Business Development and Innovation Manager

NHS; Leeds; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare organization in Leeds is seeking a Business Development and Innovation Manager to lead the delivery of innovative projects and collaborate with industry and academia. The successful candidate will manage partnerships supporting the Health Innovation Leeds Incubator Programme, ensuring successful outcomes. Key qualifications include an undergraduate degree in a related field and proven experience in project management and collaboration. This is a full-time position offered on a fixed-term contract for 3 years.

Qualifications

• Experience managing complex projects within tight timelines.
• Knowledge of the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy.
• Proven ability to develop partnerships and collaborations.

Responsibilities

• Deliver and coordinate the Business Development and Innovation workplan.
• Manage collaborative projects in partnership with Industry and Academia.
• Support companies in accessing NHS expertise for innovation development.

Skills

Project management

Communication skills

Organizational skills

Network development

Commercial awareness

Education

Undergraduate degree in a biomedical or related discipline

PhD in biomedical / clinical / health research

Job description

Business Development and Innovation Manager (XN07)

We have an exciting opportunity to join our R&I team as a Business Development and Innovation Manager. This is a full time post (1.0 WTE) offered on a fixed term basis for 3 years.

The post holder will contribute to the conduct, coordination, and delivery of the Business Development and Innovation Pop Up workplan and will particularly support the delivery of the Health Innovation Leeds Incubator Programme to support companies in West Yorkshire.

The post holder will be responsible for managing the development of collaborative projects in partnership with Industry, Academia and NHS colleagues, following them through to ensure that each project achieves its outputs.

A key aspect of this role will be to support companies to access expertise within the NHS to support innovation development programmes (both in terms of understanding unmet needs and carrying out clinical evaluation) and also to support the adoption of high-impact innovations into the healthcare system.

The post holder will provide an account management function with companies for research and innovation purposes, and rapidly develop a network both externally and internally in the Trust, NHS and local Universities.

If you are interested in the post, we would encourage you to contact the recruiting manager for an informal discussion.

Expected Shortlisting Date

23/02/2026

Planned Interview Date

11/03/2026

Main duties of the job

Are you a self-starter with excellent organisational skills and a strong interest in medical product development and innovation?

Do you have experience of managing a complex portfolio of projects to tight timescales?

Would you like the opportunity to work with partners to deliver the new Health Innovation Leeds Incubator programme?

The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust works with a wide-range of industrial and academic partners to deliver internationally acclaimed research and innovation. The Trust is developing new systems to enable Trust resources to be aligned with key stakeholders in industry, academia and partner organisations in a more coordinated and commercially-focused way.

Working closely with the Head of Business Development and Innovation, the Business Development and Innovation Manager will support the Innovation Pop Up, and provide proactive support to all R&I business development activities, developing strong relationships with the healthtech industry. The post holder will be responsible for managing the development of collaborative projects with Industry, Academia, and NHS teams across the region, following them through to ensure each project achieves its outputs.

A key aspect of this role will be to support companies to access expertise within the NHS to support innovation projects and partnerships, and to support the adoption of high-impact innovations into the healthcare system.

About us

Research is at the heart of our Trust. Leeds Teaching Hospitals is involved in research at all levels, developing and trialling new treatments for patients. We believe that being involved in cutting-edge research helps us provide better care to our patients.

Over the next 5 years, we aim to be the best Trust to deliver high-quality clinical research and to champion research amongst our staff. We also aim to support and grow our world-class clinical infrastructure and assets for research and innovation.

We have a very proactive Research Academy. It offers an extensive programme of education and training tailored to meet the needs of individuals, teams involved in clinical research delivery in Health and Social Care.

Our five Trust values are part of what make us different. They have been developed by our staff. They are:

• Accountable
• Empowered

Leeds Teaching Hospitals is committed to our process of redeploying at-risk members of our existing workforce to new roles. As such, all our job adverts are subject to this policy and we reserve the right to close, delay or remove adverts while this process is completed. If you do experience a delay in the shortlisting stage of the recruitment cycle, please bear with us while this process is completed, and contact the named contact if you have any questions.

Job responsibilities

The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is one of the largest NHS organisations in the UK with an established reputation as a centre of excellence for delivering high quality research and pioneering services at scale. The organisation works with a wide-range of industrial and academic partners to deliver internationally acclaimed research and innovation. The Trust is developing new clinical research and innovation systems to enable Trust resources to be aligned with key stakeholders in industry, academia and partner organisations in a more coordinated and commercially-focused way. These systems will assist in driving business development opportunities for the Trust, play an important part in our ambition to continually improve patient care, and form part of the Trusts response to the Life Sciences Industry Strategy and the Leeds City Region Strategic Innovation Audit.

Working closely with the Head of Business Development and Innovation, the Business Development and Innovation Manager will provide proactive support to all research business development activities within the Trust developing strong relationships with the healthtech and life sciences industry. The post holder will be responsible for managing the development of collaborative projects in partnership with Industry and Academia, following them through to transactions so that each project achieves its outputs.

Person Specification

Skills & behaviours

• Experience of managing a complex portfolio of projects to tight timescales
• Excellent communication skills with an ability to communicate complex matters to a variety of audiences
• A self-starter with excellent organisational skills and the ability to prioritise and balance workload to meet tight deadlines who can work independently as well as part of a team
• Evidence of developing networks and effective working relationships
• Knowledge of the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy
• Knowledge of the NIHR and NHS innovation landscape
• Evidence of recent success in securing financing for collaborative projects, from either private or public funding streams
• Knowledge of best practice in knowledge exchange activities

Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree in a biomedical or related discipline (e.g. BSc, BEng); Masters or other postgraduate qualification and/or demonstrable significant relevant experience commensurate with this post
• PhD in biomedical / clinical / health research

Experience

• Demonstrable knowledge of medical product development and evaluation
• Evidence of developing partnerships and collaborations across a range of stakeholders including industry, academia and healthcare
• The ability to rapidly assess client needs and identify potential solutions
• Knowledge of NHS adoption processes
• Strong commercial awareness with a commitment and proactive approach to high standards of customer service
• An ability to quickly understand information about a wide variety of medical products (e.g. pharmaceutical, medical device, in vitro diagnostic), the condition which they address

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Head of Business Development and Innovation