Operations Manager

• Hours: Full Time/ Part Time

RICHeS Operations Manager

Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
Salary: £37,841 per annum  
Band: UKRI Band D
Contract Type: Fixed Term 23 months
Hours: Full-time/ Part Time (minimum 0.8 FTE) (flexible working available) 
Location: Warrington, Cheshire, United Kingdom - Hybrid working available 
Positions: 1
Closing Date: Sunday 15th November 23:59pm 
Interview Date: W/C 7th December 

About RICHeS

Research Infrastructure for Conservation and Heritage Science (RICHeS) is a UK-wide programme led by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), part of United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI).

RICHeS is an £80 million long term investment in the UK’s conservation and heritage science capability. We are establishing a distributed national research infrastructure, connecting specialist facilities, nationally significant collections, digital services and expertise across the UK.

The programme currently brings together 31 funded investments, comprising specialist heritage science facilities, nationally significant collections and the Heritage Science Data Service (HSDS). Together, these form a national network intended to improve access to facilities, equipment, expertise, collections and data for researchers, conservators, heritage organisations and other users. RICHeS operates across all four nations of the UK and also supports engagement with international research infrastructure partnerships.

About the role

The Operations Manager will play a central role in the effective day to day operation and delivery of the RICHeS programme, working closely with and reporting to the Senior Operations Manager.

The postholder will provide high quality operational and programme management support across RICHeS, supporting effective relationships with funded investments and partners, programme monitoring and reporting, financial management and assurance and governance coordination.

The Operations Manager will also have direct line management responsibility of an Operations Officer, providing direct, support and development opportunities, and ensuring that operational activity is effectively prioritised and delivered.

This role will suit an experienced programme or operations professional who is comfortable working across a complex, distributed programme involving multiple organisations and stakeholders. The successful candidate will be able to bring structure to complex activity, identify issues early and ensure that actions are followed through.

Key responsibilities

Programme and operational management

• Support the Senior Operations Manager in the effective operational delivery of the RICHeS programme.
• Maintain effective programme systems, processes, records and documentation, ensuring information is accurate, accessible and up to date.
• Track programme milestones, deliverables, issues and actions, escalating matters requiring senior consideration.
• Coordinate inputs from colleagues and external partners to ensure that programme activities are delivered to agreed timescales.
• Support the continuous improvement of RICHeS operational processes, identifying opportunities to improve efficiency and user experience.
• Contribute to planning for future phases of the RICHeS programme and the development of sustainable operating arrangements.

Grant management

• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with RICHeS funded investments.
• Act as a key operational point of contact for funded projects, providing guidance on programme requirements and coordinating responses to queries.
• Monitor progress against agreed project plans, milestones and outputs.
• Support funded projects to meet their obligations to provide access to their facilities, equipment, collections, expertise and associated resources.
• Work with project leads to identify and resolve operational issues, escalating significant risks to the Senior Operations Manager where appropriate.

Financial management

• Support the Senior Operations Manager in the management and monitoring of programme budgets.
• Liaise with grant holders and their finance teams regarding financial queries.
• Maintain accurate financial and programme records and ensure appropriate audit trails are available.

Governance, assurance and reporting

• Support the preparation of papers, reports and information for RICHeS governance and advisory structures.
• Maintain programme risk register and support regular reviews of this with the Senior Operations Manager and Head of RICHeS.
• Support the coordination of milestone reporting to UKRI's Infrastructure Team, collating information from across the programme and ensuring reporting requirements are met in a timely manner.

Access Coordination

• Support the development and monitoring of effective access arrangements across the RICHeS infrastructure.
• Contribute to the implementation and monitoring of RICHeS access initiatives, including the Access Fund.
• Contribute to engagement with relevant national and international research infrastructure partners.

Team and operational leadership

• Line manage the RICHeS Operations officer, providing clear objectives, direction and development opportunities, ensuring that work is prioritised effectively against programme needs.

General

• Work collaboratively as a member of the RICHeS Infrastructure Headquarters team.
• Provide operational support to colleagues and contribute to a positive, inclusive and collaborative working environment.
• Support programme events, meetings, workshops and stakeholder activities as required.

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

Essential:

• Experience of managing and coordinating programmes, projects or operational activities (S&I).
• Experience of managing, supervising or developing colleagues and allocating work to deliver agreed objectives and timescales (S&I).
• Demonstrable experience of building and maintaining effective relationships with a diverse range of internal and external stakeholders (S&I).
• Experience of monitoring progress against plans, milestones and deliverables, and producing clear reports (S&I).
• Experience of maintaining effective programme or operational processes and records with strong attention to detail (S&I).
• Strong IT skills, including experience of working with complex datasets, analysing information and using digital tools to support reporting, monitoring and operational delivery (S&I).
• Strong organisational and analytical skills, with the ability to identify issues and develop practical solutions (S&I).
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate complex information clearly to a diverse audience (S&I).

Please note that this role will require the post holder to be willing to travel and to work away from the office and on occasion outside normal working hours.

Additional Details

Hybrid working

We support a hybrid approach, and you can expect a mix of working from home, the office, and occasionally at other UK locations.

RICHeS IHQ staff will be assigned to Tier 2 meaning a standard expectation of 40–60% onsite attendance (pro-rated against working time). This will come into effect on 1st October 2026.

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)

UKRI is an Equal Opportunity & Disability Confident Employer.

Please apply online with your CV and a covering letter, each no longer than two pages. If you experience any issue applying, please contact [email protected]

About Us

UKRI is an organisation that brings together the seven disciplinary research councils, Research England and Innovate UK. Together, we build an independent organisation with a strong voice and vision ensuring the UK maintains its world-leading position in research and innovation.

Supporting some of the world’s most exciting and challenging research projects, we develop and operate some of the most remarkable scientific facilities in the world. We are pushing the frontiers of human knowledge through fundamental research and delivering benefits for UK society and the economy through world-class research, skills and business-led innovation.

More information can be found at www.ukri.org.

Choosing to come to work at UKRI means that you will have access to a whole host of benefits from a defined benefit pension scheme, excellent holiday entitlement, access to employee shopping/travel discounts and salary sacrifice cycle to work scheme.  For more details, visit benefits of working for UKRI.

How we support EDI in the workforce

At UKRI, we believe that everyone has a right to be treated with dignity and respect, and to be provided with equal opportunities to thrive and succeed in an environment that enables them to do so. We also value diversity of thought and experience within inclusive groups, organisations and the wider community. For further information, please visit ‘How we support EDI in the workforce’.

Disability Confident Employer

As users of the disability confident scheme, any candidate who opts into the scheme and best meets the essential criteria, will be shortlisted for interview. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

How to apply

Online applications only preferred for this role. Please submit a CV and covering letter which clearly outlines how you fulfil the criteria specified along with your motivation for UKRI and the role. Ensure that the job reference number is included in the filename description of each document uploaded. Note that failure to address the above criteria or submit an application without a covering letter may result in the application not being considered.

UKRI seeks to ensure it creates and maintains a system of openness, fairness and inclusion – a collaborative, trusted environment, which is attractive to and accessible to everyone who is interested in developing their career with us.

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 rejected and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.

As part of the pre-employment checks there is a requirement to undergo Baseline Personnel Security Screening. BPSS is a pre-condition of employment and failure to achieve it may mean that the employment offer is rescinded. UKRI reserves the right to run, or re-run, security clearance as required during the course of employment.