Job Purpose
The primary role of the Innovation Advisor is to undertake and support the delivery of Hethel Innovation’s business and innovation support offer. Hethel Innovation is an economic development company first and foremost. The Innovation Team’s role at Hethel Innovation is to provide a variety of support services to businesses in the region.
Our team delivers activity that supports innovation. We are leading providers of clusters and industry networks, developing innovation platforms (groups of stakeholders from industry, research and public sector backgrounds who come together to solve a challenge), as well as directly supporting organisations on a 1-2-1 basis through a suite of consultancy activity.
This is an opportunity for a high caliber, experienced professional to contribute to our vision of being the driving force for SME innovation. You will have experience in the manufacturing and engineering sector and/or clean tech, being well-versed with the set up and challenges faced by businesses in this industry.
You will be a proactive, ambitious, and creative individual who is excited to speak to scaling businesses based on our sites and in our wider network, with the aim to support their growth. The activity that you deliver will enable businesses to develop new products and services and create a local environment that supports innovation.
This role will be a central contact for businesses across our sites to access business support services, with a specific focus on engineering and clean-tech innovation.
You will be expected to identify further innovation platforms that could support the development of other innovative industries that support local economic development.
Responsibilities
Business support activity and consultancy that you will deliver to businesses will include (but not be limited to):
* Consultancy and project management
* Business strategy creation delivered on a 1-2-1 basis
* Facilitating workshops and meetings for innovation platforms
* Delivering training courses
* Signposting to additional resources including funding
You must be able to confidently communicate the support that you, and our team, can deliver for a business, engaging in sometimes challenging conversations with potential customers to help identify barriers they are facing that we can help them to overcome. You will then be involved in the delivery of the support for the businesses so need to be confident and passionate about helping businesses to succeed using your own knowledge and the tools developed by Hethel Innovation.
Context
Hethel Innovation is a business support organisation. We facilitate economic growth through our three offerings: space to grow, business insight and connected communities. We provide businesses ‘Space to grow’ through our three sites: Hethel Engineering Centre, Scottow Enterprise Park, and Broadland Food Innovation Centre. These sites provide business space including workshops, offices, hot desks and more. We provide ‘Business Insight’ through the support services offered by the Innovation team, of which the Innovation Advisors play a key role. Connected Communities is also delivered through our Innovation team, bringing our communities closer together through events and connections.
Hethel Innovation is an Agile company, and all departments use Scrum approaches in their work, aiming to improve, develop and deliver in a collaborative and iterative fashion.
Hethel Innovation is wholly owned by Norfolk County Council and its board consists of both council members and industry experts. Hethel Innovation’s role, as instructed by the council, is to provide economic development in the region.
Other Job Information
You will be expected to travel to meetings and events as required. It is likely that this will be a frequent occurrence. You will need a clean driver’s license and access to your own car.
Some flexibility on hours will be required due to training and activities that may need to take place outside of usual operating hours.
The role holder will be expected to on occasion support the sites with operational duties.
Principal Duties
* Support businesses 1-2-1 through mentoring and advice utilising your knowledge of the business startup and scale-up landscape. Acting as an “honest broker,” connecting businesses with those in the ecosystem who could support their growth.
* Generating new consultancy leads with businesses that you will deliver support to.
* Deliver and facilitate interactive workshops and Hethel Innovation Design Sprints, supporting our clients to develop their business strategies, company structures, project management styles, leadership capabilities and marketing and branding strategies.
* Signpost to additional resources.
* Regularly meet with Hethel Innovation members across all sites as required to discuss any support or tenancy needs.
* Bring in and deliver support to business leads in the region and beyond.
* Identify industry challenges from a variety of sectors to set up new innovation platforms and special interest groups. A clear plan for funding must be developed for each new platform developed.
* Be responsible for securing income for the Innovation Team.
* Supporting the Head of Innovation on consultancy projects with organisations creating their own business innovation sites.
Hethel Innovation’s network
* Represent Hethel Innovation and the region on a national and international scale at events and meetings, developing relationships with key partners in our region.
* Engage with local stakeholders including education establishments, think tanks, local councils, and other government bodies.
KPIs
* Sales and support delivery targets will be set for Advisors to bring income into the department though the sales of support projects or by securing grant funding for projects.
* Advisors will also contribute to the department’s KRAs and KPIs set out in the Innovation Team Strategy.
* Cluster related activity delivery targets will be set for Advisors.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential
* Bachelor’s degree – business related or relevant engineering/manufacturing industry experience
Desirable
* Sales training
* Business qualifications
* Marketing qualifications
* Engineering or science degree or equivalent qualification
Experience
Essential
* Running and facilitating large meetings and groups
* Project management experience, working closely with a set of targets and objectives and delivering them on time.
* Sales and/or customer experience
Desirable
* Experience in previous roles that support sustainability and clean tech innovations
* Experience running cluster networks or special interest groups
* Coaching or consultancy experience
* Agile / Scrum experience
* Experience coaching and/or mentoring
* Experience in previous roles in advanced manufacturing and engineering
Skills/Knowledge
Essential
* Extensive knowledge of SME growth strategies and the ability to advice and support SMEs.
* Self-motivated and result driven, with a focus on delivering high-quality work.
* Capable of working independently, creating a pipeline of tasks that will allow you to reach your overarching objectives.
* Being comfortable and confident leading events and chairing meetings, providing high quality presentations, and training.
* Interest in business strategy and business growth.
Desirable
* Design thinking and the Lean Start up Method.
* Knowledge of Agile Project Management and how it applies to businesses.
* An interest in entrepreneurship and innovation.
* Understanding of business clusters and their development.
* Good awareness of funding options available to businesses.
* Interest in advanced manufacturing and engineering and able to hold technical conversations with businesses from these backgrounds
* Interest in sustainability.
Behaviours
* Proactive.
* Takes ownership.
* Transparent.
* Communicative
* Takes pride in their work and strives for excellence.
* Honesty and integrity.
* Reliable and flexible.
* Willing to experiment and test new ideas.
* Having the courage to lead by example and be open to change.
General Information
* The job description details the main outcomes of the job and will be updated if these outcomes change.
* All work performed/duties undertaken must be carried out in accordance with relevant HIL policies and procedures, within legislation, and with regard to the needs of our customers and the diverse community we serve.
* Job holders will be expected to understand what is meant by safeguarding vulnerable groups (children, young people, and adults) and how to raise concerns.
* Job holders will be expected to be flexible in their duties and carry out any other duties commensurate with the grade and falling within the general scope of the job, as requested by management.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: £35,000.00-£38,000.00 per year
Benefits:
* Company events
* Company pension
* On-site parking
* Paid volunteer time
* Private medical insurance
Schedule:
* Monday to Friday
Work Location: In person
Reference ID: Innovation Oct 2024
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