Head of Development

Malin Group; Glasgow; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

34 days annual leave

Pension contributions

Employee Assistance Programme

Employee discounts

Death In Service

Cycle Scheme and Green Car Benefit

Professional development opportunities

Flexible working – early finish on a,?

Job summary

Malin Group Ltd leads the MSCDC initiative, delivering a marine centre of excellence in Glasgow. The Head of Development will engage SMEs, industry customers, and technology partners to identify real challenges and translate them into practical projects with measurable outcomes.

You will collaborate with universities, NMIS, Catapults and public bodies to secure funding, monitor KPIs, and drive value across Scotland’s maritime supply chain.

Qualifications

• Experience in engineering, manufacturing, technology adoption, innovation or supply-chain development.
• Strong commercial understanding: ROI and payback for SME investments.
• Ability to engage credibly with SMEs and translate challenges into deliverables.
• Good understanding of engineering, manufacturing processes and industrial tech.
• Strong stakeholder-management across industry, academia and public bodies.
• Experience managing projects, budgets, KPIs and reporting.
• Excellent written and verbal communication across technical and non-technical audiences.
• Strong organisation to manage multiple projects and priorities.
• Maritime/defense/advanced-manufacturing experience is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain a pipeline of MSCDC projects with SMEs and industry customers.
• Translate challenges into practical, deliverable projects with high-level viability assessments.
• Enhance evidence base for MSCDC and regional maritime ecosystem.
• Connect SMEs with technical, academic, and funding partners.
• Support project delivery from scoping to successful outcomes.
• Engage with primes and shipyards to identify future supply-chain needs.
• Identify opportunities for sector-wide interventions and collaboration.
• Foster relationships with industry, academia, public bodies and funders.
• Support governance, reporting, and external funding administration.
• Capture lessons to refine the MSCDC operating model.

Skills

SME engagement

Project management

Stakeholder management

Public-sector funding

Engineering knowledge

Communication

Budgeting

Education

Engineering degree

HNC/HND or equivalent

Job description

About The Role

Scottish Marine Technology Park (SMTP) is a large-scale infrastructure programme, designed to deliver a marine centre of excellence on the former Carless site in Old Kilpatrick. The site will be anchored by the Maritime Supply Chain Development Centre (MSCDC) that will function in partnership with the University of Strathclyde and other industry, academic and public-sector partners to strengthen the capability, productivity and competitiveness of Scotland's maritime supply chain. The project is at the forefront of Malin Group's strategic mission to be an agent for positive change for the Scottish Marine Engineering Industry and to help grow the marine sector on the Clyde.

The MSCDC is intended to provide practical, responsive and implementable support to SMEs and the wider maritime supply chain, helping businesses to adopt appropriate technologies, improve processes and systems, develop new capability and respond to emerging market opportunities. The Investment Zone soft-start funding allows the technical proposition of the MSCDC to be developed, tested, refined and demonstrated in advance of the physical facility becoming operational. This phase of work will demonstrate measurable value to participating businesses and funding partners. This includes financial monitoring of MSCDC costs.

The postholder will engage directly with SMEs, supply-chain companies, major industry customers and technology partners to identify real operational, productivity and capability challenges. They will translate those challenges into clearly defined projects and connect businesses with the technical expertise, facilities, funding and delivery partners required to implement solutions.

The Head of Development will act as a bridge between industry demand and the wider innovation ecosystem, ensuring that MSCDC activity is driven by genuine market requirements and produces measurable economic and operational outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and maintain a pipeline of MSCDC projects through proactive engagement with SMEs, supply-chain companies and major industry customers.
• Engage with businesses to understand operational, productivity, technology and capability challenges and translate these into practical, deliverable projects including high-level assessments of commercial viability.
• Continually build and enhance the evidence base for MSCDC and the unique place that it occupies in the regional maritime ecosystem alongside industry, academic research provider, RTOs, funders, and other maritime sector focused research, innovation and translation entities.
• Connect SMEs with appropriate technical, academic, innovation, skills and funding partners, including the University of Strathclyde, NMIS, Catapults and public support bodies.
• Support the delivery of projects from initial scoping through implementation, ensuring agreed objectives, budgets, timescales and outcomes are achieved.
• Engage with primes, shipyards and other major customers to understand future supply-chain requirements and identify opportunities for Scottish SMEs.
• Identify common industry challenges and opportunities for collaborative or sector-wide interventions.
• Develop strong relationships across industry, academia, supply chain, further education, government and economic-development organisations.
• Support the identification and administration of appropriate external funding and ensure relevant governance and reporting requirements are met.
• Monitor and report MSCDC activity, expenditure, KPIs and outcomes to the MSCDC Board and relevant funding stakeholders.
• Capture lessons from the soft-start phase to help refine the long-term MSCDC operating model.

Skills, Qualifications And Experience

• Relevant experience in engineering, manufacturing, technology adoption, innovation or supply-chain development.
• Strong commercial understanding, including the ability to assess SME investment in high-value equipment or technology against utilisation, productivity gains, payback and return on investment.
• Ability to engage credibly with SMEs, understand operational challenges and translate these into practical, deliverable projects.
• Good understanding of engineering, manufacturing processes and industrial technology.
• Strong stakeholder-management skills, with experience working across industry, academia, public-sector bodies and technical partners.
• Experience managing projects, budgets, KPIs and reporting requirements.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple businesses, projects and competing priorities.
• Maritime, shipbuilding, defence, offshore energy or advanced-manufacturing experience would be advantageous.
• Experience of public-sector funding, innovation programmes or working with universities, NMIS, Catapults or similar organisations would be advantageous.
• A degree, HNC/HND or equivalent professional experience in an appropriate discipline such as,Engineering or manufacturing,Naval architecture or marine engineering,Technology or innovation management,Business or operations management.

Where You Will Be Working

Malin Group Ltd are based at the iconic South Rotunda building on the South bank of the River Clyde. The South Rotunda remains an iconic landmark in Glasgow, representing both the city's rich industrial past and its vibrant present.

How You’ll Be Rewarded

As well as a competitive salary, we offer a wide range of benefits that you can choose from and tailor to your needs.

• 34 days annual leave, with an additional day off on your birthday
• Competitive pension contributions
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Employee discounts
• Death In Service
• Cycle Scheme and Green Car Benefit
• Opportunities for professional development and career progression
• Flexible working - with the option to finish at lunchtime on a Friday

Malin Group Ltd is an equal opportunity employer and value diversity. We welcome candidates from all backgrounds and characteristics covered under the Equality Act to ensure a strong team demographic.