View Vacancy - Senior Portfolio Manager, C5, 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.
Summary of the Role
You will manage and develop an extensive portfolio of relationships with UK and Indian funders, support and progress effective delivery of joint programmes and play an integral 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 a confident self-starter who is an excellent team player, has demonstrable highly developed communication skills and enjoys working across multiple projects. You know about an area of research or innovation from experience in a business or in a policy organisation and are keen to learn more. You will have experience of funding and project management processes and policy work and enjoy working across multiple projects and with multiple partners.
This role will be responsible for leading the negotiation, development and delivery of two large, multi-million-pound portfolios of our R&I partnership with India – a) UKRI’s portfolio with India’s Department of Biotechnology (DBT) – our largest funding partner in India, and b) Innovate UK’s fast-growing innovation agenda with key partners in India. This role, therefore, includes senior stakeholder engagement with key funding partners in the Government of India, and exploring new partnerships and avenues for enhanced collaboration in these areas.
You will work closely with office Director and Deputy Director to support the development and delivery of a variety of strategic projects and policy work within the British High Commission, and between UKRI and partners in India. These could include new partnerships to explore COVID-19, initiatives to support climate change in the lead up to COP26 and activities to enable the UK and India to use our research and innovation strengths to support global development.
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 success of this partnership and will be involved in high-level events and visits by senior stakeholders. There is also expected to be domestic and/or international travel.
Roles and Responsibilities:
Portfolio Management: UKRI-DBT 30%
- Leading on the design and delivery of UKRI’s portfolio of programmes with India’s Department of Biotechnology- our largest co-funder in India – to negotiate and deliver a range of multi-million-pound research and innovation programmes (ranging £6-10million each) including agreeing strategic priority areas, organising academic scoping visits, designing and facilitating academic workshops, drafting call documents and associated paperwork for research funding calls, designing peer review mechanisms, and organising funding panel meetings.
- Leading the design and commissioning of impact evaluation exercises and analyses of UKRI-DBT programmes with a view to raising the profile of the high-quality work under the partnership and generating strategic insights to help inform portfolio development.
- Working with minimum supervision (but in close consultation with UKRI India’s Director and Deputy Director and senior management at DBT, which may include hot-desking at their offices), to establish close working relationships with DBT’s international team to enable timely processing of funding calls and grants, appointment of appropriate delegates for joint UKRI-DBT academic workshops, organising thematic site-visits for visiting UK delegates and vice-versa.
- Working collaboratively with others in the High Commission to ensure appropriate join-up.
Portfolio Management: UKRI’s Innovate UK 30%
Note: Innovate UK is one of the newest Councils that we represent in India. This aspect of the role is therefore new to the team and some of the responsibilities below indicate this.
- Playing a central role to significantly enhance UKRI India’s representational capabilities for Innovate UK in India, adding to the overall team skill-set.
- Leading on shaping and delivering Innovate UK’s agenda with India including agreeing new multi-million-pound programmes (ranging £6-10million each) and designing new models of engagement that will bring together the academic and business innovation communities in the UK and India.
- Taking an active approach towards learning more about UKRI’s innovation agenda for India, including proactively exploring new innovation funding partners in India, and shaping UKRI’s strategic planning in relation to innovation activities with India
- Working very closely with other departments within the High Commission with a mutual interest in innovation e.g. the Science and Innovation Network Team, the Newton team, Department for International Trade, to ensure a coherent approach and to maximise the benefits of joint working in this space.
Senior Stakeholder Engagement: 20%
- Taking a lead role to actively build and maintain relationships with senior Indian stakeholders, in particular relevant research funding partners in the Government of India, industry, and academia.
- Supporting the office Directors in maintaining relationships with key UKRI stakeholders based in the High Commission, the UK and in India, including through the development of briefings and visits.
- Proactively exploring new linkages with an aim to foster new innovation-focused partnerships with potential partners in India e.g. GITA, Invest India, Niti Ayog, Agni, BIRAC, and others that are relevant.
Strategy and Policy Support: 20%
- Supporting the office Directors in the development and delivery of UKRI India’s strategic ambitions, which may include leading on our impact strategy, business planning exercises, and engagement work in the UK and across the High Commission network in India.
- Using and building local knowledge and sector expertise to report back to the UK on important policy developments in India (and vice-versa), for example in relation to COVID-19, COP26 or global development issues.
- Contributing to high-profile events and visits by senior stakeholders by actively participating in team activities towards these.
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 at all levels of seniority and across a range of topics
- A diplomatic interpersonal manner and ability to continue developing a broad network of contacts in the UK and India
- Capable of writing 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 while managing a diverse range of potential opportunities
- Capable of reavcting to different circumstances where past precedent and practice 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 managing projects proactively and innovatively with minimal supervision
- Experience of building and shaping new policy and pre-empting the potential impacts of policy change
- Experience of handling small amounts of programme budget
Desirable:
- Experience working with overseas partners or in an international organisation
- Experience working with research and innovation in universities, businesses or government
- Understanding of UKRI and how research and innovation funding works in the UK and/or India
- Experience in working with medical or biological sciences, data, AI, climate change and/or innovation
- Line or team management experience
For BHC candidates, the Local BHC Terms & Conditions will apply.
For other than BHC candidates, Basic Salary will be INR 139,828 per month together with a 12% provident fund and 6% Super Annuation Fund.
Additionally the BHC offers a great benefits package that includes annual domiciliary medical cover, plus a Group Hospitalisation Scheme with INR 500,000 floater cover for your immediate family.
No relocation or any other related costs or assistance will be provided. Notional tax will be deducted if you are not liable to pay local tax.
The BHC is recognised as a good employer, with a robust, fair and transparent performance management & appraisal system linked to increments and staff bonuses. We have a 5-day working week, plus annual leave, public holidays, maternity leave provision, special leave, paid sick leave provision; ample development opportunities, travel opportunities, a good organisational culture, and excellent work/life balance.
Around half of our work forces are women. We treat people with respect and equality and have a policy of zero tolerance for any form of discrimination, bullying, or harassment.
This is a good opportunity to be part of a strong, diverse team, working in the biggest network that FCO has anywhere across the globe. We are aiming to make it the best.
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.’’
To Apply:
Please note applications without (a) and (b) will not be considered.
A. Complete the Online Application Form
B. Complete the Motivation and Competency Segment in the Online Application Form
Internal candidates applying for this position need to upload their appraisal forms for the previous 2 years (if applicable) and also inform their current line managers, else the applications will not be considered.
We will accept only online applications by 17 July 2020 midnight.
Please note that all the applicants will be required to strictly adhere to the security guidelines for British High Commission
Applicants who do not have the required qualification & experience should kindly abstain from applying, as their applications will not be considered.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and no telephone enquires will be dealt with.
The appointment will be subject to Police Verification and other checks including references, medical, educational and professional.
We welcome all applications irrespective of age, race, colour, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, belief or creed. We are also open to applications from people who want to work flexibly.
This opportunity is closed to applications.