Innovation Development Manager

Role: Innovation Development Manager (TalEntEd Islands - Innovation & Commercialisation Programme)

Grade and Salary: Grade 7, £37,174 - £46,735 per annum

FTE and working pattern: 1 FTE, 35hrs per week, Monday – Friday

Contract: Fixed-term, 48 months

Holiday Entitlement: 33 days annual leave plus 9 buildings closed days (and Christmas Eve when it falls on a weekday)

About the Project

The Islands Growth Deal aims to drive economic growth, commercial opportunities and sustainable job creation across Shetland, Orkney and the Outer Hebrides, which jointly present opportunities, assets and demographic challenges. The Deal is a 10-year package of investment of £100m, with the Scottish and UK Governments each investing £50m, subject to approval of project business cases. Through collaboration with the public, private and academic sectors, an additional £293m in further funding is sought to facilitate the delivery of projects. Within the Deal there are three innovation focused themes of a low carbon future, growth and future industries, and sustainable communities. These are all aligned with the ambition to support the islands to be among the first places in the UK to achieve net zero.

The TalEntEd Islands Programme is a funded project within the Deal and comprises work packages that aim to increase opportunities for work-based learning, led by the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI); develop an entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial ecosystem, led by Robert Gordon University (RGU); and increase opportunities for proof-of-concept and commercialisation, led by Heriot-Watt University. Within the work package led by Heriot-Watt (Work Package 3), a key intervention is the award of innovation grants that provide support from the early scoping of emerging technologies, products and processes through to prototyping and piloting. The management of the award of this funding and its outputs, and the opportunity it will present for leveraging additional funding into Shetland, Orkney and the Outer Hebrides, will be a primary responsibility of the project’s Innovation Development Manager.

Purpose of Role

We are seeking an Innovation Development Manager to join the University’s Business & Enterprise team. Based in Orkney, this role will focus on delivering an innovation and commercialisation programme across Shetland, Orkney and the Outer Hebrides as part of the TalEntEd Islands Programme. TalEntEd, which is a collaboration between Heriot-Watt University, Robert Gordon University and the University of the Highlands and Islands, is funded from the Islands Growth Deal, which is a 10-year package of Scottish and UK Government investment aimed at driving economic growth, commercial opportunities and sustainable job creation, aligned with the aforementioned islands’ ambition to decarbonise.

The successful candidate will be responsible for growing a pipeline of innovation opportunities across the islands, managing innovation grants and fostering collaboration between industry, third sector organisations and the collaborating universities. A key responsibility will be identifying leveraged funding and creating long-term value.

This is an exciting and challenging opportunity for applicants with experience in project development and management, gained in an innovation-centred setting, to create economic, environmental and social value in an island’s context.

Key Duties & Responsibilities

Networking and Communication

• Promote Work Package 3 (WP3) across Shetland, Orkney and the Outer Hebrides through multiple channels, including visits to businesses and third sector organisations to develop an understanding of innovation grants and their purpose, and the wider support available within WP3.
• Connect companies and third sector organisations with academic colleagues at Heriot-Watt, RGU or UHI and facilitate discussion on opportunity for collaboration on a project, which could be potentially supported by an innovation grant.
• Advise potential applicants on alignment of a proposed project with the funding available within WP3 and decide on whether an application is within the scope of the work package

Innovation Grant Applications and Awards

• Working with applicants, support the completion of innovation grant application forms along with colleagues from RGU and UHI, when involved in a project.
• Provide support for the work of the WP3 Industry Advisory Board, including its review of applications for innovation grant awards, the recording of discussion and its decisions on whether to award funding.
• Manage the process of award of an innovation grant, after a decision of the Industry Advisory Board to award funding, including the drawdown of funds by the company or third sector organisation and payment to the collaborating university (Heriot-Watt, RGU or UHI).
• Identify opportunities to scale emerging innovation grant applications by leveraging funding and developing collaborative opportunities, including through dialogue with members of the IAB.

Outcomes and Follow-on 

• Support the reporting of outcomes including the economic, social and environmental impact from the grant intervention, working with external economic impact advisors.
• Identify opportunities, investment and potential markets to continue building upon and maximising the long-term value from emerging innovations.
• Support continued and identify new opportunities for collaboration across Shetland, Orkney and the Outer Hebrides and the university parties engaged in WP3.
• Support the establishment of a legacy where companies and third sector organisations are better informed on innovation pathways and sources of sector level support, including collaboration with the higher education sector.

Project Management Office and Strategic Alignment

• Establish a good working relationship with the Programme Management Office.
• Support financial claims and reporting to the Programme Management Office, and input on any requirement to reprofile the WP3 budget.
• Ensure that all work undertaken in the role is aligned with the strategic ambition of WP3 and its KPIs, and that of the TalEntEd Islands Programme and broader Islands Growth Deal.

Systems Support

• Undertake project costings using Worktribe and optimise the use of Salesforce in support of WP3 outcomes.

Essential & Desirable Criteria

Essential

1. Good first degree
2. Project development and management experience, gained in an innovation-centred environment
3. Experience of financial management and reporting, writing grant funding proposals and project business planning
4. Experience in the commercial and third sectors preferably in either of, or across, Shetland, Orkney and the Outer Hebrides
5. Excellent communication, influencing and interpersonal skills across different stakeholder types
6. Ability to understand complex ideas and articulate them as a coherent value proposition
7. Ability to negotiate and sell opportunities 
8. Ability to set and meet objectives and deadlines 
9. Ability to plan workload and prioritise effectively 
10. Flexibility and resilience
11. Strong attention to detail 
12. Ability to work within a fast-changing innovation environment 
13. Strong public speaker 
14. Ability to provide written reports to a high standard 
15. Experience with software applications necessary to achieve success in the role 

How to Apply

Applications can be submitted up to midnight (UK time) on Thursday 24th April 2025.

Please submit your CV and covering letter detailing why you are a good fit for the role via the Heriot-Watt on-line recruitment.

We welcome and will consider flexible working patterns e.g., part-time working and job share options.

Heriot-Watt University is committed to securing equality of opportunity in employment and to the creation of an environment in which individuals are selected, trained, promoted, appraised, and otherwise treated on the sole basis of their relevant merits and abilities.  Equality and diversity are all about maximising potential and creating a culture of inclusion for all.

Heriot-Watt University values diversity across our university community and welcomes applications from all sectors of society, particularly from underrepresented groups. For more information, please see our website https://www.hw.ac.uk/uk/services/equality-diversity.htm and also our award-winning work in Disability Inclusive Science Careers https://disc.hw.ac.uk/ .

Use our total rewards calculator: https://www.hw.ac.uk/about/work/total-rewards-calculator.htm to see the value of benefits provided by Heriot-Watt University.

About the Team

The Business & Enterprise Directorate aims to drive new opportunities and outcomes aligned to the University’s Strategy 2025 by providing the highest quality business development and commercialisation support. This enables the institution to build on its research strengths and unlock new developments, funding and investment regardless of geographical location. 

Operating within an environment that celebrates innovation and entrepreneurship across the University’s globally connected ecosystem, the Directorate’s vision is to shape a better future by delivering collaborative industry and third sector innovation led partnerships, through the commercialisation of research outputs, including through spin-out/start up creation and licensing, and by growing an enterprise and entrepreneurial culture. Aligned with tackling current industry and societal challenges, this approach creates new economic, social and environmental value.