View Vacancy - Senior Programme Manager, C4, New Delhi

Note : All applicants are required to mandatorily fill the complete online application form including the employment and educational details, motivational segment and the competency based questions. We will be thoroughly reviewing the application forms only for all the required details. Forms that are incomplete in any respect will not be considered while shortlisting for the next stage.

Please note that due to Covid-19 outbreak, the start date of employment mentioned in the advert is tentative, subject to normal business of British High Commission. All recruitment campaigns will remain open for applications, we will progress the recruitment process as swiftly as possible and continue to review all applications, monitor progress and developments. We will be in touch with you for the interviews/ should there be further updates on the application, however given the circumstances, kindly expect some delay in response and please reach out to if you have any further questions.

Main purpose of job:

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

UK Research and Innovation is a new entity that brings together nine partners and a budget of £7bn to create an independent organisation with a strong voice for research and innovation, and a vision to ensure the UK maintains its world-leading position in research and innovation. The UK’s expertise spans all fields of knowledge, from the discovery of penicillin and monoclonal antibodies, to the jet engine and the World Wide Web. Our inspirational creative industries are strong in art, design and the innovative use of new materials and technologies. Our universities and laboratories produce a disproportionate percentage of the world’s top research, and their academics are highly-sought as international colleagues and co-authors and are among the world’s best at attracting overseas students. This excellence is not confined to university campuses and research centres. Our engineering, automotive and pharmaceutical industries are successful in part because of the superb graduates they can hire and the top rate researchers that support them.

UKRI India is a small, dynamic, high-achieving team within the British High Commission, New Delhi. We work across the breadth of UKRI interests to build collaboration with India. Since the establishment of the UKRI (then RCUK) office in India in 2008, the research and innovation (R&I) partnership between the UK and India has grown from an almost zero base to over £300 million of joint investment. This partnership in R&I is now one of the fastest growing areas of bilateral cooperation between our two countries. 

You will manage and a portfolio of relationships with UK and Indian funders, support and progress effective delivery of joint programmes and play an important role in managing UKRI activities and brand in India. You do not need to have a PhD for this role, but you do need to have demonstrable interest and enthusiasm for research and innovation, an appetite to learn new things, the ability to recognise where new ideas can help shape global challenges, and the drive and tenacity to make things happen. You are an excellent team player, who knows about an area of research or innovation from experience in a research institution or business or in a policy organisation and are keen to learn more. You will have experience of funding and project management processes, or policy work and enjoy working across multiple projects.

You will be responsible for the development and delivery of multi-million-pound programme activities between UKRI and Indian partners, with an initial focus on UKRI India’s biotechnology and health portfolios and one of the natural environment, the social sciences and arts, research for development, or innovation. Your role will also focus on broader university funding policy and knowledge exchange or impact activities. This role will, therefore, include senior stakeholder engagement with our funding partners in the Government of India, and exploring new partnerships and avenues for enhanced collaboration in a range of focus areas.

You will, along with other programme managers within the team, support the office Director and Deputy Director in the delivery of UKRI’s international strategy for engaging with India. This will include supporting the development of UKRI India’s annual business plan and you will be expected to use your local knowledge of the Indian R&I landscape to provide regular policy updates to the team and senior internal UKRI stakeholders.

This role offers an excellent opportunity to work in a fast-paced, high-achieving environment rife with opportunities for further enhancing UKRI’s robust and growing collaboration with India. The successful candidate will contribute substantially to the smooth functioning of the team and will get the opportunity to be involved in high-level events and visits by senior stakeholders. There is expected to be domestic and/or international travel.

This role is on a 2-year fixed-term contract with a possibility for renewal.

Roles and Responsibilities:

Programme Management 70%

• Work in close consultation with the Director, Deputy Director and Senior Portfolio Manager to design and deliver approaches to align UK and Indian research priorities leading to the development of a range of UKRI-India research projects. These may relate to broad themes such as the life-sciences, arts and humanities or global development, or more specific programmes, such as those relating to COVID-19 or COP26
• Support the Deputy Director and Senior Portfolio Manager in the management of UKRI’s portfolio of funding with key partners, such as India’s Department of Biotechnology and the Indian Council of Medical Research, the Indian Council for Social Science Research and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
• Support the Director in the development and delivery of policy work, for example to ensure those we fund are working in safe environments, or to build UKRI’s knowledge exchange agenda in India, including working with senior Government of India contacts, and exploring new opportunities in this space
• Lead on complex negotiations with Indian partners to agree approaches for joint peer review of UK-India research and innovation proposals – from small exchange programmes to multi-million pound research and innovation partnerships
• Project-manage events (including workshops and roundtable/ commissioning meetings), including management of any associated financial commitments and contracts
• Actively build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders based both in the UK and in India, including within the High Commission. 

Team support 30%

• Work closely with the wider HMG (Her Majesty’s Government) network to represent the interests of UKRI and to ensure that the opportunities and impacts of research and innovation are visible in the UK’s bilateral relationship with India
• Gather and collate relevant information regarding your portfolio, wider UKRI activities in India and on the strengths and priorities of UK and India research, and assist the office Director and Deputy Director in strategic decision-making on the basis of this information
• Write and prepare briefings, impact summaries and updates, including for high-level chief executive or ministerial visits to India, and from India to the UK
• Use and build India-specific knowledge to advise and support the Director and Deputy Director in sensitive negotiations with key Indian partners.

Resources managed:

No line management responsibilities

Small programme budget management responsibilities reporting to the Deputy Director

Language requirements:  

Language: English (essential), Hindi (desirable) 

Level of language required: English- fluent written and spoken 

Learning and development opportunities:

Will be provided upon joining                            

Essential on arrival :

• Degree or equivalent experience relating to the use of research or innovation in a policy or business context
• Confident in communicating, influencing and negotiating with external and internal contacts across a range of topics
• A diplomatic interpersonal manner and ability to develop a broad network of contacts in the UK and India
• Capable of drafting complex and comprehensive documents/ briefings in a clear, concise and non-technical style, with the ability to identify which information is relevant to the audience’s needs
• Able to work at pace on a diverse range of projects
• Capable of proactively developing and presenting solutions to problems where past precedent is of little help and formal guidance is not available
• Adaptability and the ability to settle quickly into a new or changing working environment
• Experience of successfully delivering projects on time and to budget