Salary: £36,650 per annum
Hours: Full time or part time (minimum 0.8 FTE)
Contract: Open Ended
Location: Polaris House, Swindon (Hybrid working available)
Grade: UKRI Band D
Closing: 15th July 2026 23:59
About AHRC & the Creative Industries Team
The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, supports world‑leading research into human culture and creativity. The Creative Industries (CI) team delivers a portfolio of programmes across the creative sector, including the Creative Industries Clusters, Immersive Arts, AHTV and TV PhD with the Edinburgh TV Foundation and the Creative Industries Policy & Evidence Centre. We work closely with colleagues across AHRC including Infrastructure, International Partnerships and Engagement and Design, Commercialisation and Innovation.
The Creative Industries Clusters bring together universities, businesses and regional partners to drive innovation and R&D‑led economic growth. Following significant investment in both the first and second rounds of Clusters, AHRC is now expanding delivery and support of the growing portfolio.
About the Role
The Investment Manager will provide programme‑wide operational, coordination, and delivery support across the Creative Industries Clusters portfolio. Working closely with a team of Senior Investment Managers (SIMs) who hold strategic responsibility and lead partner relationships, the postholder will take ownership of a range of tasks and processes essential to the smooth running of the programme.
This role will lead on specific operational workstreams such as event coordination, administration, communications support, procurement processes, MEL data coordination, reporting, and risk tracking. The postholder will be a key member of the CI Clusters delivery team, ensuring consistent, high‑quality programme management across a complex and expanding portfolio.
Reports to: Senior Investment Manager (Band E), Creative Industries Clusters.
Main Responsibilities
The postholder will:
- Provide programme‑wide operational support
- Support the effective delivery of the Clusters portfolio by coordinating day‑to‑day processes, documentation, workflow and team operations.
- Maintain trackers, logs, schedules, and programme information to support oversight by SIMs.
- Take forward a defined set of workstreams that underpin smooth delivery across the portfolio, including:
- Event management – planning, logistics, materials, coordination and follow‑up.
- Administration – meeting organisation, inbox management, minutes, scheduling and document handling.
- Communications support – drafting updates, collating content and supporting internal and external communication workflows.
- Procurement and commissioning support – coordinating procurement activity in line with UKRI processes.
- Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) – coordinating data collection and evidence returns; maintaining MEL materials.
- Risk management support – updating risk logs, tracking issues, and raising concerns to SIMs.
- Reporting – gathering portfolio information and preparing summaries for SIM review.
- Support SIM‑led investment and relationship management
- Coordinate operational communication with award teams in support of SIMs who lead senior relationships.
- Prepare briefing materials, meeting notes, and information summaries to support SIM‑level engagement.
- Ensure follow‑up actions from Cluster‑related meetings are tracked and delivered.
- Contribute to wider team activity
- Support cross‑AHRC and cross‑UKRI coordination, including information gathering, meeting preparation, and participating in programme‑wide initiatives.
- Collaborate effectively across AHRC directorates and with external collaborators as required.
- Provide flexible delivery support as the Clusters portfolio evolves.
About You
The ideal candidate will have an enthusiasm for the creative industries and a demonstrable understanding of the research funding landscape. You will be a solution‑oriented and proactive teammate, with experience delivering and managing funding activities in the research and innovation sector, or in a commercial or policy setting (e.g. Government or Civil Service).
Person Specification
- Experience supporting programmes, projects, or portfolios in a complex environment. (S&I)
- Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple tasks and deadlines. (I)
- Excellent communication skills, including the ability to draft clear documentation and coordinate information. (S&I)
- Ability to gather, organise and analyse information to support reporting, risk tracking, and MEL activities. (S&I)
- Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work collectively across teams and with diverse partners. (S&I)
- High attention to detail and a commitment to delivering a high‑quality service. (S&I)
In return, you’ll gain
- In-depth knowledge of the UK and international arts and humanities research landscape, and an understanding of the AHRC’s contribution to it.
- Opportunities to work with colleagues across UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) and other research funding organisations and external organisations.
- Experience in research administration and an understanding of the UK higher education sector, working with the academic community.
- Opportunities to work within particular subject disciplines, and thematic areas of the research that AHRC funds.
- An understanding of the work of the AHRC community and expertise in our thematic research portfolio and priority funding areas.
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