Innovation Specialist

Manchester, North West England, United Kingdom The Growth Company The Growth Company's (GC) Business Growth Hub (BGH) is looking to appoint an ambitious and commercially minded Innovation Specialist to deliver high-quality business innovation and growth advice to support businesses across Greater Manchester.

This is an exciting opportunity to work directly with business leaders, entrepreneurs and scale-up companies, helping them identify opportunities for innovation, overcome barriers to growth, access expertise and funding, and bring new products, services and technologies to market.

BGH supports businesses across Greater Manchester with expert advice on funding, innovation, people, sales and sustainability. We provide tailored support to meet the needs of each business at every stage of its growth journey.

Key Responsibilities:

• Supporting businesses to identify innovation opportunities and develop growth strategies.
• Advising on the adoption of digital technologies, AI, automation and data-driven solutions.
• Assessing barriers to innovation and developing tailored action plans to accelerate growth.
• Helping businesses develop and launch innovative products, services and business models.
• Connecting businesses with research organisations, universities, innovation partners and specialist expertise.
• Delivering workshops, events and one-to-many innovation support programmes.
• Developing strong relationships across the innovation ecosystem, including public, private and academic partners.
• Identifying funding, investment and R&D opportunities to support business growth.
• Maintaining high-quality client engagement and achieving programme performance targets.

About You:

• Experience providing business advisory, innovation, technology or growth support services.
• Confident working with SMEs, start-ups, scale-ups or innovation-led organisations.
• Demonstrable experience supporting organisations to introduce new products, services or processes.
• Experienced in delivering workshops, events or business support programmes.

Digital innovation experience is desirable, including knowledge of:

• Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, automation, data analytics and business intelligence.
• Digital transformation, business process improvement, and digital product or service innovation.
• Emerging technologies, innovation management, design thinking, and the research, development and commercialisation of innovation.

Skills Required:

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to diagnose business challenges and identify practical solutions.
• Excellent communication, presentation and facilitation skills.
• Confident building relationships with stakeholders and business leaders.
• Able to manage a portfolio of clients and deliver measurable outcomes.
• Commercially aware and customer-focused, with a passion for innovation, technology and economic growth.
• Self-motivated, with the ability to work effectively both independently and collaboratively.

We are currently unable to provide sponsorship for work permits or visas. Therefore, we can only consider candidates who already have the legal right to work in the UK.

Artificial intelligence can assist you during the application process, but every example and statement you include must be honest, accurate, and based on your own real experiences. If plagiarism is detected, meaning you present someone else's ideas or experiences, or AI-generated content, as your own, your application may be withdrawn, and internal applicants could face disciplinary action.

At GC, safeguarding the welfare of all individuals including vulnerable adults and young people is a top priority, and we expect all staff to uphold this standard. All appointments follow Safer Recruitment Procedures, including a DBS check carried out by Due Diligence Limited (DDC Ltd), at no cost to the successful candidate.

Please note: It is a legal offence to apply for a role involving regulated activity if you are on the Barred List.

We are committed to increasing workforce diversity and offer a guaranteed interview to applicants who meet the essential criteria and either have a disability or are from a diverse ethnic community.

If this applies to you, you can request consideration under this scheme during the application process. Your request will be shared only with the Hiring Manager and Internal Recruitment Team.

We also aim to make our recruitment process inclusive and accessible. If you need reasonable adjustments or have any general enquiries at any stage or the recruitment process, please contact [email removed] or call us on [phone removed].

Examples include:

• Meeting the hiring manager or touring the venue in advance.
• Extra time for tasks.
• Interview questions shared beforehand.
• Accessibility software or equipment for assessments.

We're proud to support the Ban the Box campaign, which helps people with convictions access job opportunities. As part of this, we've removed questions about convictions from the initial application stage.

GC is committed to fostering a culture of flexibility and agile working. Many roles will increasingly support full agile arrangements. If you require more permanent flexibility, we encourage you to discuss this during your interview so your request can be considered early in the process.

All GC colleagues will work in line with the Health and Safety at work act and the GC Health and Safety Policy.