Innovation Consultant

Newcastle University; Newcastle upon Tyne; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 35,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous holiday package

Blended working & flexible hours

Excellent pension schemes

Health & wellbeing initiatives

Job summary

Newcastle University is seeking an Innovation Consultant for a maternity cover post with the UK’s National Innovation Centre for Ageing (NICA). You will deliver innovation projects for businesses, apply human-centred design methods, and collaborate with a citizens insight network to translate needs into client-ready outputs.

You will work under the Senior Innovation Consultant and contribute to theory-grounded processes while growing expertise in ageing and longevity innovation.

Qualifications

• Experience applying human-centred design methods in practice, ideally with older adults.
• Ability to translate insights into engaging client outputs.
• Experience working with commercial clients in a consultancy-type role.

Responsibilities

• Attend scoping and discovery sessions with clients to capture findings.
• Plan approach with Senior Innovation Consultants and build design toolkit.
• Structure work to deliver on project plans and milestones.
• Assist with interviews, workshops, and panels to gather citizen insights.
• Produce outputs and case studies presenting key findings to audiences.
• Support marketing and communications with media material.

Skills

Multidisciplinary team

Growth mindset

Stakeholder engagement

Citizen insights

Presenting to audiences

Communication skills

IT proficiency

Education

Degree in innovation/design/social science/tech

Tools

Microsoft Office

Adobe Creative Suite

Job description

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Salary: £32,080 to £33,002 with progression to £34,610 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits . We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: Friday 05 October 2026

The Role

Thank you for your interest in joining the UK’s National Innovation Centre for Ageing (NICA).

Please note this is a Maternity cover post until August 2027

We are looking for an Innovation Consultant to join our team. You will have a passion for, and proven experience of, delivering innovation projects to support businesses in harnessing new opportunities. You will be curious with a growth mindset and inspire others around you with fresh ideas. You will have an understanding of and experience in applying human-centred design methods and processes in practice – ideally with older adults - and enjoy working in a collaborative, multidisciplinary team.

Reporting to a Senior Innovation Consultant, you will be an integral part of the NICA team, supporting the successful delivery of projects. You will achieve this by working closely with our citizens insight network, VOICE, to gain a deep understanding of the needs, wants, desires and motivations of older adults and the people in their lives, helping to translate these insights into engaging, high-quality outputs for client delivery.

Our mission is to create a world in which we all live better, for longer. We work with innovation and commercialisation experts, industry, academics, research and technology organisations and citizens, to develop solutions that enhance life as we age, promoting a positive impact on society at scale. You will find us at the heart of the Newcastle Helix development, in the award winning Catalyst building. To learn more about us and what we do click here.

The UK’s National Innovation Centre for Ageing at Newcastle University has been funded by Government and the University. We are committed to the professional career development of all our colleagues. You will benefit from a range of excellent development opportunities including internal and external training, access to specialist networking groups and opportunities to gain experience in the wider space of ageing longevity innovation and commercialisation. We provide a great range of benefits and discounts for all colleagues at Newcastle University, including the opportunity for blended working and flexible hours.You can learn more about what is available on our BenefitsWebsite page .

• Attend and contribute to scoping and discovery sessions with clients to capture findings to inform proposals
• Work with Senior Innovation Consultants to plan the approach and build the design toolkit to successfully deliver projects
• Structure your work in line with project plans to deliver on key metrics and milestones
• Attend and contribute to client progress meetings
• Assist with the planning and facilitation of interviews, workshops and panels to gather citizen insights that communicate the wants, needs and desires of potential users
• Carry out desk-based research and analysis, drawing on a wide range of resources
• Contribute to the production of detailed outputs, reports and case studies that collate information from a variety of sources and present key findings to a range of audiences
• Provide content for marketing and communications staff in the preparation of media and press releases
• Contribute to and help further develop our processes and methodologies
• Be curious and work towards becoming an expert in the areas of ageing and longevity
• Any other duties as specified commensurate with the grade

The Person

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Experience of working with commercial clients - preferably in a consultancy-type role
• Experience of working as part of a multidisciplinary, creative team to deliver engaging, high-quality outputs
• High level of organisational and time management skills with the ability to manage a range of tasks simultaneously
• Experience of applying human-centred design methods and processes in practice – ideally with older adults - through a variety of design methods such as interviews, workshops and citizen panels
• Experience of presenting to audiences, both in person and remotely
• Excellent teamworking with a positive attitude and willingness to share ideas and learn from others
• Proven experience of a range of IT programmes, especially Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suite
• Willingness to travel nationally and internationally, if required
• Experience or understanding of the opportunities and challenges of working in healthy ageing and longevity
• Experience of conducting trend analysis and developing future forecasts
• Experience of running prototype and product testing with end users
• Experience working with survey software, video software and graphic design tools to translate data into compelling insights that tell a story

Attributes and Behaviour

Projecting confidence:

• Projects a positive attitude through personal confidence and enthusiasm to achieve organisational success. Inspires the trust and confidence of others

Planning and organising:

• Manages time and resources by prioritising and organising effectively. Monitors and controls the workflow of the team

Finds solutions:

• Draws on experience and creative thinking to generate a range of viable options and decide on the most appropriate course of action to problem-solve and achieve objectives

Seeks inspiration:

• Seeks out fresh ideas and emerging innovations from a wide range of sources to build knowledge and inspire others. Connects the dots and understands the implications for ageing and longevity

Teamworking:

• Works collaboratively with others, plays a positive role in teams and establishes and grows relationships across the organisation where different skills, expertise and opinions are valued

Qualifications

• Educated to degree standard in an innovation, design, social science or technology discipline or similar or an equivalent qualification and/or significant appropriate work experience

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a Gold Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.