Overview

UK Research and Innovation

Salary: £56,745 per annum

Band: UKRI Band F

Contract Type: Open ended

Hours: Full-time (flexible working available)

Location: Polaris House, Swindon, Wiltshire - Hybrid working available

Closing Date: 15thSeptember 2025

About the role

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the UKRI Strategic Financial Planning team in the role of Head of Management Reporting. This is a high profile and critical role in a dynamic and fast paced environment with regular engagement and interaction with senior management including the UKRI Finance Director, CFO, CEO and Executive Committee (ExCo) amongst others. This post would suit a high-reaching and driven individual with a strong commitment to the provision of high-quality financial reporting and to continuous improvement.

Reporting to the UKRI Deputy Director for Strategic Financial Planning the successful candidate will be central to ensuring UKRI delivers within its financial management target of no overspend and no less than 1% underspend. The successful candidate will lead on enhancing the current management reporting model for UKRI, raising and leading on the management of key in-year financial risks and opportunities. This role will be key in the effectively transition of the management reporting team from current manual processes and collation of data to a single integrated system-based solution harnessing the opportunity presented by the introduction of Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications and complementary reporting systems and tools.

Directorate

You must be able to lead a team through change ensuring that everyone understands their responsibilities and inputs and develops new ways of working to adapt to internal and external change.

Additionally, you will have an appreciation of the nature of UKRI which has several different entities and build strong relationships with key stakeholders to ensure that the forecasting and budgets produced are agreed and bought into.

You will also perform a range of reporting, systems and control functions, but fundamentally will be responsible for producing accurate UKRI-level budgets, forecasts and reporting which has had input and agreement from FBPs to provide information that can be relied upon for PFO, ExCo and Board-level decision-making.

Working with the team to harmonise and standardise processes between in year and multi-year financial models and teams where practicable and develop insightful reporting, highlighting cost drivers with commentary that gives the reader additional valuable information.

Responsibilities

Lead the Central Management reporting team by:

• Developing, leading and maintaining strong working relationships with key stakeholders across Finance function, DSIT and when required other government departments (OGDs)
• Show effective leadership skills in motivating and developing team members. Maximise the team’s performance through clear management, smart objective setting and effective performance reviews
• Promote a one team approach where continuous improvement is encouraged
• Building a strong understanding of UKRI 9 primary entities and their associated cost drivers enabling the team to provide effective challenge and support when building open budgets and forecast, including in-year management of operational expenditure (OpEx), leading on mains and supplementary estimates, and ARA performance reporting
• Working with the team to develop consolidated UKRI reporting across the various entities and teams, harmonising and standardising where practical and developing the processes required to produce UKRI Management Reporting Pack and internal Allocations
• Having a strong understanding of the strategic financial risks, pressures and opportunities for UKRI both in year and in future years to ensure effective financial decision-making in these areas, working with the Financial Planning Team
• Seeing the big picture, ensuring the team meet deadlines critical to UKRI financial management and identifying trends in data presented
• Working with the newly created Head of Finance Data and Systems role to continuously improve reporting capabilities by identifying areas of enhancement and supplying to the development of management information, enabling the team to provide greater insight, automated solutions and one version of the truth.
• Responsible for reviewing the output of the team to ensure relevance, accuracy and completeness, meeting the needs of stakeholders
• Working with the team to ensure there is cover for all key activities
• Using various information sources (external audit, internal audit, stakeholder feedback, team feedback, risk registers) identifying and taking forward process improvement
• Inputting as a subject matter expert and intelligent customer into UKRI/function-wide project and change activities including post-live optimisation of Oracle Fusion (UKRI’s ERP replacement) and other projects e.g. to roll-out self-service reporting to UKRI budget-holders.

Qualifications

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

Essential

• Qualified Accountant or working towards qualification (ACA/CIMA/ACCA/CIPFA or international equivalent) (S)
• A strong understanding of accounting and finance and demonstrable experience of working in senior finance roles and delivering effective financial management (S)
• Strong leadership, with ability to engage and empower colleagues through change (I)
• Highly numerate with the ability to provide insightful analysis, working with reliable system and excel models - communicating the key elements to effectively influence decision making (S&I)
• Ability to establish relationships with senior collaborators and influence them with impact and professional credibility (I)
• Experience of balancing the conflicting demands of partners and working to tight deadlines (S&I)
• Clear, demonstrable relationship management and influencing skills, with ability to instil confidence within stakeholders (I)
• Strong team leadership with ability to engage and empower colleagues through change (I)
• Excellent written and oral communication skills (S&I)
• Personal resilience and a confident approach to solve issues and find solutions (I)
• The ability to respond calmly under pressure and to make impartial and well-considered judgements (I)
• Aptitude for and application of continuous improvement, ability to innovate and challenge established thinking in self and others, and to offer insights and ideas with practical application coupled with the ability to inspire change (I)
• Good organisational skills, ability to deliver at pace and meeting changing priorities to time and to a high standard (I)
• Ability to remain focused on the bigger picture. (I)

For further information please take a look at our Finance Brochure to find out more about what we do here at UKRI Finance.

Benefits

We recognise and value our employees as individuals and aim to provide a favourable pay and rewards package. UKRI are committed to supporting employees' development and promote an environment 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.

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 the Benefits of working at UKRI or contact Recruitment@ukri.org.