Innovation Lead - Rail (Maternity Cover)

Innovate UK; United Kingdom; Remote; GBP 57,000; Full time

Job summary

Innovate UK is seeking an Innovation Lead for Rail (Maternity Cover) to manage rail innovation programmes and stakeholder relationships. The role involves delivering strategic solutions to industry challenges while ensuring project success. This is a unique opportunity to impact the UK's rail industry positively.

Benefits

30 days annual leave

Flexible working hours

Defined benefit pension scheme

Qualifications

• Degree level in relevant discipline is essential.
• Strong business experience, familiarity with innovation in rail, and stakeholder management skills required.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and engage with senior government stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Deliver rail innovation programmes and manage key stakeholder relationships.
• Develop strategic interventions for industry challenges and commercial opportunities.
• Oversee a portfolio of live rail projects ensuring successful delivery.

Skills

Stakeholder management

Project management

Strategic thinking

Excellent communication

Education

Degree level in relevant science, engineering or related discipline

Job description

Innovation Lead - Rail (Maternity Cover) page is loaded

Innovation Lead - Rail (Maternity Cover)

Apply locations UK - Field Based time type Full time posted on Posted 10 Days Ago time left to apply End Date: July 23, 2025 (4 days left to apply) job requisition id JR4171

Innovate UK has the following secondment opportunity available for employees of Innovate UK Business Connect:

Applications must be submitted by

23-07-2025

Innovation Lead - Rail (Maternity Cover)

As an Innovation Lead, the role holder will work with others to deliver rail innovation programmes.

This includes working closely with funders and other key stakeholders to develop strategic interventions in response to industry challenges and commercial opportunities.

*Please note this advert will close on the 22nd July 2025 at 23.59pm.

Watch our video “Why Join Innovate UK?” here .

Title: Innovation Lead - Rail (Maternity Cover)

Band: UKRI Band F (UKRI Ts & Cs)

Salary: £56,745 gross per annum

Reports to: Head of Land Transport

Location: Field based

Contract: Fixed Term Until (31/12/2025)

Employees applying for any opportunity which may mean being away from your substantive role for a temporary period of time, please refer to the Recruitment Policy for further information in the first instance. If you are made an offer, please ensure you liaise with your Line Manager and the designated HR Team as soon as possible in order that implications of any move are clear and understood, prior to a move taking place.

Innovate UK recognises the importance of work-life balance and we will be happy to discuss any requests for flexible working arrangements.

Context:

Sitting in Innovate UK’s Net Zero Domain, the Land and Maritime Transport team work to support industry led innovative research and development in the UK Automotive, Freight, Rail, Maritime, EV Infrastructure and Connected Transport sectors.

The team invests to de-risk high potential innovation projects that focus on areas of UK innovation excellence and strong global opportunity. We enable industry to develop products and services of the future to accelerate UK business growth and deliver economic and social benefit to the UK. We aim to help the UK become a global leader in mobility innovation across all forms of transport, building a coherent, supportive environment enabling people and businesses to innovate.

The Land and Maritime Transport team positioned ~£350m of R&D funding to the UK’s transport eco system each year. We continue to deliver one of the most significant areas of activity within Innovate UK and we play a vital role with the UK’s mobility funding ecosystem.

The team works with the partners across government and internationally.

We particularly welcome female applicants as women are under-represented within Innovate UK in this type of role.

The Team:

The role holder will provide maternity leave cover for an important member of the Rail team within the team at Innovate UK. Responsible for delivering Rail Innovation programmes on behalf of the Department for Transport, and others as required, and directly supporting the rail industry, a critical component in the Nation’s transport infrastructure. This role delivers an opportunity to make a significant difference to the capability of the rail industry.

Job Purpose:

As an Innovation Lead, the role holder will work with others to deliver rail innovation programmes.

This includes working closely with funders and other key stakeholders to develop strategic interventions in response to industry challenges and commercial opportunities.

The role holder will ensure the portfolio of projects and programmes deliver successfully and to budget and help demonstrate impact and highlight success stories from the intervention.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities:

• Build and maintain strong relationships with funders of rail innovation including the Department for Transport and other partners such as Network Rail and HS2
• Be an Innovate UK ‘expert’ for innovation in rail, supporting the translation of rail policy and industry strategy into funding interventions that deliver the desired impact
• Scope, plan and deliver activities which support the rail portfolio, the organisations involved and our funders as to maximise the rail team’s value proposition.
• Proactively manage the portfolio of live rail projects maintaining demonstrable control including appropriate reporting to funders and other key stakeholders
• Understanding the financial forecasts of the portfolio and support the accurate programme level forecast, managing this against budget
• Support project participants to maximise their return on investment during and after project completion
• Develop robust evidence of the value if the investment including developing success stories, and support impact analysis with economists
• Build strong relationships with relevant bodies and networks such as businesses, trade associations, Catapults, government departments and agencies, private investors, regulatory bodies and research organisations.
• Represent Innovate UK and UKRI at leading industry events, raising awareness of the innovation opportunities that exist through the fund and connect activities.
• Contribute to the wider implementation of Innovate UK and UKRI strategy; supporting colleagues in the implementation of their programmes where appropriate

This is not an exhaustive list and you might be encouraged to undertake any other duties across the wider directorate, commensurate with the Band and level of responsibility of this post, for which the post holder has the key experience and/or training.

Shortlisting criteria

(S) – Assessed at shortlisting

(I) – Assessed at interview

(S&I) – Assessed at both shortlisting and interview

Person Specification:

This position requires a person with commercial awareness who can manage competing priorities and a complex stakeholder environment.The post holder will need to make sense of multiple data sources, to establish underlying patterns and articulate a clear and compelling vision of what needs to be done. They will require excellent prioritisation skills and an underlying ability for end-to-end programme management.They are expected to lead the thinking in their particular area of domain expertise, inputting to the creation and implementation of national strategies where appropriate. They should be confident in developing senior industry and government engagements but work equally well in a highly cooperative way with internal Innovate UK staff and wider field-based teams. A good team player, willing to share knowledge on resource efficiency with others and to learn from them.Able to self-start and take proactive steps when needed to deliver for a technical and demanding sector.

Experience & Qualifications:

Essential –

• Degree level in relevant science, engineering or related discipline (or equivalent experience) (S)
• Strong business experience, having worked in and/or with business (S&I)
• Up-to-date and broad knowledge of innovation in rail (S&I)
• Experience of working across technology fields and the wider industrial landscape in the UK. (S&I)
• Familiarity with the wider research environment. (S&I)
• Demonstrable stakeholder management experience, including working with senior level individuals managing conflicting demands and priorities and building relationships (I)
• Demonstrable influencing skills, influencing groups of stakeholders towards a desired outcome, ideally in an international setting (I)
• Demonstrable programme and/or management experience and record of programme delivery (S&I)

Skills –

• Ability to think and act strategically. (I)
• High degree of organisational ability and attention to detail. (I)
• Ability to prioritize multiple often competing tasks (I)
• Ability to think strategically, but deliver operationally (I)
• IT competency. (S)
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, able to present to a wide range of audiences. (I)
• Excellent interpersonal skills. (I)
• Capable of working unsupervised with the ability to prioritise and multitask (S&I)

Competencies:

All team members demonstrate compatibility with and capability against our Core Competencies such as:

Thinking and Problem Solving – Stakeholder management – Communication skills – Influencing – Self-awareness/self-management – Strategic awareness – Working with others– Project management

Some of the above competencies will be assessed at interview stage, in addition to the criteria’s listed in the person specification.

Travel Requirements:

Field-based: There will a requirement to travel, mostly national, and there is some flexibility in this. Innovate UK staff make extensive use of telepresence tools for meetings to minimise unnecessary travel.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

Innovate UK is a diverse workforce of people. We believe that encouraging these differences and drawing the best from them will build a productive environment in which everyone feels valued, where talents are fully utilised and in which organisational goals are met. Underpinning this is a belief that it is a fundamental right for everyone to be treated equally, with fairness, respect and dignity. We will act directly and use our influence to ensure that this right is promoted and upheld; we encourage applications from all those who meet the criteria set-out in our role profiles.

Equal Opportunities:

We are an equal opportunities employer, committed to employing any person who meets the criteria for our roles. When undertaking recruitment we may require applicants to undertake certain tests or assessments, some of which will be online and others may be in-person. If you have a disability, heath condition or specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia then you may be entitled to support with undertaking this type of assessment exercise. Where you feel that reasonable adjustments are required to support you, we ask that you advise your recruitment point of contact in a timely fashion, providing further information. In confidence, Innovate UK will then review your application for adjustments and provide support as required.

UK Research and Innovation:

Innovate UK is partner organisation within UK Research and Innovation. If successful in securing the position, your employer will be UK Research and Innovation. More information can be found online http://www.ukri.org/ .

Employee Benefits:

We offer a benefits package crafted to provide an excellent work/life balance. This includes 30 days’ annual leave, 10.5 public and privilege days, flexible working hours, an exceptional defined benefit pension scheme, and access to a variety of support networks and discount schemes.

Benefits of working at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

Flexible Working:

We understand the importance of work-life balance, and are happy to discuss the possibility of flexible working with applicants.

Pre-employment Screening:

To enable us to hire the very best people we will conduct a comprehensive pre-employment check on successful applicants as part of the recruitment process.

The role holder will be required to have the appropriate level of security screening/vetting required for the role. UKRI reserves the right to run or re-run security clearance as required during the course of employment.

UKRI supports research in areas that include animal health, agriculture and food security, and bioscience for health which includes research on animals, genetic modification and stem cell research. Whilst you may not have direct involvement in this type of research, you should consider how this aligns with your personal values or beliefs. To enable us to hire the very best people we will conduct a full and comprehensive pre-employment check as a crucial part of the recruitment process on all individuals that are offered a position with UKRI. This will include a security check and an extreme organisations affiliation check.

Applications must be submitted by;

23-07-2025

Welcome and about us

Welcome to the Recruitment Site for Innovate UK Business Connect employees to apply for job opportunities within Innovate UK.

If you are not a Business Connect employee you can view externally available vacancies in Innovate UK here :

These opportunities may be available on a secondment or employment basis. In the case of a secondment your employer will remain Innovate UK Business Connect and an agreement between yourself, Innovate UK and Innovate UK Business Connect will be drawn up setting out the terms of the secondment. Secondments are usually limited to two years. In the case of employment you would leave the employment of Innovate UK Business Connect and take up employment with Innovate UK. Further details for each role, and to agree individual circumstances will be discussed with you during the recruitment process.

Flexible Working:

We understand the importance of work-life balance, and are happy to discuss the possibility of flexible working with applicants.

We strive to make decisions based on individual merit and ability. We welcome applications from all sections of the community and promote equality of opportunity in accordance with the Equality Act 2010. As holders of Disability Confident Employer status, we guarantee to interview all applicants with disabilities who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy. Final appointments will be subject to pre-employment screening. We want to ensure that we select the person that most closely evidences their suitability against the specified criteria. If you feel that the way our selection methods/assessments are structured, could benefit from being adjusted, to help you convey your suitability, please let us know so that we can discuss your requirements with you.

If you require any assistance or adjustments please contact [e-mail] who will be happy to help.

Other information

UKRI supports research in areas that include animal health, agriculture and food security, and bioscience for health which includes research on animals, genetic modification and stem cell research. Whilst you may not have direct involvement in this type of research, you should consider whether this conflicts with your personal values or beliefs.

To enable us to hire the very best people we will conduct a full and comprehensive pre-employment check as an essential part of the recruitment process on all individuals that are offered a position with UKRI. This will include a security check and an extreme organisations affiliation check.

Parking:

Limited parking subject to waiting list (Polaris House, Swindon only)