Procurement Officer in Harwell

Salary: £37,841 per annum, plus £2,500 Specialist Allowance if MCIPS qualified

Band: UKRI Band D

Contract Type: Fixed Term (12 Months)

Hours: Full-time (Flexible working available)

Location: Harwell Campus, Didcot, Oxfordshire – Hybrid working available (Min 2 days per week in the office)

Closing Date: 25th August 2026

Job Overview:

UK Research & Innovation has a mission to build a thriving, inclusive research and innovation system that connects discovery to prosperity and public good. An important part of this mission is procuring the goods, services, and partners critical to achieving these aims. If you are interested in contributing and helping to shape the UK’s world class research and innovation system to benefit lives, then UKRI has an exciting opportunity for a procurement professional to join the team supporting UKRI in all its procurement activities!

As a Procurement Officer, you will be joining an established, supportive team and will be involved in a wide variety of projects ranging from Research & Development, Professional Services, and Data and Technology. You will have the opportunity to shape commercial strategy, develop your own skills & experience, and contribute to projects that may have wide-ranging positive impacts for all.

UKRI buys a wide variety of complex and sometimes unique products and services including equipment, professional services and infrastructure to support a range of end-users. The UKRI Commercial Function provides a range of commercial support to the whole organisation. The majority of its effort is focussed on the management of the whole procurement cycle including planning, sourcing and contract management in a compliant manner while providing value for money.

About the role:

UKRI are recruiting a Procurement Officer based at Harwell, Oxfordshire. This role is supporting world class cutting-edge scientific research at the UK’s leading research campus.

Key Responsibilities:

• Procurement Officer, working with and reporting to Procurement Managers, support research staff on all their complex procurement projects.
• Draft and Publish Tender Documents compliant with UK Public Sector Procurement Regulations.
• Maintaining Contract folders in a regulated environment with clear audit trail.
• Undertake multiple procurement sourcing/contracting actions as required using the most appropriate route to market in line with UKRI Procurement Policy.
• Provide advice when requirement must be directed to the shared service centre.
• Support Procurement Managers in Tender Evaluation Moderation Meetings.
• Provide local expertise and support to end-users to undertake a range of procurement tasks (varying in both value and complexity) including sourcing and contracting.

Personal Specification:

The below criteria will be scored during Shortlisting (S), Interview (I) or both (S&I).

• MCIPS Qualified or relevant experience or willingness to work towards MCIPS (S).
• Experience of working in a commercial role in an organisation in a regulated environment, working to standard operating procedures (S).
• Experience of using IT systems in a commercial role (S).
• Experience of updating and keeping organised records (S&I).
• Clear written English for accurately drafting contracts (S).
• Understand the context and meaning of terms and conditions (S).
• Be customer focused, able to deal with key stakeholder questions and queries (S&I).
• Willingness to adopt new practices in a changing regulatory environment (I).
• Accountable and forthcoming in communication to solve problems as a team (I).

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.

Benefits:

• An outstanding defined benefit pension scheme
• 30 days annual leave in addition to 10.5 public and privilege days
• 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:

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.

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.

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.

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.