Vacancy details

Posted on: 18/05/2020

Do you have significant business experience at a senior level within a high growth business environment?

Do you want to help SMEs to survive the immediate Covid-19 crisis and to help them grow as conditions and markets recover?

Do you have experience of providing support and advice to SMEs in order to develop their own long-term growth, innovation and commercialisation plans?

If you’ve answered yes to these questions the role of Innovation Growth Adviser could be for you!

About the role

In this role you will provide innovation and business advice to a portfolio of SME clients to make a significant contribution to the development of competitiveness of East of England businesses.

You will help SMEs to survive the immediate Covid-19 crisis and to stabilise the business and position it to grow as conditions and markets recover.

Your responsibilities will include:

• acting as a strategic coach and mentor to SME clients to support them in developing their own long-term growth and innovation commercialisation plans;
• providing an account management function for the delivery of business support services to enable SME clients to survive, stabilise and grow (SSG) and to enhance their innovation management capacity;
• using holistic analysis tools to review client needs and provide tailored support including advice on suitability of funding and support services from Innovate UK and other business support providers;
• focusing on supporting the most ambitious, high-growth potential innovative SMEs to benefit from national and global opportunities;
• providing information and guidance on intellectual property matters, signposting or referring to professional support as required.

About you

We are looking for someone with business experience at a senior level within a high growth business environment who has strategic and management or consultancy experience in the commercialising of ideas, including IP, access to finance, establishing sales channels.

You will also need to demonstrate experience or knowledge of:

• assessing risk through analysis of business plans, financial accounts, and other supporting information;  
• interpreting outputs of business diagnostic and benchmarking tools to develop action plans;
• understanding of IPR and IP commercialisation strategies together with an understanding of business finance and access to finance;
• critical appraisal of bids for innovation funding;
• understanding of the business support landscape together with funding and support available through Innovate UK.