Job Description

UK Research & Innovation

Salary: 45,272 per annum

Band: UKRI Band E

Contract Type: Open ended

Hours: Full-time (flexible working available)

Location:

Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, Oxon

- Hybrid working available

Closing Date: 3

rd

October 2025

Interview Date: W/c 13

th

October 2025

The organisation

United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) is the UK's science and innovation agency, home to world-class scientists, world-class facilities and world-class research and innovation. Comprising seven Research Councils dedicated to particular sectors of research, plus Innovate UK and Research England, UKRI is a non-departmental public body, part of the UK Government, tasked with maximising the value of the Government's six billion pound annual investment in research and innovation.

About the role

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We have a new and exciting opportunity for an experienced commercial contracts manager to be based at our Rutherford Appleton Lab (RAL) site in Oxfordshire. This role supports UKRI's sales activities.


We're currently recruiting sales-side commercial contract professionals to join a team providing commercial support for the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), a Research Council and one of Europe's largest science research organisations. STFC owns and operates a number of large facilities and national laboratories focused on particular areas of research. Although we work across the whole of UKRI, this role mainly supports RAL Space, the UK's national laboratory for Space science. RAL Space operate the National Satellite Test Facility and provide a rage of design, manufacturing and test facilities for satellites and space instrumentation. This role supports these activities and involves dealings with the European Space Agency, NASA, and UK Space companies of all sizes. Project values range from a few thousand pounds to several millions.


This is not a sales role : you will be providing pre- and post- contract commercial approval, management, and advice for a wide range of projects. You will help draft bids and ensure that they are legally and commercially sound. You will review and challenge bids and proposals to ensure that they meet Government financial rules and good commercial practice. You will provide sound commercial advice to stakeholders at all levels of the organisation.


The work is challenging, varied and interesting. You'll need to quickly adapt to a wide range of different technologies, negotiating on behalf of UKRI with public and private sector clients ranging from SMEs to multinationals, while meeting the requirements of our internal stakeholders.


The commercial function is relatively new to UKRI and has quickly earned itself a reputation for being effective, professional, helpful and responsive. You will work as part of a close-knit and very supportive team, and also work closely and collaboratively with our legal, financial and technical colleagues in the wider organisation. But the role also has an unusually high degree of autonomy, and you will get pretty much cradle-to-grave responsibility for a number of contracts. Support is there if you need it, but you will often be the sole commercial officer in the room. You'll need to be able to think on your feet, balancing risks and priorities, determining what is in the best interests of the taxpayer, and have the charisma to challenge and persuade senior staff in both our clients and the internal organisation to do what's needed.

Your responsibilities:

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Supporting business development managers and working as part of bid and project teams within your area of responsibility Assessing bids for risk, attending bid reviews, and approving or rejecting potential bids Advising on commercial and financial risk in RFQs, ITTs and client contracts and suggesting mitigation measures; engaging with specialist Legal and Intellectual Property teams where required Helping to draft the commercial and contractual wording of bids. Providing commercial advice to senior management ensuring alignment of pricing and scope with contract terms in bids and contracts and resolving complex commercial issues and queries Negotiating with clients, collaborators, and subcontractors Drafting, reviewing, and amending contract documents Approving and signing agreements within delegated scope of authority Managing post-contractual changes and CCNs, working with project teams to address revenue leakage and "scope creep" Managing and resolving contractual disputes, referring to the UKRI legal team where necessary Acting as a role model of commercial professionalism within your area of responsibility and the wider community Providing commercial training as required Helping to develop UKRI commercial policies and procedures Working with our stakeholder community to improve UKRI's commercial processes.
If you want to know more about what the role involves, get in touch: incomecontracts@ukri.org . But

please DON'T

use this email to send a CV or application letter - they will be deleted without being read.

Personal Specification:

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

Essential

Education, qualification and training:

Degree level in a business, commercial, legal, technical or engineering discipline or similar, or equivalent experience. (S)

Technical skills, experience:

High degree of commercial knowledge and awareness (S/I) A strong technical understanding of commercial and contract management from a sales perspective; (S/I) Strong knowledge of English contract law; (I/PT) Experience of drafting, monitoring and managing sales agreements; (S/I) Experience of monitoring contract implementation and taking action to ensure that contract margins are maintained and opportunities for improvement taken, engaging directly with customers as required. (S/I) Experiencing of interacting with and influencing senior management; (S/I) Good grasp of intellectual property - what it is, and how it is monetised;(S/I) Experience in a high technology, project driven, business environment (S/I) Experience of successfully negotiating substantial and complex agreements; (S/I) Personal drive and enthusiasm, able to work unsupervised, effectively manage own workload, and deliver to deadlines; (I) Calm under pressure; (I) An astute and confident negotiator, with the ability to think quickly and clearly during a negotiation; (S/i) The gravitas to advise and influence senior managers in both UKRI and in our clients' organisations; (I) Excellent problem-solving skills (I) The ability to work collaboratively with colleagues and client staff; (I) The ability to work with systems, policies and process that are still developing (I) Demonstrates UK public service values (objectivity, impartiality, honesty and integrity) and UKRI values (integrity, innovation, collaboration and excellence), in both behaviour and attitude; (I) The ability to absorb and understand complex technical information (S/I) Keen attention to detail and good analytical skills (S/I)

Personal attributes:

Desirable Requirements

Education, qualification and training:

Master's degree in a commercial, legal, technical or engineering discipline or similar, or equivalent experience. (S)

Technical skills, experience:

Understanding of business finance; (I) Experience of working in the public sector.(S/I) Experience in managing and resolving disputes (S/I)

Personal attributes:

Creativity, showing innovative and independent thinking (I)

Location

This role is based in STFC's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, near Didcot in Oxfordshire. Occasional travel is expected to other UKRI sites.

Working from home

UKRI is a very inclusive and flexible employer, and we are happy to discuss flexible working patterns including working from home. However, our commercial managers have to build trust with their target user community, so it is expected that:


You will attend any on-site meetings needed You will be in the office for 2 days a week on average You may be required to be in the office for longer periods initially (to build relationships and understanding) and at other times where the work requires this

Benefits

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) OR


https://stfccareers.co.uk/rewards-and-benefits/



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 .