Business Support Officer Level 2 (HDRC)
| Posting date: | 26 January 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £26,403 to £28,142 per year, pro rata |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 05 February 2026 |
| Location: | Manchester, Greater Manchester |
| Remote working: | Hybrid - work remotely up to 3 days per week |
| Company: | Manchester City Council |
| Job type: | Contract |
| Job reference: | 5761 |
Summary
Manchester City Council is seeking a Business Support Officer to support the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funded Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) programme in Manchester.
The Business Support Officer will be part of a team of 12 people, with links to the University of Manchester, Neighbourhood services and localities across the city. This role involves providing business support to the team as a whole, helping to organise key activities linked to team priorities and coordinate general requests coming into the team.
The NIHR funds the Health Determinants Research Collaborations (HDRCs) to boost research capacity and capability within local government. HDRCs aim to embed a culture of using evidence to improve decision-making on health and health inequalities. The programme involves local authorities working with university partners to build collaborative infrastructure, combining local government knowledge with academic research skills. At present there are 30 HDRCs across the country.
The mission for HDRC Manchester is "to put communities at the heart of policy". This means:
Local residents are more able to directly influence decisions about their area through greater control and influence over research activities and learning new skills and experience
Improved decision making and impact across the City Council and partner organisations, through officer and member engagement and clear governance arrangements
Investment will turbo-charge what we are already doing so that it becomes more consistent and more impactful
Better, more ‘real life’ research, improving our understanding of the wider determinants of health at a local level
Dissemination of learning through Core Cities, GM, government, academia, VCSEF sector
Sustainable legacy of working in this way beyond the investment
To do this the HDRC Manchester team will focus on the delivery of three main pillars: Culture Change; Research; and Methods.
The team will be embedded within Manchester City Council’s Policy, Performance and Reform (PPR) service. PPR is an outward facing, central function which advises and develops policy, undertakes and collaborates on transformation and reform projects and ensures that MCC is data-driven, and evidence led through robust analysis, research and evaluation. The three constituent teams of PPR (Policy, Performance, Research and Intelligence and Reform and Innovation) work together on shared strategic priorities.
Within PPR, HDRC Manchester will be based in PRI: the centre of excellence for data and insight, reporting to the Head of PRI. It will be a new team focused solely on HDRC priorities but would sit close to business-as-usual (BAU) teams to enable maximum impact on current council approaches and to support knowledge transfer and increasing capability.
The Business Support role will play a key role in ensuring the smooth and efficient delivery of the HDRC programme's mission and objectives.
The role holder will:
act as a key member of the HDRC team providing high quality business support.
provide high quality, customer focused, flexible and timely support thereby contributing to the achievement of objectives of a high quality service.
contribute effectively to the development of business support initiatives and value-added activities to meet the needs of the service.
effectively produce and collate accurate information to support the performance of a high quality service.
Please follow the application link for the full advert and role requirements.
The Business Support Officer will be part of a team of 12 people, with links to the University of Manchester, Neighbourhood services and localities across the city. This role involves providing business support to the team as a whole, helping to organise key activities linked to team priorities and coordinate general requests coming into the team.
The NIHR funds the Health Determinants Research Collaborations (HDRCs) to boost research capacity and capability within local government. HDRCs aim to embed a culture of using evidence to improve decision-making on health and health inequalities. The programme involves local authorities working with university partners to build collaborative infrastructure, combining local government knowledge with academic research skills. At present there are 30 HDRCs across the country.
The mission for HDRC Manchester is "to put communities at the heart of policy". This means:
Local residents are more able to directly influence decisions about their area through greater control and influence over research activities and learning new skills and experience
Improved decision making and impact across the City Council and partner organisations, through officer and member engagement and clear governance arrangements
Investment will turbo-charge what we are already doing so that it becomes more consistent and more impactful
Better, more ‘real life’ research, improving our understanding of the wider determinants of health at a local level
Dissemination of learning through Core Cities, GM, government, academia, VCSEF sector
Sustainable legacy of working in this way beyond the investment
To do this the HDRC Manchester team will focus on the delivery of three main pillars: Culture Change; Research; and Methods.
The team will be embedded within Manchester City Council’s Policy, Performance and Reform (PPR) service. PPR is an outward facing, central function which advises and develops policy, undertakes and collaborates on transformation and reform projects and ensures that MCC is data-driven, and evidence led through robust analysis, research and evaluation. The three constituent teams of PPR (Policy, Performance, Research and Intelligence and Reform and Innovation) work together on shared strategic priorities.
Within PPR, HDRC Manchester will be based in PRI: the centre of excellence for data and insight, reporting to the Head of PRI. It will be a new team focused solely on HDRC priorities but would sit close to business-as-usual (BAU) teams to enable maximum impact on current council approaches and to support knowledge transfer and increasing capability.
The Business Support role will play a key role in ensuring the smooth and efficient delivery of the HDRC programme's mission and objectives.
The role holder will:
act as a key member of the HDRC team providing high quality business support.
provide high quality, customer focused, flexible and timely support thereby contributing to the achievement of objectives of a high quality service.
contribute effectively to the development of business support initiatives and value-added activities to meet the needs of the service.
effectively produce and collate accurate information to support the performance of a high quality service.
Please follow the application link for the full advert and role requirements.
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