Are you our next UK Funding Manager? Location: Reporting to: Working hours Contract Holiday Equal Opportunities Urban Innovation Centre, Clerkenwell, London Head of CR&D and International Full time. The pattern of hours may vary according to operational needs and generally work will be carried out during normal office hours. We re a flexible employer. This is a permanent contract. The period of notice is one month in writing on each side. There is a probationary period of three months 25 days per annum, plus statutory holidays We strive to be an equal opportunities employer and commitment to this process will be expected. Who are we? We are Future Cities Catapult. We accelerate urban ideas to market, to grow the economy and make cities better. We bring together businesses, universities and city leaders so that they can work with each other to solve the problems that cities face, now and in the future. From our Urban Innovation Centre in London, we provide world-class facilities and expertise to support the development of new products and services, as well as opportunities to collaborate with others, test ideas and develop business models. We help innovators turn ingenious ideas into working prototypes that can be tested in real urban settings. Then, once they're proven, we help spread them to cities across the world to improve quality of life, strengthen economies and protect the environment. So what s it about? The UK Funding Manager will play a key role in identifying and developing a portfolio of successful bids funded by UK agencies, including but not limited to Innovate UK, Research Councils, UK Space Agency, higher education organisations, potentially European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) funding); managing relationships and building credibility with these organisations, and ensuring we have a strong understanding of the UK funding landscape. This role will be working closely with managers overseeing EU and international funding streams, and will report into the Head of CR&D and International. 1
What will you be doing? Responsibilities Directly contribute to income target for wider Collaborative Research & Development (CR&D) team ie drive the Catapult to secure income from various UK-based funding streams. Build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders at Innovate UK, UK Research Councils, and other UK funding agencies, including, where relevant, universities. Identify a pipeline of bid opportunities, and assess whether organisational resources are available to grasp opportunities. Manage process to identify and prioritise potential funding opportunities from UK funding streams, and manage the Expression of Interest and full bid submissions. Analyse and explain bid concepts, aid interpretation of bid requirements, and prepare points of clarification with funders to ensure each bid is structured to conform with bid requirements. Help identify and build consortia to best respond to specific priority bids and ensure partners active contribution to the bid-writing process. Coordinate development and submission of specific bids on behalf of Future Cities Catapult including developing timeframes; workplans (including roles and responsibilities) and bid budgets; tracking and managing risks; identifying and compiling all relevant documentation; drafting Future Cities Catapult input with colleagues; arranging external review, and completing administrative aspects of bid submission engaging colleagues as appropriate and coordinating all technical inputs to bid submissions. Update Future Cities Catapult staff on bid process including risks and opportunities, successes and losses, and support the Catapult to be a learning organisation whereby we adapt our approaches as we learn. Where additional support is required, identify appropriate external agencies for specific bids, secure necessary resource, engage and manage their input. Work with project delivery team to coordinate a Future Cities Catapult response during the negotiation period following successful bid submission. Ensure colleagues across the Future Cities Catapult become aware of funding opportunities related to their specific work programmes, and help the Catapult manage the flow of bid writing deadlines across the organisation. Network with relevant stakeholders to build our brand as a trusted partner. Represent the Future Cities Catapult and its priorities, projects and partnerships in a range of external events, including conferences and meetings. Provide support to wider Business Development team as required. 2
What will the first year outcomes of your role be? The role-specific first year outcomes are: Each member of our team has a shared responsibility to secure funding from UK, European and international sources, to reach the Future Cities Catapult income targets and to facilitate urban innovation in the UK and beyond. Bid identification - Develop and implement system to map UK funding agency calls and funding opportunities, and provide associated strategic analysis to help the Catapult prioritise. - Join at least 4 relevant Information Days or UK funding organisation events for bid information and partnership-building. Match funding opportunities to Catapult priorities and themes, and make recommendations to Executive Management Team on bidding approach. Bid completion and submission - Oversee Future Cities Catapult submissions for UK funding opportunities totalling 3m+ per year (aiming for success rate of 1 in 3 proposals). - 100% learning and constructive feedback captured from each proposal and implement suggestions on how to improve upon future bid submissions. - Set up and maintain good internal processes (informal and formal) to ensure colleagues are aware of potential UK funding opportunities and can support bid submissions in the most effective manner, as recognised by 75% of your peers within 9 months. - Generate excellent feedback from bidding partners on working with the Future Cities Catapult, and at least leads for new work through our participation in bids. Strategy, external communications and representation - Representing the Future Cities Catapult externally in at least 1 UK event, for example conference, workshop, stakeholder consultation - Developing working relationships between the Future Cities Catapult and: o At least two key Research Councils o Innovate UK o HEFCE and/or key university stakeholders. - Delivery of at least 2 external events and 1 internal workshop in support of Future Cities Catapult s UK funding strategy 3
What kind of person are we looking for? Essential requirements Relevant post-graduate experience of at least 3 years, for example in research organisations, funding bodies and/or research or innovation agencies Proven ability to bid for, or work in, multi-stakeholder action-oriented research or innovation projects funded by UK agencies Ability to identify, synthesise and present data relevant to urban innovation for a variety of audiences, including in business, government and city administration Understanding of key themes in urbanisation and innovation, grounded in previous work experience Demonstrable commitment to innovation in the context of urbanisation Excellent writing and presentation skills Demonstrable facilitation and multi-stakeholder consensus-building skills Demonstrable fundraising skills Ability to excel in a rapidly growing, fast-paced organisational setting Desirable A track record of successful fundraising from, or consultancy for, research or innovation or UK funding agencies with an interest in urbanisation Experience within a UK funding agency An established network directly relevant to UK funding dimensions of the Future Cities Catapult The value we can bring to you will be: Great opportunity to shape and lead initial CR&D income generation and project development programmes for the Future Cities Catapult Part of the team unlocking and accelerating 21 st century urban innovation Be part of young, fast growing organization What about our culture? We are a rapidly growing organisation with a mission to make urban innovation happen. We are all deeply committed to our mission, and you will need to share that 4
commitment. And you will have to be happy working in a fast-moving, unstructured and cross-disciplinary environment. Things change as we learn, and you ll need a degree of adaptability. Our culture is open, collaborative and relatively non-hierarchical. We ve tried to capture our way of working in three principles: (i) (ii) (iii) Break new ground we re transformative, imaginative and intelligent Play nicely we re collaborative, approachable and fair Make it a reality we re down to earth, tangible and we get stuck in. You ll thrive in an environment that sits between public and private, between cities and tech, between art and science, between research and practice. If you are excited by the possibility of working in one of the world s leading urban innovation centres, a place stuffed with a diverse group of talents and perspectives, we would encourage you to send your application. Want to apply? Send your CV with covering letter via our application portal. In your cover letter tell us why you re right for the job. www.futurecities.catapult.org.uk Twitter: @FutureCitiesCat 5