Acceleration Community Manager

NatWest Group; Leeds; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading banking institution in the UK is seeking an Accelerator Community Manager to provide strategic oversight of the Accelerator hub experience. The role involves engaging with stakeholders, building networks, and identifying commercial opportunities to enhance the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Ideal candidates should have experience in community scaling, strategic engagement, and managing relationships across various sectors. This position is pivotal in fostering vibrant, impactful environments aligned with the institution's objectives.

Qualifications

• Experience in scaling communities and attracting entrepreneurs through outreach.
• In-depth understanding of the UK entrepreneurial support landscape.
• Ability to manage relationships across various stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership for the Accelerator hub experience.
• Engage with stakeholders to enhance ecosystem position.
• Identify sponsorship and partnership opportunities.

Skills

Commercial opportunity identification

Community scaling

Relationship building

Confident communication

Data-driven strategy improvement

Job description

Join us as an Accelerator Community Manager

• We’ll look to you to provide strategic oversight of our hub experience delivery, ensuring consistent, high-quality engagement aligned to the Accelerator brand and purpose
• Your primary focus will be on organisational ecosystem stakeholders and regional leadership via the regional board, and you’ll enable and facilitate an effective accelerator ecosystem which supports our accelerator commitments and strategy
• You’ll have oversight of hub experience standards and feedback loops, working in close partnership with Accelerator Managers and acting as a connector and light-touch consultant for entrepreneurs, ensuring alignment with the Accelerator brand and purpose

What you'll do

As an Accelerator Community Manager, you’ll provide strategic leadership of the Accelerator hub experience and regional ecosystem, and you’ll have strategic oversight of hub experience delivery. This will involve working closely with and enabling the appropriate business area managers to ensure consistent, high-quality engagement and vibrant, inclusive, and impactful environments aligned to the brand and purpose.

You’ll own the feedback and insight loop regarding hub activity, using data to inform regional strategy and flagging centrally where appropriate. You’ll also act as a strategic connector for entrepreneurs, offering structured conversations and guidance to help identify needs, clarify goals, and connect them to the most appropriate support within the business area ecosystem. You’ll do this while proactively spotting commercial opportunities, driving value, and maintaining visibility across hub activity to identify consultancy needs and ensure entrepreneurs are supported through the right channels.

In addition to this, your role will involve:

• Engaging with stakeholders to complement our position in the ecosystem, including through the regional board
• Building internal and external networks and creating value through collaboration to support local entrepreneurial activities, actively leveraging partners and stakeholders to attract and recruit new entrepreneurs
• Coordinating and managing all internal engagement with the hub and acting as knowledge expert within the location
• Delivering against a consistent contact strategy framework, including managing most valuable community relationships and prospects
• Identifying sponsorship and partnership opportunities to support the Accelerator strategy

The skills you'll need

We’re looking for someone with the ability to identify and unlock commercial opportunities within entrepreneurial ecosystems, driving return on investment through strategic engagement and partnerships. Along with experience in scaling communities, you’ll have a track record of attracting high volumes of entrepreneurs through targeted outreach, partnerships, and compelling value propositions.

We’re also looking for:

• An in-depth understanding of the UK entrepreneurial and Subject Matter Expert (SME) support landscape, including incubators, accelerators, funding bodies, and innovation networks
• The ability to build and maintain relationships across internal teams, regional boards, external partners, and the media to amplify impact and influence
• The ability to hold light-touch coaching conversations, helping entrepreneurs clarify goals and navigate support pathways effectively
• A confident communicator with experience in managing local media relationships, social media presence, and storytelling to promote hub success
• The ability to use feedback loops and hub data to inform strategy, improve experience delivery, and surface insights for central teams
• An understanding of financial crime and fraud risks, with experience in identifying and escalating issues appropriately within a regulated environment