UKRI is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. Operating across the whole of the UK with a combined annual budget in excess of £8 billion, we employ over 7000 staff who support some of the world’s most exciting and challenging research projects, and who operate some of the most remarkable scientific and innovation facilities in the world. UKRI comprises a corporate centre, seven disciplinary research councils (AHRC, BBSRC, EPSRC, ESRC, MRC, NERC, STFC), Research England (which is responsible for supporting research and knowledge exchange at higher education institutions in England), and the UK’s innovation agency Innovate UK.  We work in partnership with universities, research organisations, businesses, charities, and government to create the best possible environment for research and innovation to flourish.  

BBSRC invests in world-leading bioscience research and training on behalf of the UK public, helping society to meet major challenges, such as sustainable food production, climate change, and healthy ageing. Our vision is to advance the frontiers of biology and drive towards a healthy, prosperous and sustainable future. We support research and training in universities and strategically funded institutes, a portfolio of vibrant, dynamic and diverse bioscience national capabilities with deep connections across the research and innovation ecosystem.

BBSRC is now seeking to appoint a new COO to support the Executive Chair, and fellow members of the Executive Leadership Team, to ensure the smooth running of the Council. The new COO will have the opportunity of working with the Executive Chair and across BBSRC to lead and support organisational transformation and its alignment with UKRI transformation.

The successful applicant be able to demonstrate the requisite skills and management experience to provide inspirational and effective operational leadership to BBSRC. They should have experience of delivering transformational change and be able to evidence strategic alignment and optimal service delivery and organisation. The post holder will be a strong strategic and operational manager and will need to be highly credible leader with significant experience of managing operations of comparable scale and complexity to those within BBSRC.

Appointment Process and How to Apply 

We have engaged Perrett Laver to support the recruitment to this post.​ For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Lucy Roper at: Lucy.Roper@perrettlaver.com or + (44) 20 3928 7358. 

Application is by submission of a curriculum vitae and a covering letter of application, addressing the job description and person specification. Completed applications should be uploaded to https://candidates.perrettlaver.com/vacancies/ quoting reference 7555 by the deadline of 11:59pm BST on Sunday 13th October 2024. ​ 

If you require any reasonable adjustments to assist you in the selection process, please advise us of these so that we can make appropriate arrangements.​

If you would like us to make adjustments during the application process, please contact Esther Elbro at the following email address: Esther.Elbro@perrettlaver.com. If you have comments that would support us to improve access to documentation, or our application process more generally, please do not hesitate to contact us via the following email address: accessibility@perrettlaver.com.

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