Visa Operations Administrator

Job summary

UKRI
Salary: £25,842 per annum.
Band: UKRI Band B.
Contract Type: Fixed Term (12 months).
Hours: Full-time/ Part Time (minimum 0.8 FTE) (flexible working available).
Location: Polaris House, Swindon, Wiltshire - Hybrid working available.

Closing Date: Sunday 16th August 2026.

Job description

About the role

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is an independent, non-departmental public body, which invests over £6bn per annum in research and innovation. The postholder will work within UKRI Funding Services, covering Visa operations (such as Global Talent Visa and Government Authorised Exchange) and other funding administration tasks. UKRI Funding Services is a dynamic large team that promote coworking, discussion and collaboration to successfully manage awards on behalf of UKRI.

As a UKRI Visa Operations administrator, you will be responsible for administering visa activities that are delivered by the team on behalf of the Research Councils. This includes managing administrative workloads such as:

• Checking applicant eligibility criteria against immigration rules.
• Maintaining accurate, auditable records suitable for reporting.
• Management of mailbox, responding promptly and professionally to emails.
• Checking of grants and awards for suitability.
• Processing of Contact accounts records.
• Data Integrity Management.
• Administrative checks.

The post holder will be expected to learn and apply Global Talent Visa and Government Authorised Exchanged visa knowledge and expertise to facilitate the accurate and effective management of the application process, liaising with partners / customers as required and collaborating with colleagues across UKRI at all levels to provide a professional and proficient service and maximise customer satisfaction.

Activities will depend upon the area that the job holder occupies as agreed with line management, and the role will be supplemented by a number of SMART objectives.

Your responsibilities:

The role requires managing the administration of a number of tasks within the UKRI Funding Services team. The Postholder will be responsible for:

• Administering the GTV and GAE application process, ensuring compliance with Home Office regulations and maintaining the SLA requirements.
• Applying knowledge, skills and expertise to support and have input into UKRI Visa infrastructure.
• Providing clear and concise advice to queries/questions from a variety of collaborators at all levels, including the external community maintaining positive relationships.
• Providing training and support to other members of the team, building, and maintaining positive relationships.
• Embracing changes based upon regulatory or policy requirements e.g., a change to the system, updates from business rules, process changes due to continuous improvement initiatives.
• Ensuring the management of data is compliant with GDPR principles.
• Processing Contact account records, and Data Integrity Management.
• Meeting support, such as arranging meetings, booking meeting rooms and writing up meeting notes.

Person specification

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

Essential

• GCSE level or above / relevant experience (S).
• Knowledge of what is required to work in a high volume, transactional and supporting organisation or a similar role. (S).
• Experience of working as part of a team (S&I).
• Demonstrable ability to work to agreed targets and deadlines. (S&I).
• The ability to coach and provide support for less experienced staff (S&I).
• Effective organisation and planning skills, including the ability to prioritise and manage complex activities and a varied workload (including conflicting demands) (S&I).
• Good IT skills including experience of using Microsoft Office packages: Excel, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and an ability to learn new systems (S).

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £25,842, UK Research and Innovation contributes £7,486 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

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)

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

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 withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

UKRI is an Equal Opportunity & Disability Confident Employer.

Please apply online, if you experience any issue applying, please contact [email removed]

We encourage candidates to apply as soon as possible, as we reserve the right to close this vacancy early.

As this job does not fulfil the UK Government minimum criterion for obtaining sponsored migrant worker status, we will be unable to apply for sponsorship for anyone not eligible to work in the UK. At interview, all shortlisted candidates are required to bring with them identification documents and original documents that prove they hold or can obtain the right to work in the UK. You can check your eligibility here: https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa/y

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK