DDI Innovation Manager

Role: DDI Innovation Manager

Grade and Salary: Grade 8, £46,735 - £57,422 per annum

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

Contract: Fixed Term – 24 Months

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

Purpose of Role

This is a new role that will provide leadership and specialist input to support and scale innovation activity in the National Robotarium at a time of growth. This role is part of a growing network of DDI Hub innovation support roles that will link into existing DDI commercialisation support activities such as the University of Edinburgh’s (National Robotarium joint partner) flagship Venture Builder Incubator (VBI) programme and the AI Accelerator. (These are based in the Bayes Centre). The postholder will be the point of contact for triaging and signposting innovation support enquiries at the National Robotarium.  This role will provide sector knowledge, expertise and will also identify and develop new innovation focussed opportunities in partnership with the National Robotarium leadership and the wider DDI entrepreneurship and innovation teams based in Bayes and other DDI Hubs.   

The postholder will be able to navigate the innovation ecosystem and have a collaborative focus on scaling innovation activity in key thematic areas related to the National Robotarium’s 5-year strategy. The successful candidate will also be responsible for inspiring and developing a pipeline of founders in the Robotics and AS field that would then have access to existing innovation support services. This would be through communicating their own entrepreneurial knowledge as well as utilising their key contacts and knowledge of the entrepreneurial ecosystem nationally and internationally.  Regular contact and relationship building with the Bayes/Edinburgh Innovations led programme team will be key as will be ensuring the National Robotarium team is effectively linked into, and can benefit from, this wider network of innovation activity.  The post holder will also facilitate access to National Robotarium expertise for founders as required. This is an important role in an exciting and growing sector. 

Key Duties & Responsibilities

1. Leadership of:
   1. All Entrepreneurship engagement on behalf of the National Robotarium.
   2. Ensuring the co-ordination and engagement of all additional functions with the National Robotarium management team across Business development, operations and events.
   3. Robotarium resident companies’ growth and potential collaborations across other DDI hub activity
   4. Robotarium entrepreneurship events and forums 
   5. Leadership and coordination of Robotarium and partner start up developments and programmes
   6. Act as the National Robotarium representative at all DDI entrepreneur forums and programmes
2. Manage and develop entrepreneurial and innovation support activities for the National Robotarium linking in with other DDI Hubs and Hubs based innovation delivery teams, to provide and build a smooth pathway of support for founders, to develop new data driven companies in the Robotics and AS field. Provide access into existing activities such as the VBI and AIA. Use own expertise to effectively advise and support founders, internally at the Robotarium or elsewhere as required.  Manage access to engineering time as needed. Signpost as required.
3. Source and inspire suitable, exciting founders and start-ups, building and developing an ongoing pipeline. This will include working with related partners and funders, Hub leads, Innovation Managers, EI and DDI teams to identify founders and to raise the profile of innovation opportunities. Attend related events and integrate into the innovation ecosystem Advise on sector content for innovation support programmes.
4. Contribute to Robotarium and DDI KPI outputs and reporting. Identify and create    suitable sector case studies that will inspire and provide learnings. Input CRM data as needed. Use own creative input to ensure information is collated and used effectively to showcase successes, illustrate learnings and ensure DDI reporting requirements are met. Manage contacts and associated data.
5. Identify and Build key relationships in ‘Innovation Support’ for the sector - internally and in the wider Ecosystem working with Partners, funders, Hub Innovation staff, Codebase and Sector Leads , SE, Agencies and investors in order to deliver effective  support and signposting. 
6. Act as advisor through 1-2-1s, helping start-ups and teams to access the best sector contacts and support across the DDI Hubs –using existing contacts and building new ones. Signpost to suitable support/funding/expertise/academic specialisms as required.
7. Engage regularly with other DDI Hubs Entrepreneurship delivery teams 
8. Be the point of contact and communication channel for the Robotarium team in this area and provide regular updates to wider R team. Attend entrepreneurship team meetings and support development of programme activity

Key Relationships

• Line Management –   Robotarium COO
• Management & Centre Management –  NR staff, Business Development , Marketing, tenants   and Engineers.  Ensure alignment with the strategic priorities of the Centre, to maximise efficiency and avoid duplication, and in support of pro-active budget management and forecasting (in line with policies and procedures).   
• DDI Hub Entrepreneurship delivery Staff – work closely with DDI Hub ‘E delivery teams’,  Edinburgh Innovations, Bayes Centre,  founders, comms & marketing, facilities,  and innovation leads in UoE and HW ensuring efficiency of delivery,  to develop networks and investment  and avoiding programme-specific duplication.
• DDI and EI colleagues, and wider Eco-System – liaison across the Data-Driven Innovation and Edinburgh Innovations to develop the DDI ecosystem, signpost, minimise duplication, maximise expertise, share good practice and adopt a collective spirit towards KPI delivery across all Hubs and Sectors.

Essential & Desirable Criteria

Essential

1. A good honours degree.  Other qualifications considered if it provides the post-holder with sufficient background to understand the issues informing, influencing and delivering Data Driven Innovation
2. Robotics and AS background 
3. Leadership training – CPD etc.
4. Experience of innovation development and/or being a successful Founder of a start-up/scale up company
5. Experience of working in a team and line management. 
6. Experience of working with and supporting early-stage founders 
7. Demonstrable experience of contributing to successful innovation/entrepreneurial support Programmes. Extensive hands-on experience in a similar role. Ideally working with deep tech/digital start-ups on a 1-2-1 basis.
8. Excellent knowledge and understanding of start-up business growth and robotics /AS digital development issues 
9. Strong influencing skills and proven ability of working with Industry and building long term partnerships.
10. Significant experience of delivering complex projects
11. Proven organisation and project management skills

Desirable

1. Project management qualifications 
2. Innovation/entrepreneurship training
3. Data Driven Innovation knowledge
4. Demonstrable knowledge of the wider innovation ecosystem, the current national entrepreneurial mind-set agenda and relevant external contacts
5. Evidence of successful collaborative working in a Higher Education with senior academics and researchers
6. Evidence of proactively gathering information/data of interest to funders and partners

How to Apply

Applications can be submitted up to midnight (UK time) on Sunday 23rd March 2025.

Please submit your CV 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.

Additional Information

This key role is part of a programme of entrepreneurial work to be undertaken as part of the Data-Driven Innovation Activity in the region. This role will focus on the National Robotarium to build on successful delivery over the last 3 years.  The role will encourage students, staff and externals to take entrepreneurial pathways, encourage the creation of sector specific DDI related companies,  deliver new E skills, support growth in existing companies, creating jobs and attracting match funding and investment. 

This activity will address many areas identified by the recent Logan Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review and Ross Tuffee’s Entrepreneurial Campus Report which has been endorsed by Scottish Government. It encourages an entrepreneurial mind-set amongst technical students, providing support funding for student start-ups, providing internships at tech start-ups and addressing a perceived lack of innovation awareness and business acumen in the academic base. 

The Innovation manager has wide ranging responsibility that extends outside of the National Robotarium and Heriot Watt University becoming accountable to the DDI Strategic programme office and wider Government representation.

This is a very significant role for the Robotarium as it represents the “face and voice” and the “look and feel” of the Robotarium to the vitally important stakeholders in DDI and Government. As such it is what everyone on the outside looking in will see and that is why it needs to be led and coordinated by one person, the DDI Innovation manager.

One of the most important aspects of this role is the ability to organise and lead people from many different organisations to deliver a functioning and successful DDI entrepreneurship programme on behalf of the National Robotarium for the DDI programme. This will require the Innovation manager to work with a team of people from many different organisations making this task particularly difficult and requiring someone with experience of creating effective teams with individuals from multiple organisations and backgrounds.

About Heriot-Watt University

At Heriot-Watt we are passionate about our values and look to them to connect our people globally and to help us collaborate and celebrate our success through working together. Our research programmes can deliver real world impact which is achieved through the diversity of our international community and the recognition of creative talent that connects our global team.

Our flourishing community will give you the freedom to challenge and to bring your enterprising mind and to help our partners with solutions that can be applied now and in the future. Join us and Heriot Watt will provide you with a platform to thrive and work in a way that also helps you live your life in balance with well-being and inclusiveness at the heart of our global community.