Head of Gambling Research Programme Team in Swindon

Location: Polaris House, Swindon, Wiltshire

Contract Type: Fixed Term (24 months)

Salary: £58,589 per annum

Hours: Full Time / Part Time (min 0.8 FTE)

About the role

As Head of the Gambling Research Programme you will be responsible for end-to-end delivery in a high-scrutiny environment of the newly established Research Programme on Gambling, a multidisciplinary initiative funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). This fixed term appointment offers a unique opportunity to deliver a significant cross-sector programme that addresses gambling-related harms through collaborative, evidence-led research. The role combines programme delivery, strategic leadership, stakeholder engagement, and team management.

Your work will include:

• Overseeing end to end design and delivery of a complex, high profile managed programme.
• Coordinating investment management of the flagship Gambling Harms Research Coordination Centre.
• Identifying, mitigating, and escalating risks as part of formal governance of the programme.
• Managing cross-UKRI engagement in the programme.
• Implementing a robust MEL strategy for the programme.
• Supporting regular reporting to DCMS.

You will head up a small team and act as the primary point of coordination across UKRI councils, corporate functions, and governance structures to enable delivery. You will report to AHRC’s Associate Director – Research Programme on Gambling.

Main Responsibilities

• Providing leadership, direction and momentum for the Research Programme on Gambling in the context of wider UKRI strategy and broader Gambling Levy aims, and developing and contributing to organisational strategy and plans.
• Ensuring the programme operates as a managed portfolio, maintaining oversight of dependencies, sequencing, and cumulative impact.
• Shape and implement programme-wide approaches to commissioning, governance, and research funding that reflect AHRC and UKRI’s values, including excellence, clarity, and public benefit.
• Lead the implementation of clear, practicable policies on conflicts of interest, industry engagement, ethics, safeguarding and exclusions to ensure the integrity of the RPG, drawing on UKRI’s frameworks and broader government policy.
• Support horizon scanning and capability development to ensure the RPG helps establish a sustainable, high-quality, and interdisciplinary research ecosystem around gambling harms.
• Represent AHRC and UKRI in national and international fora to position the RPG as a flagship programme in public interest research, contributing to UKRI’s wider strategic objectives in health, inequality, and evidence-led policy.
• Support wider AHRC strategy by ensuring learning from the RPG contributes to AHRC’s thinking on complex and contested areas of public policy, independent research, and innovation systems.
• Being an active and engaged member of our Senior Management Team.

• Establishing relationships across UKRI to ensure that the RPG is well embedded, understood, and aligned to UKRI strategy.
• Act as a visible and credible ambassador for the RPG, able to navigate contested policy spaces with confidence, diplomacy, and clarity, and assert UKRI’s commitment to independent, high-quality research.
• Building links across UKRI to encourage wider, cross-disciplinary engagement with Gambling Harms research.
• Playing a leading role in brokering and maintaining relationships with key partners and collaborators externally to build trust, manage risk, and ensure the RPG reflects different perspectives and public interest.
• Lead the design and delivery of major investments under the RPG as part of a high profile managed programme.
• Deliver a proportionate but credible Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning framework that supports accountability, learning and future strategy.
• Supporting good governance through oversight of appropriate MEL, reporting and risk management across the programme.
• Support the sustainable transition of investments from delivery through to completion and long-term impact.
• Embed a culture of learning, evidence and continuous improvement across the programme.
• Overseeing programme budgets and ensuring good budget management.

• Running a programme team, ensuring all members are supported to perform their roles well.
• Set clear expectations and develop a culture of delivery and accountability.
• Informing ongoing resource planning to support the delivery of the RPG over the longer term.
• Ensuring close collaboration between the RPG team and wider UKRI structures.

Shortlisting and Interview Criteria

• In-depth understanding of the UK research funding landscape and its broader societal impact.
• Experience of leading the development and delivery of major, complex projects and/or programmes of public investment.
• Experience of leading people and teams, including the ability to engage and influence, to collaborate at all levels and to handle multiple perspectives.
• Confidence to make sound, defensible decisions in fast-moving, politically sensitive contexts.
• Strong programme and financial management skills, including risk and evaluation oversight.
• Strategic thinking skills, including the ability to develop strategy in a fast-paced, changing landscape, and confidence in evidence-based decision-making and horizon scanning.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills including the ability to articulate complex ideas clearly.
• Creative problem-solving skills and an ability to work proactively and flexibly to achieve objectives.

About Arts and Humanities Research Council

The AHRC supports world-class research, skills and infrastructure that furthers our understanding of human culture and creativity. It supports research and postgraduate training in a wide range of subject areas, from ancient history and heritage science to modern dance and digital content. The research we fund can lead to improvements in social and intellectual capital, community identity, learning skills, technological evolution and the quality of life of the nation.

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.