Head of Programme Operations - IS8 Life Sciences Medical Research Council Salary: £58,589 per annum Band: UKRI Band F Contract Type: Open ended Hours: Full-time (flexible working available) Location: Polaris House, Swindon, Wiltshire - Hybrid working available Closing Date: Wednesday 1st July 2026 Purpose To lead programme operations for the UKRI Life Sciences Industrial Strategy programme. As Head of Programme Operations, you will work across UKRI to support the organisations mission to deliver strategic government and societal priorities through the Life Sciences programme. You will be line managed by the Programme Director for the Life Sciences programme and will lead a small team. You will work closely with MRC teams and life sciences teams from across UKRI. Each IS8 programme delivers a portfolio of investments and interventions through councils and Innovate UK teams. Your role will be the strategic and operational coordination across these delivery teams, to support the design, delivery and performance of the Life Sciences programme. You will lead on programme governance, monitoring and evaluation, risk and assurance, finance, and secretariat functions. You will operate confidently across a complex, multi-organisation environment, building and maintaining strong working relationships with senior internal and external stakeholders. This is an excellent opportunity for a motivated individual to support the development and delivery of a portfolio of high-profile projects that will address government and societal priorities in the life sciences. Key Responsibilities Line management of delivery team members. Working with the programme director to establish and maintain portfolio governance structures. Support the strategic development and delivery of the Life Sciences programme across UKRI. Managing the secretariat for the Life Sciences Programme Boards/meetings and supporting the programme director and SRO with paperwork and briefings. Leading and/or supporting the development of business cases for the programme. Lead the successful design, management and delivery of the programme including: Alignment of projects with objectives Real time progress monitoring Risk management Reporting Monitoring, evaluation and impact management Benefits realisation Building and maintaining strong relationships with key contacts across UKRIs other relevant priority programmes and external stakeholders from government departments, industry and medical research funders. Planning, scheduling and securing resources for delivery of the programme, working with Council and Innovate UK operations teams. Maintaining overall coherence of programme and governance frameworks to support projects and plan programme assurance activities. Matrix working with delivery teams across UKRI to ensure dependencies are actively managed, act as an arbiter to resolve issues across the programme. Ensuring delivery within budget and working with the finance business partner teams to hit spend profiles. About you /Personal Specification The below criteria will be scored during Shortlisting (S), Interview (I) or both (S
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