Industrial Transformation Lead

WM5G; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

WM5G is seeking an Industrial Transformation Lead to drive the 5G AIM project and build a scalable Industrial Transformation offering. You will lead multi-stakeholder collaboration with manufacturers, vendors and funders to translate innovation into market-ready services.

The role focuses on delivering contractual objectives, developing the business plan, and testing market opportunities to scale WM5G’s private network and AI-enabled industrial solutions across the UK manufacturing sector.

Qualifications

• Significant experience leading complex technology projects.
• Experience in Industrial IoT or advanced manufacturing domains.
• Experience with publicly funded projects, grants or innovation initiatives.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead the delivery of the AIM project and ensure contracted outputs are met on time and to budget.
• Develop and refine commercialisation strategies, post-project services and routes to market.
• Manage stakeholder relationships with partners, funders and regional authorities.
• Oversee business planning, market testing and the growth of WM5G's Industrial Transformation services.

Skills

Project leadership

Commercial awareness

Market development

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Degree-level qualification

Job description

Contract: Fixed term contract to March 2028 – with option to extend by mutual agreement

Context

WM5G is looking for a driven Industrial Transformation Lead to lead our 5G Assured Integration for Manufacturing (AIM) project & to build our Industrial Transformation business to accelerate the transformation of advanced manufacturers through Industrial IoT, data, AI & advanced connectivity.

The West Midlands was at the heart of the Industrial Revolution and today it’s at the forefront of the advanced manufacturing sector in the UK – a vital sector in the Industrial Strategy with accounting for £24 billion GVA and 280k jobs in the region.

WM5G is an independent non-for-profit company working in partnership with private & public sector organisations to prove, deliver & embed the benefits from innovative connected solutions and digital transformation. Over the last seven years we’ve worked in partnership with manufacturers in the aerospace & automotive sectors to pioneer Industry 4.0 use cases, benefits evidence & adoption. This culminated in the launch of the UK’s first large-scale retrofit private 5G network and IoT solution at JLR’s plant in Solihull last year – delivered in partnership with Ericsson & others.

Now WM5G has secured funding to accelerate the adoption of private networks within UK manufacturers by supporting the integration testing and introduction of additional vendors into the ecosystem & thereby support large & medium-sized manufacturers to adopt private networks as part of their AI & industrial IoT transformations. The project will establish a repeatable assurance-led approach that reduces barriers to deployment & provides organisations with confidence in multi-vendor private 5G solutions.

The initial focus of this role will be to lead the successful delivery & commercial development of the AIM project. The role will play a key part in ensuring project outputs are translated into market-ready services that support wider adoption of private network solutions across UK industry. The successful candidate will also lead the development of the business plan, market testing and development for WM5G’s Industrial Transformation businesses and offer – with potential to grow a new business line for WM5G.

Purpose

The purpose of this exciting role is twofold: First to lead the successful delivery of the AIM project against its contractual objectives – working closely with vendors, manufacturers, delivery partners, Government, regional stakeholders and others – to deliver the target outcomes & deliverables, on-time, to quality & on budget. A key measure of success will be the creation of a validated route to market & sustainable operating model that enables WM5G to generate post-project impact, customer adoption & future revenue opportunities.

Secondly to lead the development of the business plan, market testing & development for WM5G’s Industrial Transformation businesses & offer – with potential to grow a new business for WM5G if successful. The postholder will work closely with partners, funders, industry stakeholders & the WM5G leadership team to translate innovation activity into scalable and commercially viable products, services & future opportunities.

Responsibilities

Project Leadership and Delivery

Lead the successful delivery of strategic WM5G programmes and projects, initially focused on the AIM project. Ensure all contracted outputs, outcomes and benefits are delivered on time, within budget and to the required quality standards, working collaboratively with delivery partners, stakeholders and funders.

Key responsibilities include:

• Project Planning & Governance: Develop & maintain robust project plans, delivery schedules, budgets, risk registers & governance processes to ensure effective project control & reporting.
• Project Design & Development: Support the design & refinement of project scope, objectives, delivery models, success measures and implementation plans, ensuring alignment with strategic priorities.
• Project Mobilisation: Establish project governance, stakeholder engagement structures, delivery partnerships, resources & operational processes to enable successful project launch.
• Project Delivery & Performance Management: Manage day-to-day project delivery, monitoring progress against milestones, budgets, risks & outcomes. Implement corrective actions where required to maintain delivery performance.
• Stakeholder & Partner Management: Build & maintain effective relationships with project partners, suppliers, funders & internal stakeholders, ensuring strong collaboration and alignment throughout delivery.
• Risk, Issue & Change Management: Identify, assess & manage project risks, issues, dependencies and change requests, escalating where appropriate and ensuring mitigation plans are implemented.
• Commercial & Market Development: Lead development & delivery of the commercialisation strategy throughout the project lifecycle. Develop a post-project commercial sustainability plan to maximise the long-term value and impact of project outputs. Translate project outputs into scalable, market-ready services & propositions that support wider adoption of private 5G and SNPN solutions. Develop business cases, operating models, routes to market & pricing approaches for future service delivery. Assess market demand, engage prospective customers, adopters and ecosystem partners, & develop a pipeline of commercial opportunities to validate and scale the post-project service offering.
• Reporting and Assurance: Prepare high-quality reports, presentations & performance updates for senior leadership, funders, boards & governance groups, providing clear evidence of progress, outcomes & impact.
• Project Closure and Benefits Realisation: Lead project closure activities, including evaluation, lessons learned, benefits tracking & the transition of project outputs into sustainable business-as-usual operations.

Business planning, market testing & business development

Secondly to lead the development of the business plan, market testing and development for WM5G’s Industrial Transformation businesses and offer. This includes:

• Business Planning and Strategy Development: Support the development & ongoing refinement of business plans, commercial models & growth strategies for WM5G's Industrial Transformation services & propositions.
• Market testing: Gather customer insights, plan & execute pragmatic market testing to validate demand for target offer & funding opportunities for MVP.
• Business Development & Opportunity Generation: Identify, develop & progress new business opportunities, partnerships, funding opportunities & routes to market that support the growth & sustainability of WM5G's services.

Experience

• 1.Significant experience leading complex technology solutions projects or innovation initiatives.
• 2.Significant experience in the Industrial IoT, advanced manufacturing or enterprise telecoms solutions sectors
• 4.Experience managing budgets, risks, dependencies & delivery performance.
• 5.Experience working with publicly funded projects, grants or innovation projects.
• 6.Experience developing, testing & commercialising innovative products, services or propositions, including taking concepts through validation, market engagement & adoption.
• 7.Experience developing business cases, routes to market & revenue generation strategies.
• 8.Experience engaging with senior stakeholders across public and private sectors.
• 1.Experience of private 5G, mobile networks, industrial digitalisation or emerging technology markets.
• 2.Experience working within the UK manufacturing ecosystem, including manufacturers, industrial innovation programmes, testbeds, industry-led R&D initiatives or technology adoption programmes, supported by strong stakeholder networks and relationships.
• 3.Experience working with Innovate UK, DSIT, UKRI or similar funding bodies.

Skills

• Strong project leadership & delivery skills.
• Commercial awareness & the ability to develop viable market opportunities.
• Ability to translate innovation outputs into commercially sustainable services.
• Strong analytical, organisational & problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication, presentation & influencing skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• High attention to detail and quality standards.

Qualifications

• Degree-level qualification or equivalent professional experience.
• Commercial, business or innovation-related qualifications (desirable).

Scope of Role

Budget accountability

Responsible for delivery budgets and commercial workstreams as assigned

Headcount of team

Matrix management of project teams, consortium partners and subcontractors

Decision making

Can make decisions according to the delegated authority matrix

Equality and Diversity

It is important all staff feel valued & respected. As an employer, we embrace & value individual differences & will continue to implement policies that recognise individual‐needs - flexible working & family friendly policies, fair recruitment practices, equality training & equality impact assessment of policies & procedures to ensure they are fit for purpose. We are committed to developing an organisation that is representative of the diverse communities we serve & encourage applications from women who are under‐represented at this level of seniority.