Funding Analyst in Bristol

Salary: £37,841 per annum | Fixed-term contract (6 months) | Full-time or part-time (min 0.8 FTE) | Closing date: 16 August 2026

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. A sound understanding of an analytical product development cycle is crucial for this role, including significant experience of coding in R, analysing data and presenting findings. Equally important is experience of quality assurance processes, and an awareness of how these minimise errors in analytical outputs. Alongside these specific tasks, you will also support other analytical work within the team by processing and analysing large and complex databases to address research policy questions and improve analytics operations.

Responsibilities

• To support the algorithm-driven allocation of research funds to higher education providers by:
• 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.
• To provide broader sector analysis by:
• 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.
• To assist with quality assurance (QA) checks when required:
• Ensuring that the team QA process is always followed.
• Making sure that QA approvals are escalated as necessary.
• Other responsibilities include:
• 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

• An RQF level 3 qualification (equivalent to A-level) in a numerate subject, or relevant experience.
• Knowledge of the practical application of analytical methodologies, with ability to develop new approaches for analysing and utilising data, rather than relying on rote application of standard methods.
• 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.
• Experience of coding in the R language to manipulate datasets.
• 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.
• Ability to collaborate with colleagues on the development of work areas and contribute to high-profile processes or projects.
• Ability to plan and manage a varied workload, adapting to changing priorities effectively.
• Good written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to clearly explain data and analysis to non-specialists, ask clarifying questions, and engage in constructive discussions with colleagues to explore ideas and develop solutions.

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. As one of Europe’s largest research organisations, this is a place where there’s always something new to learn about the world around us, about your career, but most of all, about yourself. Join us and discover what’s possible!

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.

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.

About the Team

Research England is one of the nine Councils within UK Research and Innovation. As a key component of the research funding system, Research England will oversee UKRI’s England-only functions in relation to university research and knowledge exchange (KE). This includes providing grant funding to English universities for related activities; developing and implementing the Research Excellence Framework in partnership with the UK Higher Education funding bodies; supervising the sustainability of the Higher Education research base in England; guide the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund; and coordinate the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF). Research England will build and sustain the conditions for a healthy and dynamic research and KE system in English universities. They also work closely with their counterparts in the Devolved Administrations.

About Us

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.

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.