Deputy Director - Governance and Assurance

Deputy Director - Governance and Assurance page is loaded Deputy Director - Governance and Assurance Apply locations Swindon time type Full time posted on Posted Yesterday time left to apply End Date: September 8, 2025 (15 days left to apply) job requisition id JR4210 Innovate UK has the following secondment opportunity available for employees of Innovate UK Business Connect:

Applications must be submitted by

08-09-2025 Vacancy for Deputy Director Governance and Assurance

Reporting to the Executive Director Strategy and Performance, the Deputy Director Governance and Assurance plays a vital role in enabling Innovate UK to deliver on an ambitious programme of business innovation support. Innovate UK deliver funding and support to help businesses, universities and innovation ecosystem partners through a range of products and services through the UK and internationally.

Please note this advert will close on the 7th September 2025 at 23.59pm.

Watch our video "Why Join Innovate UK?" here .

Title: Deputy Director Governance and Assurance

Band: UKRI Band H (UKRI Ts & Cs)

Salary: £84,001 gross per annum

Reports to: Executive Director Strategy and Performance

Location: Swindon (Hybrid Working)

Contract: Permanent

Innovate UK recognises the importance of work-life balance and we will be happy to discuss any requests for flexible working arrangements.

Job Purpose:

Reporting to the Executive Director Strategy and Performance, the Deputy Director Governance and Assurance plays a vital role in enabling Innovate UK to deliver on an ambitious programme of business innovation support. Innovate UK deliver funding and support to help businesses, universities and innovation ecosystem partners through a range of products and services through the UK and internationally.

Innovate UK embraces effective controls and risk management and the Deputy Director is responsible for design and implementation of effective governance, risk management, assurance, and compliance across the organisation. This includes design and delivery of an effective control framework and accounting officer advice to the CEO.

The post holder will champion good governance and decision-making throughout the organisation, as Chair of relevant governance and assurance meetings and as direct liaison with operational, policy and programme delivery groups throughout Innovate UK to ensure understanding and compliance with the internal control framework and legislation such as Subsidy. The post holder is responsible for the oversight, reporting and effective delivery of the financial assurance over grant claims, working with UK Research and Innovation central assurance teams, and will be a key leader of programme activity to drive further development of strategic decision-making and operational delivery for Innovate UK .

The team is responsible for effective design and delivery of a robust information management, data governance and information assurance framework within Innovate UK.

The role will also include supporting the secretariat to the Board of IUKL, its audit and risk committee and its advisory structures, proactively setting and driving the agenda across these structures and tying these into Innovate UK's governance.

The post holder will directly advise the Innovate UK's Executive Chair on matters relating to assurance and risk and has two direct reports.

We particularly welcome female applicants as women are under-represented within Innovate UK in this type of role.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities:

• Overall accountability for effective development and implementation of a robust control framework throughout Innovate UK, which is proportionate and effective (in both design and operational effectiveness), in compliance with governance rules
• Accountable for the development, implementation, and maintenance of an effective Scheme of Delegation for the organisation
• Oversight of risk for Innovate UK, ensuring the first line of defence activity identifies, mitigates, and monitors risks across its business
• Policy and Governance owner for Innovate UK, representing the needs and obligations of the organisation and ensuring effective communications with the organisation at all levels, suppliers, and customers.
• Responsible for the Innovate UK Subsidy team and the advice they give across UKRI, providing top cover and support for the Subject Matter Experts within the team to facilitate the implementation and adherence to Subsidy rules across UKRI
• Responsible for the Innovate UK Assurance, including, but not limited to funding assurance, contract management and data handling providing leadership and top cover ensuring effective reporting and communication.
• Responsible for the Information Management team and organisational compliance with data / privacy legislation.
• Subject matter expert member or representative on IUK and UKRI working groups, project, programme, and governance boards, attending IUK Council, IUK Loan groups as appropriate.
• Provide leadership in innovating Innovate UK , including leading on and partaking in specialist projects, conducting horizon scanning activities and identification of best practice.
• Ensure stakeholders are appropriately consulted, informed, and engaged, including Domain and Challenge Directors and Deputy Director stakeholders within IUK.
• Ensure high quality internal and external customer service is achieved and maintained, with including the handling complex casework.
• The post holder is accountable to ensure that all audit actions are addressed and implemented on a timely basis.
• Line management of2 staff, responsible for building engaged and high performing teams and ensuring staff have sustainable workloads. Ensure teams have the skills, training, development and support they need.
• Be a strong advocate of the core values of UKRI and Innovate UK, contribute to UKRI's overall strategy for Governance, Risk Fraud, Information Management & Compliance.
• Keeping abreast with new legal and regulatory developments, assisting with the implementation of these. Ensure the recommendations and control framework
• Leading a culture of continuous improvement that is proportionate, effective, compliant, and appropriate to the business needs, which supports a thriving workforce.
• Coordinate and influence delivery by staff across IUK.
• Deputise for the Executive Director Strategy and Performance.

This is not an exhaustive list and you might be encouraged to undertake any other duties across the wider directorate, commensurate with the Band and level of responsibility of this post, for which the post holder has the key experience and/or training.

Shortlisting criteria

(S) - Assessed at shortlisting

(I) - Assessed at interview

(S&I) - Assessed at both shortlisting and interview

Person Specification:

Experience & Qualifications:

Essential -

• Degree level qualification or equivalent management experience (S).
• Experience managing governance, compliance or other professional functions (S&I)
• Ability to lead, motivate and develop direct reports, and their teams, including during change (S&I)
• Proven ability to build effective working relationships with stakeholders at all levels of the organisation (S&I)
• Track record in developing, delivering and continuously improving processes (S&I)
• Stakeholder identification and management, including regular, appropriate and timely communications (I)
• Highly self-motivated and able to lead on own initiative with experience of working as a member of a high-level team. (S&I)
• Ability to prioritise & resolve conflicting priorities at pace. (I)
• Proven ability to deliver process improvements which raise productivity within the organisation (S&I)

Desirable -

• Experience in a financial services or similarly regulated environment (S&I)
• Experience and/or understanding of public sector procurement rules and frameworks (S&I)
• Experience with working on complex administrative processes, (S&I)
• Experience of working in a complex and changing environment (I)
• Leadership of multi-disciplined teams, both internal and third party, to achieve SLAs to schedule, to budget and to the required quality (S&I)
• Ability to influence and collaborate to achieve business objectives (I)

Skills:

• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
• Personal resilience
• Ability to problem-solve
• Ability to get things done - being solution focussed with a collaborative style
• Planning and scheduling skills
• Accuracy and attention to detail
• Self-awareness and a high level of professionalism
• Patience and self-motivation
• Strong organisational and time management skills
• A robust and flexible approach with the ability to thrive in a changing environment

Competencies:

All team members demonstrate compatibility with and capability against our Core Competencies such as:

Thinking and Problem Solving - Stakeholder management - Communication skills - Influencing - Self-awareness/self-management - Strategic awareness - Working with others- Project management

Some of the above competencies will be assessed at interview stage, in addition to the criteria's listed in the person specification.

Travel Requirements:
. click apply for full job details