Business Growth Manager - 3 Days Per Week

Located on the outskirts of Belfast City Centre, as part of our growing innovation ecosystem, Innovation Factory (IF) is a contemporary environment with a mix of both flexible and conventional office space and coworking and is specifically designed to meet the needs of the modern business and entrepreneurs. We provide a great space for our customers, who will be supported in their growth plans in a centrally located, flexible and inspirational environment.  This is an exciting opportunity to join us in a varied and involving role with lots of support available.

We are seeking an innovative and strategic thinker with strong relationship building skills for the role of Business Growth Manager. The Business Growth Manager will provide pragmatic, high quality strategic business coaching and innovation support to businesses based in the centre, with the objective of enabling Business Growth, innovation development and commercial success. The Business Growth Manager will also have the responsibility to support the Centre Director signpost innovation-driven enterprises to the Innovation Factory, to bolster the sales pipeline. Please note that is a 3 days per week role.

What will you do?

The Business Growth Manager will co-ordinate the provision of business support for Innovation Factory customers with the objective of enabling Business Growth, innovation development and commercial success by:

• Understanding customers’ requirements and leveraging the Oxford Innovation network, resources, and local business support eco-system (e.g. Innovation Directors, Oxford Innovation Advice, Oxford Innovation Finance) to optimise delivery of the most relevant support
• Strategic input into a range of community engagement activities including events, networking opportunities and social interactions to drive collaboration. Ownership of delivery for innovation themed events.
• Support with the creation and growth of an innovative programme of support for our resident businesses that places Innovation Factory at the heart of their activities.
• Developing our role within the local community and helping to managing ongoing relationships with Innovation Factory partners, including Belfast City Council, Invest NI, Universities, and other organisations; ensuring participation in ongoing initiatives
• Measuring and reporting our impact, keeping track of customer progress, preparing stakeholder reports, and participating in review meetings.

• Facilitate a high-quality business support activities that places Innovation Factory at the centre of SME growth activity in the local area
• Help develop a programme of relevant events and activities alongside the Engagement Manager to support customers and encourage networking & collaboration.  
• Work closely with local stakeholders to maximise the opportunity for collaborative engagement with Innovation Factory business customers
• Identify opportunities to engage with HEI students and academic communities in employability initiatives, such as placements, internships, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, and research projects
• Develop case studies and testimonials whenever possible for the centre’s marketing material and campaigns.
• Work with Belfast City Council and the Go Succeed team, Invest NI and the wider business support network to signpost, collaborate and partner in strategic initiatives that support IF customers.
• Accountable for the management and delivery of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) including those set by the clients
• Establish strong working relationships with the wider business support team to help facilitate useful connections for Innovation Factory customers with others in the OI network.
• Work with the centre teams to ensure that the business support activities and outputs actively contribute to the successful delivery of their targets and KPIs (revenue streams, occupancy, licence fees, cash collection, cost management etc.)
• Work closely with the Centre Director to drive future pipeline and collaboration opportunities.

Desirable Experience

• An understanding of the local and national business support landscape and the needs of micro and SMEs
• Local eco-system knowledge and an awareness and understanding of innovation and technology
• An innovative and creative approach to designing support programmes that are appropriate and engaging for our community
• Event management, marketing and communications
• Strong business acumen and a detailed knowledge of the key functions within a business particularly sales and marketing, financial management and operations.

Whilst some experience of providing business coaching and mentoring to businesses is favourable, we will consider candidates with the inherent skills and aptitude to develop this capability within the role.

 What are you like?

• Strong networking and relationship building skills
• Ability to use own initiative and to be able to identify quickly and effectively how problems can be solved
• Ability to interact with and co-ordinate various stakeholders
• A passion for innovation and solving problems
• Excellent communication and organisational skills.

The ideal candidate will possess strong relationship building skills, have an understanding of the business support landscape and requirements of technology start-ups, as well as have the ability to interact and manage various stakeholders.

What’s in it for you?

• Salary of up to £40,000 per annum
• 25 days’ holiday plus Bank Holidays
• Flexible benefits package comprising:
  
  • Contributory pension
  • Ability to increase or decrease amount of annual leave
  • Ability to increase or decrease amount of life assurance cover
  • Private medical and dental insurance and health screening
  • Bicycle purchase
• Friendly, informal and flexible working environment - so you can make the most of your home and your work life

We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all backgrounds.

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so we would advise you to submit your application as early as possible to prevent disappointment.