Senior Portfolio Managers

Senior Portfolio Managers

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Salary: 46,743 per annum

Hours: Full time or Part time (minimum 0.8 FTE considered)

Contract type: Fixed Term 23 Months

Location: Polaris House, Swindon, Wiltshire

Grade: UKRI E

Positions available: 2

Closing date: 23:59 on 2nd July 2026

Proposed interview date: Interviews will be held in person at Polaris House, likely on the week commencing 20th July. There will be no further stages of assessment.

EPSRC are advertising several vacancies for Senior Portfolio Managers at this time. Applicants are welcome to apply for one or more than one position. A separate application will be required for each post which should be tailored to the specific post. If you are shortlisted for interview for more than one post with the same criteria, you will only need to attend one interview.

About Us

Are you passionate about research? Are you keen to work with researchers, business and Government, defining and implementing strategy to enable excellent research that delivers real impact for the economy and society?

Senior Portfolio Managers sit at the interface between strategic leadership and delivery. You will use your communication skills to develop and implement key priorities, policies, and strategies. You will lead the development and delivery of future activities, building strong relationships with colleagues across UKRI and a wide range of external stakeholders. You will be encouraged to constantly learn and be empowered to explore your curiosity in this rewarding role. Overall you will ensure we fund people and ideas of the highest quality, to implement new, innovative research programmes.

We recognise and value employees as individuals and aim to provide a pay and rewards package that motivates staff to perform to the best of their ability. The reward package includes a flexible working scheme, a Career Average Revalued Earnings pension scheme, 30 days annual leave allowance and a number of other benefits.

EPSRC is a team-based organisation, and no team or directorate works in a silo. An important part of your role will be to work with others to deliver results.

Successful candidates will be placed in a team with a vacancy following interviews. We have vacancies across various teams within EPSRC, including our Quantum Technologies and International Partnerships teams. If you are invited for an interview, we will update you on current vacancies and you will have the chance to state any preference you have for a particular team, though we will not be able to guarantee to honour all preferences.

The Senior Portfolio Manager in the International Partnerships team will be based in a small team with a strong emphasis on collaborative working across internal teams and with external international and UK stakeholders. You would be responsible for managing funding schemes and projects associated with EPSRCs international partnerships, as well as contributing to the development of strategy and EPSRC positioning in an evolving global research funding landscape.

The Senior Portfolio Manager in the Quantum Technologies team will be helping to deliver the UK National Quantum technology Strategy and support the UKRI IS8 quantum technologies programme. You would be responsible for managing funding schemes and projects within the quantum technologies portfolio, as well as contributing to the development of strategy. There is a strong focus on stakeholder engagement, across UKRI, as well as externally and with government and its arms-length bodies.

Hybrid Working

These posts are based at our Swindon office, but hybrid working is available with regular office attendance and travel across UKRI offices. This post also requires travel to attend external visits and meetings. We welcome applications from candidates with special requirements.

Purpose

As a Senior Portfolio Manager in EPSRC, within 6-12 months, you will have a deep knowledge of your area of responsibility (which could be multiple portfolios or programmes), understanding its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. You will use that knowledge to collaborate and lead on defining, influencing, and implementing strategy.

Main outputs and activities:

• Contribute to, as well as shape the development and delivery of strategy across one of EPSRCs themes.
• Deputising for team leads, including in meetings with senior internal and external stakeholders.
• Line-manage and/or project manage colleagues: providing leadership and support for personal development and driving a culture of high-performance teamwork.
• Building and fostering strong relationships working across EPSRC, UKRI and beyond UKRI, including across the academic community, government, and other stakeholders to ensure that investments are robust, informed, and impactful.
• Providing high quality expertise and advice in your areas of responsibility, informed by evidence and engagement with relevant stakeholders.
• Leading the development and delivery of investment plans, calls and associated peer review processes, and cases for investment, ensuring that these are of a high quality and in line with UKRI values, principles, and practices.
• Contributing to the development of appropriate monitoring, assurance, and evaluation approaches for EPSRCs investments.

The below criteria will be scored during Shortlisting (S), Interview (I) or both (S&I).

Assessment of the following skills will be made via shortlisting, and an in person interview which will include a presentation:

Essential

• Knowledge and experience of programme, portfolio and/or project management of research-related or innovation activities, including managing packages of work within projects and programmes (S)
• Sophisticated analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills, and an ability to think strategically (S/I)
• An ability to engage with a range of internal and external stakeholders at all levels, and to influence others to achieve outcomes and improve performance (S/I)
• An ability to work as part of a team, including leading and developing staff through behaviour and empathy, to achieve organisational goals (S/I)
• Strong communication skills (both written and oral) with an ability to produce clear, concise, and accurate presentations and written documentation to successfully inform and influence a wide range of audiences (I)
• Strong strategic awareness of how the UK research and innovation system operates, and the context and landscape within which EPSRC and UKRI operates (I)

Desirable

• A graduate (or equivalent experience), who can demonstrate the potential to succeed (S)