Business Development Lead

The Energy Innovation Agency have an exciting opportunity for a Business Development Lead who will provide Business Development and associated project management support to the Energy Innovation Agency (the Agency), a unique public / private partnership organisation, to realise its objectives and those of its constituent funders and partners.

The Agency is a public, private partnership formed by eight partners in Greater Manchester (GM), created to accelerate the decarbonisation of energy systems increasing the deployment of innovative energy solutions in GM and beyond, to speed-up the reduction of carbon emissions.

Background:

Greater Manchester (GM) is a vibrant, dynamic, and innovative city region. The city declared a climate emergency in 2019 and has committed to become carbon-neutral by 2038. We want to lead the green revolution and decarbonise the city region, enabling our citizens, homes, businesses, and industries, to benefit from cleaner, greener, more affordable energy.

Through our unique partnership, the Energy Innovation Agency (The Agency) is supporting energy innovators grow and scale their businesses in GM, enabling us to benefit from new innovations and accelerate the reduction of carbon-emissions.

Role Summary:

The post is required to identify, develop, and realise a pipeline of energy innovation opportunities (projects), to enable the commercialisation of innovative products and services and to facilitate the rapid decarbonisation of the UK economy (starting with Greater Manchester).

Key Responsibilities:

• To lead on the day-to-day Business Development, by attracting and locating the best innovations and identifying the best opportunities to realise a pipeline of suitable innovation opportunities for the Agency and its client to develop and deploy.
• Proactively identify, build and engage, productive relationships with and co-ordinate a wide range of customers, stakeholders, and potential buyers.
• To provide project management support for the Agency ensuring that work packages, including for grant projects, are delivered according to the project plans, timelines and on budget.
• Develop and manage all monitoring, reporting, evaluation, communication, and evidence systems to meet the objectives of the Agency and our partners.
• To produce high quality, timely reports, and briefings, pulling together complex information from numerous sources (when required).
• Effectively manage and control the project budget, producing expenditure forecasts, taking accountability for resources allocated and provide regular updates to the Agencies Board and partners.
• To manage procurement arrangements and relationships with suppliers working closely with the Procurement Team. Ensuring that individual and multiple projects are effectively resourced and that all key stakeholders are identified, and roles and responsibilities agreed and communicated effectively.
• Identify and support the development and writing of innovation funding bids for innovation consortia projects, which help support Agency income.

About you:

• Degree level or relevant professional qualification.
• Knowledge of the UKs energy systems and the implications of a net zero energy transition.
• Experience in energy product and / or service innovation, ideally with a net zero focus.
• Able to identify and securing third party interest in developing innovation opportunities using multiple funding sources and or public, private, or academic partners.
• Experience in identifying and bidding for public and private innovation funding.
• Knowledge of delivering high impact public presentations and written briefs to potential customers.
• Experience of successfully managing and delivering complex or high value projects.
• Previous experience of successfully delivering at least two full project lifecycles.
• Experience of production of high-quality project management information and reports.

Skills Required:

• Business Development: Ability to identify, build, develop and maintain a diverse network of relationships which result in suitable innovation opportunities for the Agency to develop.
• Working Together: Builds support and consensus around decisions they make and effectively manages the expectations of different parties to achieve 'win-win' where possible and to close the deal.
• Personal Responsibility: Measures and monitors to ensure they are on top of results and takes ultimate responsibility for ensuring outcomes and targets are met.
• Project management skills: Proven ability in developing project schedules that clearly defines the timeline required to achieve the required outcomes, with expertise in identifying and monitoring complicated interdependencies, identifying, and managing the critical path and utilising the schedule in budget forecasting and planning future resource requirements.
• Communication skills: Reacts positively in opposition and conflict, taking the opportunity to persuade others of own point of view and defends own position with logical and unemotional arguments. Able is negotiate and influence a broad range of customers, academics, and potential buyers to realise the desired outcomes for the Agency. Confident public speaker.
• People management skills: Has ability to identify, secure and direct resources for a wide area with diverse staff with clear risks attached to decisions. Ability to define and articulate a strong sense of purpose and engender commitment across individuals and groups to a set of shared objectives.
• Problem solving & decision-making skills: Ability to react to immediate problems of a highly complex nature with associated risk factors and deliver pragmatic solutions sometimes under extreme pressure.
• Analytical Skills: Ability to assess credibility of businesses and technologies and to work alongside relevant partners to assess suitability for deployment and projects. 

This is an exciting and ground-breaking opportunity to become part of the Energy Innovation Agency, which has a clear goal: to accelerate the energy transition towards a carbon-neutral economy, increasing the adoption of innovative energy solutions in Greater Manchester (GM) and beyond, and to speed-up the reduction of carbon emissions.

We are committed to increasing the diversity of our workforce, we provide a guaranteed interview to applicants who meet the essential requirements for a role. This commitment applies to candidates who have a disability or are from a diverse ethnic community.

As part of our application process, you can ask to be considered under this scheme if you are from an ethnic community or have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities. Providing that you meet the essential criteria for the role, you will then be invited for an interview. Your guaranteed interview application will only be shared with the Hiring Manager and our Internal Recruitment Team.

We are a member of the national campaign Ban the Box; this campaign aims to open opportunities for people with convictions to compete for jobs. We’re supporting the campaign by removing conviction questions at the applications stage.

GC aims to promote a culture of flexibility and agile working. Going forward we will be transitioning to a culture where full agile working will be a feature of many of our roles. We also recognise that there may be a need for more permanent flexibility in your working arrangements and in such cases, we encourage you to have these discussions at the interview stage, to enable your flexible working request to be considered as early as possible.

If you require support with the recruitment process, please contact or Internal Recruitment Team at careers@growthco.uk or call us on 0161 237 4447.

All GC colleagues will work inline with the Health & Safety at work act and the GC Health & Safety Policy.