Senior Analyst

Senior Analyst – (250000B9)

Description

 

UK Research & Innovation

Salary: £45,272
Hours: Full Time / Part Time (Min 0.8 FTE)
Contract Type: Open Ended
Location: Polaris House, Swindon & Hybrid working available (London location is available to UKRI employees on existing London-based contracts)

Closing Date: Tuesday 27th May 2025

Job Overview:

This is an exciting opportunity to join a multi-disciplinary analytical team that works on areas at the heart of the UK research and innovation (R&I) system. Our work plays a key role in delivering the government’s ambition to strengthen the UK’s position as a global science and technology superpower, set out in the UK Science and Technology Framework.

The role sits within the Strategic Analysis team (within a wider analysis team and the Investment Planning and Strategy directorate) which has a wide remit including analysis of the Research & Innovation system, Economic Appraisal, Data Science and Thematic Analysis, and analysis for Investment Strategy.

The successful candidate would directly report to the Lead Analyst for Economic Appraisal and Business Cases. The successful applicant will work across directorate and organisational priorities and, as business needs evolve, they will need to remain flexible and ready to pivot to new work areas.

We are a team committed to diversity and inclusion and welcome applications from anyone with the skills needed. The role is available to people working full-time, part-time or job-shares, and flexible working is the norm. The team works across the London and Swindon offices, a good proportion of the work can be done from home and there will be opportunities to visit colleagues in London and Swindon offices and other UKRI sites.

We are committed to supporting each other’s personal and professional development and will support your learning and development ambitions in this role.

We aim to recruit an economic appraisal senior analyst that would support our strategic economic appraisal work.

There are two key parts of this role, concerning both ex-ante and ex-post economic appraisal.

Ex-post economic appraisal: The successful candidate would have a leading role in the management of ex-post economic appraisal work within the team. This includes supporting evaluation teams, as well as science and policy teams, by reviewing and advising on the economic components of their evaluations. This role requires close collaboration with the UKRI Analysis Evaluation team.

Ex-ante economic appraisal: The successful candidate will support the Lead Analyst for Economic Appraisal in various ex-ante economic appraisal projects. A significant portion of this work involves supporting business case development, leading the economic component of economic cases, and reviewing the work of other analysts.

The role requires line management of one economic apprentice, as well as mentoring and advising other junior analysts and economists in the organisation.

Key Responsibilities:

• Leading on business case analysis, with a focus on economic cases. This would usually require ex-ante value for money analysis with a quantitative component developed in Excel
• Mentoring junior analysts to deliver economic appraisal projects
• Supporting evaluation, policy, and science teams in the delivery of the economic component of their evaluation projects. This includes reviewing invitation to tender documents, bids, and early drafts.
• Supporting analysis for fiscal events and spending reviews
• Engaging with internal and external analysts to develop robust methodologies and analysis for evaluation of UKRI investments
• Developing guidance and training for both analysts and non-analytical audiences
• Supporting the Lead Analyst on the conception and development of key ex-ante and ex-post economic appraisal projects. This would typically require modelling in Excel or R.
• Running literature and evidence reviews assessing their robustness and relevance. This would require finding and analysing relevant sources and data sets to fill knowledge gaps, summarising the key findings for users;

Person Specification:

(S) – Shortlisting Criteria (I) – Interview Criteria

Essential

• Degree in Economics (with at least 50% of course modules in Economics) or equivalent work experience (S)
• Experience carrying out public sector Green Book compliant value for money analysis (S & I)
• Knowledge of and experience in Applied Econometrics (S & I)
• Highly proficient in Excel (S & I)
• Experience in building strong relationships with technical and non-technical users of analysis at varying seniority levels (S & I)
• Drawing on a broad range of quantitative and qualitative analytical tools and methods to deliver high quality pieces of analytical work at pace (S & I)
• Clearly communicating analytical findings, limitations, and uncertainty (S & I)

Desirable

• Familiarity with the Magenta Book and experience in monitoring and evaluation, including identifying the strategic objectives and benefits of a project, and constructing a Theory of Change or Logic Model to link inputs to impacts (S & I)
• Familiarity with the Aqua Book and knowledge of quality assurance best practices (S & I)
• Experience coding in R, Python, and SQL (S & I)
• Experience applying economics to science, research and innovation would be desirable, but it is not a requirement. (S & I)

More Important Information:

Please Note: As well as the above essential criteria, you will be assessed on the following 4 areas during shortlisting and interview stage.

• Analytical Skills (S & I)
• Working together (S & I)
• Delivering at pace (S & I)
• Communicating and influencing (S & I)

This role is open to all analysts with the relevant skills and experience. Applicants do not need to be badged to a Government Analytical Profession such as the GES, GSR, GORS or GSS to apply for this role. However, badged analysts are welcome to apply.

Application Guidance:

Applicants are invited to submit a CV and a statement of experience (no longer than 1250 words), covering the following 4 areas:

• Analytical skills – examples from previous experience that provide evidence to support your application for an analytical role as specified above. Please refer to the “Requirements” and “About you” sections above. You might also like to refer to the GES Technical Framework (maximum 500 words)

Examples from previous experience that demonstrate your aptitude in the following three behaviours (maximum 250 words for each behaviour):

• Working together
• Delivering at pace
• Communicating and influencing

For guidance on Civil Service Behaviours, please see Success Profiles: Civil Service Behaviours (SEO grade)

In the event that we receive a high number of applications, we will shortlist based on the lead competency – analytical skills. You should consider using the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) for each of the skills and behaviours, including analytical skills.

For more information, please contact the hiring manager: Stefania Cerruti, Lead Analyst for Economic Appraisal and Business Cases (stefania.cerruti@ukri.org)

 

Qualifications

 

About UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) 

UKRI launched in April 2018, UKRI is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

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 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. 

 

Primary Location

: England-Wiltshire-Swindon

Job

: Administration

Organization

: UKRI – StrategyContract Type: Open Ended

Unposting Date

: 27-05-2025Hours: Full-time / Part-time

Salary (Pay Basis)

: Pound Sterling (GBP)45,272.00Band UKRI: UKRI-Band E