Contracts Executive

Swindon, England, United Kingdom

6/26/2025

This is the Internal Only Recruitment Site for UK Research and Innovation Staff for roles within Innovate UK (UKRI).

Please apply for jobs via this site only if you are employed by UK Research and Innovation (employees with access to Innovate UK's Workday system may apply via the "Careers" application within the system).

If you are not a current UKRI employee you can view vacancies at the externally advertised stage at the links given in the "About Us information on the right". If you wish to apply for the position below, please ensure that you comply with the requirements of the recruitment process by submitting both a full CV and application letter. Ideally, you should also advise your manager of your application.

Applications must be submitted by

09-07-2025

Contracts Executive

The role holder will operate within the Innovate UK Operations Team reporting to the Contracts Manager. The contract team provides a professional service to all Innovate UK teams in preparing a range of documentation enabling delivery of the Innovate UK strategy and funding requirements.

• Please note this advert will close on the 8th July 2025 at 23.59pm.
  
  

Watch our video Why Join Innovate UK? here.

Title: Contracts Executive

Band: UKRI Band D (UKRI Ts & Cs)

Salary: £36,650 gross per annum

Reports to: Contracts Manager

Location: Swindon (Hybrid)

Contract: Fixed Term Until (19/03/2027)

Employees applying for any opportunity which may mean being away from your substantive role for a temporary period of time, please refer to the Recruitment Policy for further information in the first instance. If you are made an offer, please ensure you liaise with your Line Manager and the designated HR Team as soon as possible in order that implications of any move are clear and understood, prior to a move taking place.

Innovate UK recognises the importance of work-life balance and we will be happy to discuss any requests for flexible working arrangements.

Context

The role holder will operate within the Innovate UK Operations Team reporting to the Contracts Manager. The contract team provides a professional service to all Innovate UK teams in preparing a range of documentation enabling delivery of the Innovate UK strategy and funding requirements.

Job Purpose

• To provide drafting and review of a range of contractual documents for and on behalf of Innovate UK.
• To maintain and manage complete review cycles of all contractual documentation
• To provide continuous support to, and as required by, the Contracts Manager for all matters relating to the creation, review, maintenance (review cycles) and configuration management of all contractual documents.
• To provide continuous support to internal colleagues as required, maintaining a customer centric approach.
• Be a delegate for the Contracts Manager where required.
• To undertake any other reasonable task in support of and as required by the Head of Customer Support in support of the wider teams and its activity.
  
  

In Doing So, To Ensure That

• Service delivery of legal documentation into the end-to-end processing of grants is made in a timely manner and at the appropriate quality in line with given SLAs
• High quality internal and external customer service is maintained
• The service is delivered as efficiently as possible in compliance with governance rules
• May provide specialist technical advice or have team management responsibilities
  
  

Key Responsibilities And Accountabilities

Team work / collaboration

• Provision of specialist advice on the complex area of drafting, reviewing, amending, and maintaining documentation, including but not limited to contracts, grant funding agreements, MOUs, service level agreements associated with the provision of publicly funded grants
• Responsible for collaborating with other councils/cross-cutting initiatives and supporting their success
• Responsible for contributing to Innovate UKs overall success
• Responsible for representing UKRI and Innovate UK internally and externally with key stakeholders
  
  

Delivery / programmes / projects / process

• Responsible for the delivery of service level agreements (time, cost and quality) as agreed with the customer
• Responsible for good relationships with all stakeholders in the process, both external (e.g. academics/ industry/central Government) and internal (e.g. Operations and Domain teams)
• Contributes to and implements ideas to improve the quality of the process, reduce the time to react, and reduce the cost.
  
  

This is not an exhaustive list and you might be encouraged to undertake any other duties across the wider directorate, commensurate with the Band and level of responsibility of this post, for which the post holder has the key experience and/or training.

Shortlisting criteria

(S) Assessed at shortlisting

(I) Assessed at interview

(S&I) Assessed at both shortlisting and interview

Person Specification

Experience & Qualifications:

Essential

• Degree or equivalent experience (s&I)
• Ability to provide specialist knowledge of the drafting, review, amendment, and maintenance of legal and other documents and to act as an adviser on this to operational teams (s&I)
• Planning and organising/prioritisation skills, with experience of balancing and responding to different demands, and the ability to deliver at high quality and pace against multiple priorities. (S&I)
• Track record in developing, delivering, and continuously improving processes (I)
• Demonstrates attention to detail and pride in accuracy (S&I)
• Excellent problem solving and structured thinking (I)
• Numeracy and ability to analyse financial data. (S&I)
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including ability to engage with senior stakeholders (I)
• Excellent communication (both written and oral) skills with the ability to produce clear, concise, and accurate presentations for internal audiences(S&I)
• Aptitude to understand the context of UK research landscape and impact of team (I)
• Flexibility to adapt and change (S&I)
• IT competency (S&I)
  
  

Desirable

• Experience in drafting, letter writing, and Cabinet Office Grant Standards or in producing formal documentation (S&I)
  
  

Competencies

All team members demonstrate compatibility with and capability against our Core Competencies such as:

Thinking and Problem Solving Stakeholder management Communication skills Influencing Self-awareness/self-management Strategic awareness Working with others Project management

Some of the above competencies will be assessed at interview stage, in addition to the criterias listed in the person specification.

Travel Requirements

Swindon-based: There may be the occasional requirement for national travel.

Equality, Diversity And Inclusion

Innovate UK is a diverse workforce of people. We believe that encouraging these differences and drawing the best from them will build a productive environment in which everyone feels valued, where talents are fully utilised and in which organisational goals are met. Underpinning this is a belief that it is a fundamental right for everyone to be treated equally, with fairness, respect and dignity. We will act directly and use our influence to ensure that this right is promoted and upheld; we encourage applications from all those who meet the criteria set-out in our role profiles.

Equal Opportunities

We are an equal opportunities employer, committed to employing any person who meets the criteria for our roles. When undertaking recruitment we may require applicants to undertake certain tests or assessments, some of which will be online and others may be in-person. If you have a disability, heath condition or specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia then you may be entitled to support with undertaking this type of assessment exercise. Where you feel that reasonable adjustments are required to support you, we ask that you advise your recruitment point of contact in a timely fashion, providing further information. In confidence, Innovate UK will then review your application for adjustments and provide support as required.

UK Research And Innovation

Innovate UK is partner organisation within UK Research and Innovation. If successful in securing the position, your employer will be UK Research and Innovation. More information can be found online http://www.ukri.org/.

Employee Benefits

We offer a benefits package crafted to provide an excellent work/life balance. This includes 30 days annual leave, 10.5 public and privilege days, flexible working hours, an exceptional defined benefit pension scheme, and access to a variety of support networks and discount schemes.

Benefits of working at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

Flexible Working

We understand the importance of work-life balance, and are happy to discuss the possibility of flexible working with applicants.

Pre-employment Screening

To enable us to hire the very best people we will conduct a comprehensive pre-employment check on successful applicants as part of the recruitment process.

The role holder will be required to have the appropriate level of security screening/vetting required for the role. UKRI reserves the right to run or re-run security clearance as required during the course of employment.

UKRI supports research in areas that include animal health, agriculture and food security, and bioscience for health which includes research on animals, genetic modification and stem cell research. Whilst you may not have direct involvement in this type of research, you should consider how this aligns with your personal values or beliefs. To enable us to hire the very best people we will conduct a full and comprehensive pre-employment check as a crucial part of the recruitment process on all individuals that are offered a position with UKRI. This will include a security check and an extreme organisations affiliation check.

Applications must be submitted by;

09-07-2025

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