Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Centre (SAIC) is seeking to appoint an enthusiastic Aquaculture Innovation Officer to enable collaboration between the aquaculture industry and research institutions.
Reporting to and supporting the Director of Innovation and Engagement, the role holder will liaise with academics, public funding bodies and the aquaculture sector to engage all parties in collaborative innovation projects. The successful candidate could hold advanced aquaculture qualifications and have at extensive experience working in an aspect of aquaculture in either research or industry.
Main responsibilities are in engagement with SAIC’s consortium members, relationship management, sourcing external funding opportunities, project management, process control, and financial analysis. The role holder will establish themselves as an aquaculture specialist with research and industry partners, by networking to create new projects and develop existing projects, and by identifying appropriate funding sources.
- Driving Innovation: Working in collaboration with the Director of Innovation and Engagement and Director of Finance and Operations to develop new projects, assisting with submissions, demonstrating flexibility and innovation in creating and managing funding. The post holder will also routinely horizon-scan for external funding options (liaising with other Innovation Centres on knowledge exchange in this area) and work closely with applicants in navigating their submissions. Accuracy and commercial astuteness are key in this role
- Relationship management: Developing greater consortium engagement, building a strong aquaculture network and a reliable reputation with a variety of aquaculture partners from industry, research institutes, other Innovation Centres and beyond, to establish fruitful relationships that result in successfully managed projects
- Project management and process control: Managing our project portfolio to ensure all processes and governance are robust, budgets are adhered to, and analysis meets the demands of all the relevant governing bodies. The role holder will develop a level of understanding to identify issues and challenges and will act with speed to achieve a suitable solution; to promote successful projects and present this success to a variety of audiences; and to manage less successful projects with both sensitivity and rigour
DUTIES
- Day-to-day, the role holder will support the SAIC business with a mixture of home working, desk-bound and workshop/meeting activity
- Attending and participating in regular team meetings, setting personal and team objectives and weekly activities, managing their own time efficiently
- Spending some time away from the office to visit client sites and project bases.
- Identifying alternative funding sources and navigating these funds to assist high-quality application submissions
- Managing existing and new relationships with consortium members to identify new project opportunities, contributing to the project pipeline and signposting as appropriate
- Developing collaborative opportunities and ways of working with other Innovation Centres to identify new project opportunities
- Liaising with project managers to manage and ensure existing projects are maximised and on track (correcting where not), build networks, and identify new opportunities
- Attending conferences, workshops and other events, and potentially making presentations to promote SAIC and the post holder’s individual project portfolio
ESSENTIAL CRITERIA
Team SAIC is small, so we need people who are team players, who can work on their own initiative, make decisions quickly and confidently, and who never fail to contribute. They must be able to write for a variety of formats and must adapt their written and verbal tone of voice to different audiences –from business owners and senior academics to first-time industry managers and senior politicians. The role holder must be demonstrably able to work productively in a small team and assume personal responsibility.
Qualifications
- Minimum degree level, preferably in an aquaculture-related subject
Knowledge & Experience
We would love to hear from you if you have:
- Extensive experience in aquaculture
- An aquaculture network within industry and/or research
- Business development, with strong commercial acumen
- Success in funding application submission
- Strong organisational and communication skills – written and verbal
Skills & Attributes
- Communicating with people from all levels and backgrounds
- Working in a team of aquaculture professionals
- Working independently and as part of a team
- Prioritising your workload in order to deliver on all fronts
- Solution-orientated and tenacious
- Staying calm and collected under the pressure of tight deadlines
- The ability to embrace and embody SAIC’s values of support, agility, integrity and collaboration
Salary: Grade7 £34,304-£40,927 per annum
Location: University of Stirling, Stirling Campus, Scotland, UK
Faculty/Service: Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Centre
Application Deadline: April 17, 2022
Contract Type: Fixed term for 24 months
