UK Research and Innovation Salary: £56,745 per annum Hours: Full time or Part time (minimum 0.8 FTE) Contract Type: Open Ended. Location: Polaris House, Swindon, Wiltshire. (Hybrid working available) Closing date Sunday 23rd February 2025 About This role is part of the UKRI Continuous Improvement (CI) function within the Project Delivery and Improvement (PDI) Team. The CI function is dedicated to delivering value for money for taxpayers while maximizing the impact of UKRI's mission to deliver 'Knowledge with Impact.' By making the most of the resources available, the team ensures that every effort contributes to meaningful outcomes. As a CI Lead you will be part of the CI Team reporting to the Head of Continuous Improvement. Key responsibilities: Championing CI across UKRI and gaining buy-in You will assist PDI in identifying and engaging key colleagues within UKRI to foster ownership of CI initiatives. Your responsibilities will include implementing governance structures and frameworks that strike the right balance between centralised leadership and distributed ownership. These frameworks will enable informed decision-making to prioritise and allocate change resources effectively, ensuring a focus on doing fewer things exceptionally well. Embedding a CI culture within UKRI You will be responsible for drawing on existing expertise to further develop the CI culture and embedding it more widely across UKRI by promoting the awareness and benefits of a CI culture, encouraging innovative ways to deliver solutions for improvement, communicating every success and engendering a blame free, have-a-go culture. Organise and co-ordinate CI training and development You will support the development of an appropriate CI training and development programme, and lead on its implementation, which includes on the job, near the job and off the job elements, delivered in a timely manner. Be a custodian of CI tools and techniques You will be responsible for maintaining a central repository and developing a suite of materials and information which enable the sharing of best practice, guidance, tools and techniques to empower teams across UKRI to streamline and improve processes and services. Facilitate CI initiatives You will be responsible for the leading, managing and tracking of CI initiatives across UKRI. You will need to lead by demonstration of application, implementing a data driven and evidence-based approach to recommendations and decision making. You will need to ensure effective change management to maximise the benefit from the CI initiatives once implemented. Shortlisting & Interview Criteria Essential Skills Technical expertise - you should have significant and proven experience of successfully leading and delivering CI projects and a firm understanding of process improvement techniques (e.g. Systems Thinking, Lean, Lean Six Sigma, Lean Competency System, etc.) and significant proven experience applying these. (S&I) You should have significant and proven experience in Project Management, Business Analysis and managing Organisational Change. (S&I) Organisation skills - responsible for both the planning and implementation stages of multiple projects, you must be organised and committed to meeting deadlines. (I) Leadership skills - you will need to be a strong relationship builder and coach and mentor. You will have experience of working with cross-functional stakeholders, with a proven ability to develop effective teams, and able to inspire and support others by demonstrating and sharing your skills and knowledge. (S&I) Analytical/critical thinking - you will need this skill in order to approach information using objective analysis and sound reasoning in order to get to the root of problems and identify the most appropriate solution based on data driven evidence. (I) Communication skills - being able to speak, listen, and write well is important, as you will be required to influence colleagues and team members, give presentations, facilitate meetings and training, and produce papers and reports. You should have experience of working in cross-functional environments.(I) About UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) UKRI launched in April 2018, UKRI is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). Our organisation brings together the seven disciplinary research councils, Research England, which is responsible for supporting research and knowledge exchange at higher education institutions in England, and the UK's innovation agency, Innovate UK. Together we build an independent organisation with a strong voice and vision to ensure the UK maintains its world-leading position in research and 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. For more details, visit Benefits of working for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). 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. 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, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy/ies. 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. 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. Assessment will only be based upon the content of your submitted covering letter and CV and not the 'experience' section of the application. 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. Additional Information Organisation: UKRI - Project Delivery and Improvement Contract Type: Open Ended External Closing Date: Feb 23, 2025 Minimum Salary: Pound Sterling (GBP) 56,745 Hours: Full-time