Role and Context
Salary Range
£40,000 - £45,000 depending on experience
Site
Hethel Engineering Centre, Scottow Enterprise Park, Broadland Food Innovation Centre, and any other HIL run site where the team works.
Job Purpose
Hethel Innovation is looking for an Innovation Manager to lead the Innovation Team in all day-to-day operations, delivering support contracts, engaging with tenants and supporting the Head of Innovation with the company’s business support and innovation strategy.
The right candidate will be driven to support businesses to grow through the application of innovative support methods and not afraid to create new delivery plans, strategies and projects that ultimately support businesses in our network. They will be part of a small high performing team with a proactive attitude to problem solving and a desire to support businesses, continuously improving our approach to service delivery.
In return for your commitment, and drive, you will receive the following:
1. Competitive salary.
2. 26 days annual leave (excluding bank holidays).
3. Company pension scheme – in line with auto enrolment.
4. Career progression and personal development opportunities.
5. Being part of a ‘team’ as opposed to just being a number.
Why Hethel Innovation
Our company is built by staff who have a shared ambition – to be a game changer for business. Every single person employed by Hethel Innovation has a direct impact on allowing us to deliver our vision to be the driving force for SME innovation. Our team makes things happen.
We are open – we are approachable and flexible, working together with compassion, transparency, and respect.
We are bold – we take ownership, are proactive, are passionate. We are fearless in our thinking, actions, and approach.
We see beyond – we care about development, inclusion, and collaboration. We are creative and curious, focusing on the future.
We are excited by making a difference to businesses – whether that is through the business communities we curate, the support and advice or connections we provide, or the high-quality space we manage and operate at our growing network of innovation sites.
We are in a really exciting period of growth. Our 5-year strategy sets out the roadmap for this growth and our ambition to have a great impact on businesses and supporting their success.
We’re inclusive and want our teams to be made up of people from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. If you think that you have the mindset, skills, and motivations to be a central part of delivering on our strategy, we would love to speak to you.
About You
* You want to be part of a small high performing team.
* You are curious, you love to learn and have a real interest in business growth.
* You are ready to think outside the box, problem solving is exciting for you and you relish the opportunity to develop solutions to overcome challenges.
* You are comfortable with the uncomfortable – you stand your ground in high pressure situations and communicate clearly.
* You see beyond the challenge in front of you.
* You make things happen – you identify opportunities and act on them.
* You aren’t scared of failure but see it as a learning opportunity and have actively changed your approach to situations from previous experience.
* You are independent and autonomous. You have the confidence and skill to develop your own pipeline of projects and manage your workload effectively.
* Asking for help doesn’t scare you. You are able to pick up new projects and develop them on your own and able to identify when you need additional support and actively seek it.
* You celebrate the success of others. A win for those you are supporting (either business clients or your team), is a win for you.
* You love to engage with others, collaborating with multiple stakeholders on projects.
* You perform at your best when you are managing multiple projects at one time.
* You are motivated by meeting commercial goals and enjoy proactively planning how to meet them.
Principal Duties
* Line manage a team of Innovation Advisors who deliver innovation support to businesses in our network, supporting the team in their roles and enabling their professional development.
* Line manage Marketing Lead and Events and Marketing Coordinator who deliver the Marketing Strategy and community engagement calendar across the business, supporting their roles and enabling their professional development.
* Contract manage large support contracts, being the central contact with customers and ensuring that we deliver all aspects of the contract.
* Take on relationship management responsibilities for key stakeholders in our region and sector to identify opportunities for growth and new revenue streams.
* Work with the Head of Innovation to deliver consultancy contracts with public sector clients.
* Provide insight to customers on how innovation sites operate and how they can provide economic development impacts to local regions.
* Manage the Innovation Team budget, creating sales strategies with the Sales team to ensure revenue targets are met.
* Identify new funding streams and support with the writing of commercial tenders for new contracts, as well as bidding for grant funding.
* Secure new funding for projects and manage their delivery.
* Develop the programme of support that fits under Hethel Innovation’s support model, working with advisors to develop new training, tools and methods for supporting businesses.
Responsibilities
* Work to high standards to ensure the delivery of our innovation support service to the satisfaction of your line manager.
* Complete work to a high standard and to set timescales.
* Work collaboratively and in partnership with outside partners to achieve planned outcomes.
* Communicate across teams as required, working collaboratively with Sales, Site Teams and Finance.
* Oversee all support contracts in progress, managing performance against targets and being the point of contact for customers.
* Maintain effective working relationships with HIL teams and clients.
* Work to agreed project plans including scope, milestones, and deadlines.
* Report to Line Manager and HIL Senior Leadership Team on the performance of the Innovation Team as required.
* Carry out other duties appropriate to the nature and grade of the post, as directed by the line manager.
Other Job Information
* Must have own vehicle and drivers’ license as travel between sites may be required.
* Some flexibility on working hours is required.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Desirable
* Business qualifications
* Project management
Experience and Skills
Essential
* An interest in entrepreneurship and innovation.
* Experience taking projects from start to completion, identifying and solving problems with delivery of contracts or projects.
* Experience dealing directly with fund providers and contract managers, communicating progress and challenges with solutions.
* Experience taking the lead with responsibilities and thinking strategically, unprompted, taking initiative to develop new projects or revenue streams and designing a delivery plan.
* Experience of developing new ideas and strategies.
* Experience coordinating multiple stakeholders to deliver against project objectives.
* Effective interpersonal communication skills with a variety of stakeholders.
* A customer service mindset.
* A systematic and methodical approach.
* A proactive approach to problem solving.
Desirable
* Willingness to undertake continued professional development.
* Experience in a similar role.
* Experience managing budgets.
* Experience line managing teams.
* Experience of delivering advice and consultancy and communicating well with clients.
* Understanding of business clusters and their development.
* Good awareness of funding options available to businesses.
* Understanding of regional economic development.
* Experience writing reports and research papers.
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 about 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.
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