UAT2 Strategy Advisor

We live in highly disruptive, dynamic, and challenging times. This presents near limitless opportunities for research and innovation to generate and leverage new ideas to improve our livelihoods. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) sits in a unique position to help realise the benefits from research and innovation for the UK. Working in partnership with stakeholders across government, academia, businesses, and charities, UKRI seeks to create the best possible environment for research and innovation to flourish in the UK.

The commitment of the government to increase expenditure on Research and Development (R&D) across the UK economy to 2.4% of GDP presents the opportunity for UKRI to help shape the path to achieving this ambition. Understanding and responding to the health, social, economic, cultural, and environmental impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak present further opportunities for R&D to drive the response to, and longer-term recovery from, the pandemic, enhancing lives and livelihoods of people in the UK and globally. Working collaboratively across UKRI and external stakeholders, the Strategy Directorate helps to craft a long-term strategy and action plan to support these ambitions, while working to frame, evaluate, and galvanise the organisation to make the difficult choices required to realise the benefits from research and innovation for the UK and meet the Government’s 2.4% ambition. 

To support UKRI in the next phase of its strategy development, the Strategy Directorate is looking for an early career proactive, collaborative, flexible, individual, who is able to grow their knowledge quickly. The role will require you to cover a broad portfolio of activity, while also diving deep into particular topics when required. You will work across diverse and senior stakeholders across UKRI, Government, and other organisations, which will require you to demonstrate diplomacy, tact to build trusted relationships with others while having the drive required to ensure work progresses at pace. You will be motivated, proactive, and comfortable working independently, whilst contributing to a high performing team.

Key responsibilities include:

• Providing advice and challenge, while supporting pan-UKRI efforts to address key UKRI goals.

This will include, for example:

• Working with others to bring together deep technical experts, senior policy professionals across Government, and cross-functional UKRI teams to develop strategies to address key research and innovation challenge areas
• Helping to develop options and advice on a portfolio of issues, often to rapid timescales, that will inform key decision making and support new strategy development
• Supporting UKRI teams to draft key strategy and policy documents for internal use, and at times, external publication
• Helping to prepare proposals and submissions for programme funding or business cases for capital proposals
• Supporting UKRI preparations for major fiscal events, including Spending Review and Budget
• Assisting to provide high quality advice to the UKRI CEO, UKRI Board, senior BEIS officials and BEIS Ministers.

Supporting UKRI to:

• Join up work across different parts of UKRI
• Align more closely with Government priorities and needs
• Provide Communications opportunities for Ministers
• Where required, developing broad and deep subject matter expertise to support UKRI to work more effectively around prioritised portfolios of work.

This could include, for example:

Supporting key opportunities and major research and innovation challenges associated with areas such as:

• Exploiting cutting-edge technologies to place the UK at the forefront of new technological revolutions
• Improving health and quality of life of UK citizens, while addressing the divides between regions, generations and social groups
• Protecting the health of our environment for the long term whilst securing future economic prosperity for the UK
• Delivering sustainable economic growth and solving the productivity challenge across the UK
• Supporting the Strategy Business Partner for one or more UKRI councils, providing objective challenge and support to your councils
• Modelling UKRI’s values and piloting new ways of working to address complex issues that span councils, policy areas, and/or government departments.

This will include, for example:

• Working collaboratively with colleagues across UKRI councils, external stakeholders, and with policy leads in BEIS and other Government Departments (OGDs) to develop evidence and options
• Being part of, and contributing to, a high performing team. Supporting your team with day-to-day reporting of information, responding to key commissions and providing accurate information for correspondence and Ministerial commissions
• As the Strategy Directorate needs to be flexible to respond to new priorities, role responsibilities may evolve and change to manage any new requirements.