AddressTooling 2000 Limited and the Graduate School of Management at Birmingham City University (BCU) are looking to appoint a high calibre graduate (graduated within the last five years) as a Business Innovation Manager (KTP Associate) with specialist expertise in market research, product development, and marketing campaigns.
The successful candidate will be employed by Birmingham City University and situated on-site at Tooling 2000 Limited (Birmingham, West Midlands), who are high quality suppliers of the complete presswork and sheet metal engineering solutions to high end automotive manufacturers. For more information please go to: www.tooling2000.co.uk.
This role presents a unique opportunity to collaborate with industry and leading academics. The successful candidate will play a pivotal role in enabling Business Innovation to Tooling 2000's marketing strategy, new product development and launching process, and identify market trends and opportunities for its sustainable future growth. This is a multi-faceted role where you will work with others to enable change in a well-established business with state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies.
This position forms part of the Knowledge Transfer programme (KTP), co-funded by a grant from Innovate UK and Tooling 2000 Limited. It is essential you understand the fundamentals of how a KTP works between a business and the University and the vital role you will play if you successfully secure this position. The Business Innovation Manager (KTP Associate) will have access to a wider range of benefits including a personal development budget of £4,000 to upskill during the project. For more information, please go to: http://bcuadvantage.co.uk/funding/knowledge-transfer-partnerships.
The graduate known as the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) Associate role presents a unique and exciting opportunity to work in collaboration with leading academics at Birmingham City University (BCU) to apply knowledge and technical innovation, delivered on site at the company. The KTP Associate should have a minimum 2.1 University qualification and graduated within the last five years and hold at least an undergraduate degree in a relevant subject area.
Location and Reporting:
- The Business Innovation Manager (KTP Associate) will based at the Tooling 2000 Limited site
- The successful candidate will have full access to Birmingham City University’s resources such as offices, labs, and library to complete the KTP project (a workplan has already been written with KPIs and outcome deliverables)
- The post-holder will lead on the project and be supported by the academics from Birmingham City University
Main Duties and Responsibilities:
- The Business Innovation Manager (KTP Associate) will be responsible for delivering and project managing a collaborative KTP project between Tooling 2000 Limited (the company partner) and Birmingham City University's Graduate School of Management
- The main duties include developing, communication, and embedding innovation and marketing culture into the business which are new areas to Tooling 2000 Limited
- The Business Innovation Manager (KTP Associate) must also be adept at applying their knowledge to commercial projects, driving value, and making an impact where possible, with an ability to solve problems and create innovative solutions
- The Business Innovation Manager (KTP Associate) will be expected to participate in academic and/or industrial conferences and other events, to disseminate and present research outcomes to the wider community
- The Business Innovation Manager (KTP Associate) will be expected to contribute to research publications in high impact journals with the academics at the University's research institute
- The Business Innovation Manager (KTP Associate) must have the following key attributes to ensure the project's successful completion
Skills and Experience:
Essential:
- A first degree (equivalent to a first class or 2:1 honours) in Business, Management, Business Analytics, or alternatively, if in engineering complemented with a Master's degree in a business discipline
- Master's degree in a Business, Management or Marketing related field, or equivalent commercial experience
- Interest and aptitude for a management career. Driven to achieve high performance and strong leadership skills with a keen interest in developing enabling strategies to facilitate business growth and leading change within an innovative business environment
- Excellent analytical skills substantiated with experience of data management/data analytics; proficiency in data analysis tools such as SPSS, NVivo or R
- Analysing and redesigning business processes to introduce new product innovation
- Creative thinking capability to turn ideas into measurable actions and tangible products; adept at applying their knowledge to commercial opportunities, driving value and making an impact
- Completion of a substantial business research project, demonstrating quantitative skills, in either university or industry
- Understanding of the complex relationship between people, information, processes and technology; strong interpersonal skills to interact with a variety and levels of people, e.g. from factory level to managers
- Excellent communication skills to express ideas effectively, orally, graphically and in writing to articulate complicated matters between the academics and the company project team members; and to engage fully with all stakeholders, in seminars, workshops and events, to highlight the work of the project
- Experience of producing written reports in both an academic and a professional context and an ability to work to tight deadlines (with attention to detail) and maintain high standards of work
- Self-motivated with an ability to organise and manage own workload and time, work independently and within a team, strong problem-solving skills; project and time management skills commensurate with the role of the KTP Associate
Desirable:
- Involvement in the implementation of a new culture of innovation and continuous improvement using tools such as journey mapping and customer experience, and soft systems methods
- Practical experience of working with businesses to solve complex real-world problems
- Experience in business modelling and new product development and launch
- Ability to sense and seize new opportunities
- Engage and persuade internal and external stakeholders
- Develop and embed new holistic business model
- Practise in training and mentoring to embed new innovation and marketing capabilities
- Knowledge and understanding in the field of industrial organisation
- Ability to write journal articles for high impact academic publications
For more information about the role or partnership with Tooling 2000 Limited please contact Deniz Yoruk at deniz.yoruk@bcu.ac.uk or Shishank Shishank at shishank.shishank@bcu.ac.uk
Interviews to take place week commencing 8th April 2024 or 15th April 2024
