undertaking work from design and development, through the crucial quality assurance processes, to delivery. These work areas include the effective and timely delivery of funding operations, providing analysis and dashboarding to support senior and executive leaders in their decision making, and supporting data operations to ensure that underlying datasets are up to date and reliable.

Responsibilities

• Developing a sound knowledge of the Higher Education sector data used by the analyst team to underpin funding allocations.
• Developing a sound knowledge of the algorithm-driven (formula-based) research funding methods used by Research England and collaborating with colleagues to develop, maintain and implement funding models.
• Supporting the team by challenging assumptions, considering data and methodological limitations, and suggesting solutions.
• Engaging with quality assurance and publication processes for disseminating outcomes.
• Supporting the development of new approaches and analytical models that underpin sector benchmarking activities.
• Investigating available datasets and determining possible metrics for use in sector analysis.
• Collaborating with colleagues on ways to gain sector insight from datasets, and how to visualise this data to aid in supplying insight to internal and external stakeholders.
• Ensuring that the team QA process is always followed.
• Making sure that QA approvals are escalated as necessary.
• Supporting the development and maintenance of analytical tools to facilitate the teams' activities.
• Supporting wider areas of the funding operations and funding systems teams' activities as they arise.

Essential skills, qualifications and experience

• Qualifications: An RQF level 3 qualification (equivalent to A-level) in a numerate subject, or relevant experience.
• Analytical expertise: Knowledge of the practical application of analytical methodologies, with ability to develop new approaches for analysing and utilising data.
• Critical evaluation and problem solving: Ability to critically review and assess data, methods, and processes in a careful and systematic way, identify potential issues or limitations, and suggest practical improvements or alternative approaches.
• Programming and data handling: Experience of coding in the R language to manipulate datasets.
• Quality assurance and coding standards: Experience of checking the accuracy and reliability of analytical work, including writing well-structured code and following good practices to ensure outputs are correct and easy to maintain.
• Collaboration and project management: Ability to collaborate with colleagues on the development of work areas and contribute to high-profile processes or projects.
• Workload management: Ability to plan and manage a varied workload, adapting to changing priorities effectively.
• Communication and influence: Good written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to clearly explain data and analysis to non-specialists.

Benefits

UKRI values their employees by offering a benefits package designed to provide an excellent work/life balance including 30 days' annual leave, 10.5 public and privilege holidays, flexible working hours, exceptional average salary pension scheme, social and sporting activities and societies and a subsidised restaurant.

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.