Senior Innovation Partnership Manager

About the Role

We seek a Senior Innovation Partnership Manager to join the University and support delivery of the University Innovation Strategy. Working closely with the College of Science and Engineering (COSE), and across the University, this role will play a key leadership role to the University and its ambition to grow the value of its engagements with its partners, and to build new meaningful relationships with industry, the public sector and innovation organisations. The role will sit within the Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Engagement Directorate, specifically within the Innovation Partnerships Team, and will work closely with the Economic Development Team.

The Innovation Partnerships team was established to grow the value of university engagement with public, private and industrial sectors. It will achieve this by establishing University approaches to building and sustaining strategically valuable partnerships, ensuring these are mutually beneficial and by working closely with academics to develop a network of innovation connections and opportunities of interest to the University. Working with the Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Engagement Directorate the role will support the University to proactively pursue major collaboration opportunities, and support the University to respond to regional, national or global funding opportunities.

Aligned with the University’s strategic ambition to grow its critical enabling technology (photonics, quantum, semiconductor, communications) capability and capacity, this role will work closely with COSE academics and college teams to increase meaningful relationships, engagements and opportunities aligned with these technology areas and the sectors or markets where they contribute. e.g. space, healthcare, 5G/6G, adv manufacturing.

Success for the role will include growth in meaningful strategic relationships, particularly with industry, and an increase in funding to the University from increasing its engagements and collaborations. As part of the central team the role will also work across all colleges to expand COSE relationship or collaboration opportunities and include providing leadership and guidance to grow the University portfolio with Innovate UK, KTPs and other collaborative engagement mechanisms.

The Senior Partnership Manager will contribute to innovation strategy targets, specifically growth in new/additional industrial/commercial income.

The role will complement and provide leadership support to existing industry engagement teams. An operational model for central and college teams – particularly where colleges have existing or growing engagement teams – is under development, as are the definitions of strategic partnerships and processes related to strategic initiatives.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

1. Support the University and COSE to deliver the Innovation Strategy, in particular the ambition to scale and strengthen its partnership working and to increase the value of its innovation engagements.

2. Support COSE with the design and delivery of an industry engagement strategy/plan, identifying key engagement priorities for the college, and working with external organisations to connect opportunities to scale collaboration or engagement. This will involve providing support to the COSE Industry and Impact teams to deliver college ambitions, create value propositions targeting key sectors or partners of interest, and co-ordinate a cohesive engagement interface within the external organisations and partners.

3. Support the development and delivery of corporate strategic partnerships where there is particular alignment to the College of Science and Engineering and strengthen existing COSE strategic partnerships.

4. Develop new partnership opportunities for the College of Science and Engineering and where these have potential to be broader than one college e.g. there is potential across other colleges, and where these are considered institutionally to be valuable relationships.

5. Working with the Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Engagement Directorate (IEED) the role will support the University to proactively pursue major collaboration opportunities, and support the University to respond to regional, national or global funding opportunities.

6. Provide leadership and advice to COSE College Management, academics, and researchers in relation to strategic partnerships, building industrial collaborations, and supporting identification of opportunities to broaden or deepen engagements for mutual benefit.

7. Working with a team of Senior Partnership managers, and engagement teams across the institution, to develop cross-institution professional engagement practices and systems. This will include consideration of business engagement systems such as CRM.

8. To work with professional service teams - including Research Services - to build institutional capacity and capability to grow University/COSE portfolio of Innovate UK, KTP and other industry engagement mechanisms.

9. Develop and nurture external networks (industry, government, RTOs) and bring insight into the University to support University/College/Academic developments.

10. To support marketing, communications, and events in support of celebrating the University Innovation achievements, its partnerships, and its partnership successes.

11. To identify improvement opportunities to support better engagement with industry partners, including communication and the timely sharing of new opportunities.

12. Support the introduction and development of strategic road-mapping.

Knowledge, Qualifications, Skills, and Experience

Knowledge/Qualifications 

Essential:

A1 Ability to demonstrate the competencies required to undertake the duties associated with this level of post having acquired the necessary professional knowledge and management skills in a similar or number of different specialist roles. Scottish Credit Qualification Framework level 9, 10, 11. Higher Degree in a relevant discipline or substantial vocational and relevant experience demonstrating management skills and knowledge in an appropriate professional / specialist area.

Desirable:

B1 Understanding of strategic academic industrial partnerships and collaborations.

B2 Awareness of mechanisms to support industrial-academic collaboration, including the research and innovation funding landscape, and experience converting proposals into funded programmes or projects (with particular interest to major proposals/proposals of scale).

B3 Good awareness of the UK funding landscape and the UK/Scottish innovation eco-system.

Skills 

Essential:

C1 Significant proven ability to develop and maintain relations with existing partners / stakeholders/industry at a senior level and to identify and target new collaborators/ partners.

C2 Proven ability to build consortia and collaborations targeting funding opportunities, or to address a strategic industrial/economic need or opportunity.

C3 Tact and diplomacy when dealing with sensitive and confidential information, and ability to work well under pressure.

C4 Ability to remain positive, confident, tenacious, and intellectually curious.

C5 Proven ability and interest to translate academic research to meet industrial/business challenges, and vice versa.

C6 Dynamic and creative with ability to spot, create and seize development opportunities and realise these through to workable solutions.

C7 Strategic thinker with ability to plan long term strategic priorities whilst managing short term operational pressures.

C8 Excellent organisational skills, project management and reporting ability.

C9 Clear and confident communicator in written and audio/visual formats.

C10 Ability to explain technical concepts and technologies to non-technical and technical members internally and externally.

C11 Capable of understanding and creating commercial proposals and / or business propositions and being able to offer constructive comments and feedback.

C12 Ability to create or advise on the creation of marketing or communication materials to engage with industry partners or external organisations (understanding the important language differences or understandings for communicating across different communities).

Desirable:

D1 Strong account management skills to identify cross-selling and up-selling opportunities.

D2 Ability to negotiate contracts or complex collaboration agreements to a successful solution.

Experience

Essential:

E1 Significant experience of developing strong strategic relationships with external business partners and converting these into programmes.

E2 Track record of influencing and negotiating at senior levels in the public and/or private sector towards the successful delivery of organisational objectives.

E3 Significant experience of developing value propositions which balance the needs and requirements of both internal management and stakeholders, and external partners and stakeholders.

E4 Track record of developing and delivering innovative solutions to business engagement in collaborative projects.

E5 Experience of working in a large and complex organisational environment.

E6 Experience of leading teams containing senior stakeholders and driving strategy in a research, innovation or technology environment.

Terms and Conditions

Salary will be Grade 8, £48,350 - £56,021 per annum.

This post is full time (35 hours p/w) and open ended. Relocation assistance will be provided where appropriate.

The University of Glasgow has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.  If you require a Skilled Worker visa to work in the UK, you will be required to meet the eligibility requirements of the visa route to be assigned a Certificate of Sponsorship.

Please note that this post may be eligible to be sponsored under the Skilled Worker visa route if tradeable points can be used under the Skilled Worker visa rules. For more information please visit:https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa .

As part of Team UofG you will be a member of a world changing, inclusive community, which values ambition, excellence, integrity and curiosity.

As a valued member of our team, you can expect:

1 A warm welcoming and engaging organisational culture, where your talents are developed and nurtured, and success is celebrated and shared.

2 An excellent employment package with generous terms and conditions including 41 days of leave for full time staff, pension - pensions handbook https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/payandpensions/pensions/, benefits and discount packages.

3 A flexible approach to working.

4 A commitment to support your health and wellbeing, including a free 6-month UofG Sport membership for all new staff joining the University  https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/staff/healthwellbeing/.

We believe that we can only reach our full potential through the talents of all. Equality, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of our values. Applications are particularly welcome from across our communities and in particular people from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community, and other protected characteristics who are under-represented within the University. Read more on how the University promotes and embeds all aspects of equality and diversity within our community https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/humanresources/equalitydiversity/.

We endorse the principles of Athena Swan https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/humanresources/equalitydiversity/athenaswan/ and hold bronze, silver and gold awards across the University.

We are investing in our organisation, and we will invest in you too. Please visit our website https://www.gla.ac.uk/explore/jobs/ for more information.