Governance Senior Manager

Job summary

Salary: £46,743 per annum.
Band: UKRI Band E.
Contract Type: Open ended.
Hours: Full-time. (flexible working available)
Location: Polaris House, Swindon, Wiltshire - Hybrid working available.

Closing Date: Sunday 8th February 2026

Job description

About the Governance Team

The Senior Governance Manager is a key role in a newly established team that will consolidate UKRI governance activity into a single function. The team will be established under the General Counsel Group and will be responsible for ensuring that UKRI operates its corporate governance arrangements compliantly and in line with best practice. The team’s remit will include core governance activities previously delivered by the UKRI Internal Controls Team, ranging from Declarations of Interest, Delegations, Gifts and Hospitality, and coordination of inputs to the annual Governance Statement; to drafting the annual Modern Slavery Statement, compliance with Welsh Language Scheme obligations, and work on the Policy of Policies. The team will also advise staff at all levels in the organisation on both ad hoc and complex corporate governance queries, including contributing to Accounting Officer Advice where applicable.

About the role

The Senior Governance Manager is a key role which ensures compliant and best practice delivery and advice in relation to core corporate governance activities delivered by the Governance team. You will work side by side with another Senior Governance Manager as part of a team, helping to develop and champion the establishment of the new function and will have responsibility for the following key activities:

Your Responsibilities:

• Lead the annual review of the Policy on Policies, review of the Policy Register on CGR and provision of advice and support to Councils on policy development.
• Advice to Councils on delegated authority and interpretation of the UKRI Delegations Framework; ensuring issue of delegation/allocation letters in a timely manner across the organisation as required.
• Lead the coordination of input to and drafting of the annual Governance Statement, attendance at the ARA working group, monitoring key milestones and meeting dates to ensure appropriate clearance within agreed timescales.
• Lead the operation of the Gifts and Hospitality Policy, portal and process: reviewing policy and guidance annually and providing advice/support to staff as needed; assuring incoming declarations, carrying out quarterly reviews of register entries and providing quarterly assurance report for DSIT.
• Lead the operation of the annual Declarations of Interest exercise: ensuring the portal is maintained, reviewing policy and guidance annually and providing advice/support to staff as needed; carrying out quarterly reviews of register entries, developing a quarterly reporting process and carrying out a qualitative assurance review of Council and UKRI declarations.
• Reviewing and ensuring UKRI compliance with the Welsh Language Scheme including via a rolling three-year review.
• Lead the developing and publishing of the annual Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement, advising collaborators as necessary; establish working group to review/address modern slavery risks and issues.
• Maintaining and ensuring visibility of UKRI’s Rapid Response Policy.
• Supporting the Governance lead in setting up an informal network of governance staff to share standard process and contribute to development of governance policy, and supporting governance staff in Councils to manage local compliance and reporting of governance activities.
• Advising on governance queries; providing reports to UKRI committees as required.
• Manage team risks on the CGR system.

Person specification

Essential

• Degree and/or relevant professional experience relevant to governance roles. (S)
• Experience in developing, reviewing, and advising on governance policies and frameworks, with a strong understanding of public sector standards and compliance requirements, including Managing Public Money, HM Treasury and Cabinet Office standards and rules, particularly in relation to corporate governance, regularity and propriety, risk management, and internal audit standards. (S&I)
• Demonstrated ability to manage regular governance processes, monitor milestones, assess and manage risk in context, and ensure timely delivery of outputs aligned with organisational priorities. (S&I)
• Strong oral and written communication skills, with the ability to produce high-quality reports and papers, work collaboratively with internal and external auditors, and apply attention to detail in system-based tasks. (S&I)
• Ability to influence and build trusted relationships across a wide range of stakeholders, support teams, and act as a credible advisor in governance matters. (I)
• Demonstrate enthusiasm, flexibility, and resilience in a changing environment, with a proactive mindset to challenge established thinking and drive continuous improvement. (I)

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £46,743, UK Research and Innovation contributes £13,541 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

We recognise and value our employees as individuals and aim to provide a favourable pay and rewards package. We are committed to supporting employees' development and promote a culture of continuous learning!

A list of benefits below:

• An outstanding defined benefit pension scheme.
• 30 days' annual leave in addition to 10.5 public and privilege days (full time equivalent).
• Employee discounts and offers on retail and leisure activities.
• Employee assistance programme, providing confidential help and advice.
• Flexible working options.

Plus many more benefits and wellbeing initiatives that enable our employees to have a great work life balance!

For further information on our benefits please see:

Benefits of working at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

UKRI is an Equal Opportunity & Disability Confident Employer.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

Please apply online, if you experience any issue applying, please contact Recruitment@ukri.org.

Please note, if you will require sponsorship to work in the UK, as part of your sponsorship application, you and any dependants travelling with you, will be required to pay costs directly to The Home Office for the application before you start your role with us. UKRI is normally able to reimburse some, or all of these fees after you have become an employee and this can be discussed with the Hiring Manager. For more information, please visit https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa/how-much-it-costs or contact Recruitment@ukri.org.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : UKRI Recruitment Team
• Email : Recruitment@ukri.org

Recruitment team

• Email : Recruitment@ukri.org