Program Manager

STFC; Warrington; Sur place; GBP 47 000 - 51 000; Plein temps

Avantages offerts par ce poste

30 days holiday

Defined pension scheme

Public transport access

Learning & development

Cycle to work

Résumé du poste

STFC at Daresbury Laboratory in Warrington is seeking a Programme Manager to lead the DTC site and oversee Biotech and Health tech programmes. You will liaise with the Head of the DTC and collaborate with peers to ensure successful delivery and impact across multiple startups.

You will manage one direct report and work with colleagues handling finance, contracts, and administration, spending at least three days on-site weekly and travelling within the UK.

Qualifications

• Experience with technology-based SMEs and know-how to bring a product to market (incubation/tech transfer desirable).
• Ability to evaluate startup plans for team, value proposition and market fit; provide actionable feedback.
• Business development experience with a track record of growing a pipeline.
• Proven ability to own and manage projects/programmes to time and budget.
• Strong organisational skills, prioritisation and stakeholder management.

Responsabilités

• Lead DTC operations and support new programmes at Daresbury.
• Agree and deliver targets for DTC programmes at Daresbury.
• Ensure high-quality deal-flow by identifying applicants and guiding submissions.
• Oversee start-ups’ engagements and maximise use of provided support.
• Manage relationships with co-funding partners and periodic reporting.
• Cultivate regional business-support networks and collaborations.
• Collaborate with STFC marketing/comms to promote impact.
• Work with STFC clusters to maximise programme impact.
• Produce timely business and financial reports; support strategy refresh.
• Support the DTC Lead in developing Biotech and Health programme strategy.

Connaissances

Technology-based SMEs experience

Business plan evaluation

Business development

Project/programme management

Organisational skills

Communication & networking

Travel flexibility

Description du poste

Salary: £46,743 - £51,036 gross per annum (dependent on skills and experience)

Contract Type: 23 Month Fixed Term Contract

Hours: Full-Time(We understand the importance of work-life balance, and offer flexible working, but do require at least 3 days a week on-site)

Location: Science and Technology Facilities Council, Daresbury Laboratory, Warrington

Together, our scientists, technologists, engineers and business support team explore the unknown and turn what they find into work that changes the world around us. Whether it’s sending probes into space or finding new ways to treat cancer, everyone here plays a vital role in making a positive difference to society.

Come and discover how much you can achieve when you’re surrounded by world-leading experts, encouraged to constantly learn and empowered to explore your curiosity!

About Us:

The DeepTech Catalyst (DTC) helps UK technology start-ups and SMEs to grow bigger, faster and get their game-changing innovations into the real world. It is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), which invests almost £10Bn each year to advance knowledge, improve lives, and drive economic growth across the UK.

The DTC is recognized as one of Europe’s leading startup hubs (Financial Times, 2026) and has a 15-year track record of supporting UK start-ups. The DTC spans four locations at STFC Harwell Campus, STFC Daresbury Laboratory, STFC Higgs Innovation Centre in Edinburgh and at the University of Leicester.

About the Role:

As the Programmes Manager, you will be a key member of the DTC Team. You will be the DTC Site Lead at Daresbury and will lead DTC programmes in Biotech (DTC Bio) and Health tech (DTC Health and NHS). You will liaise with the Head of the DTC (your line manager) and will work collaboratively with two other Programmes Managers and site leads in Harwell and Edinburgh to ensure the overall success of the DTC. You will manage one direct report and will team up with two colleagues who manage financial, contractual and administration matters for the DTC at Daresbury.

This exciting and dynamic role will involve working closely with more than 20 different Health and Biotech start-ups every year to support them along their innovation journeys – from developing new cancer diagnostics to making better-tasting coffee, without the coffee beans. You will have overall responsibility for running the DTC site at Daresbury, ensuring that local targets are met.

Key Responsibilities Include:

• Lead the current DTC operations and support the development of new support programmes at Daresbury.
• Agree and deliver all targets for the DTC programmes at Daresbury (e.g., # start-ups joining, % graduation rates, # case studies, impact created, etc.).
• Ensure a high-quality deal-flow of applications DTC programmes by identifying potential applicants and supporting them to develop and submit competitive applications to the programme.
• Ensure that start-ups supported by the DTC Daresbury programmes complete their engagements with the DTC and fully exploit the technical and business support on offer.
• Own the operational relationships and day-to-day information sharing with colleagues at our co-funding partners, including UKRI-BBSRC and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (this includes periodic reporting on programme progress).
• Cultivate relationships with regional organisations in the North West providing business support, funding and investment to start-ups.
• Collaborate with STFC and co-funder Marketing and Comms teams to promote the impact of the DTC (quantitative and anecdotal).
• Work closely with STFC’s cluster development teams to maximise the impact of our support for technology businesses.
• Produce timely, complete and appropriate business, financial and operational reports as required.
• Support the DTC Lead to develop and refresh the overall strategy for Biotech and Health programmes.

The role will be primarily based at the Sci-Tech Daresbury campus in Cheshire with the expectation that you will spend at least 3 days per week on-site. The role will also require occasional travel in the UK and potentially abroad.

Person Specification:

The below criteria will be scored during Shortlisting (S), Interview (I) or both (S&I).

• Experience of working with technology-based SMEs and knowledge of the support that they require to take a product to market, ideally through previous experience in business incubation and/or technology transfer, and ideally in the biotech and health tech domains. (S&I)
• Ability to evaluate the quality and maturity of start-up business plans (e.g. start-up team & skills, value proposition and product/market fit, go to market approach, etc.) and to provide constructive, action-oriented feedback and recommendations. (S&I)
• Business development experience with demonstratable evidence of growing and managing a pipeline of business opportunities. (S&I)
• A track record in owning and managing one or more projects / programmes to time and on budget. (S&I)
• Good organisational skills such as prioritization, resource management, and stakeholder management. (S&I)
• Excellent communication, networking and presentation skills, including the ability to interface between technical and commercial audiences. (I)
• Ability to travel within the UK and abroad. (I)

Employee Benefits:

We are offering this position with a whole host of benefits including:

• 30 days holiday (in addition to 10.5 bank holidays and privilege days).
• An excellent defined salary pension scheme.
• Easily accessible public transport links/ free parking.
• Excellent learning and development opportunities.
• Cycle to work scheme.

Link to more benefits: https://stfccareers.co.uk/rewards-and-benefits/

Please note, if you will require sponsorship to work in the UK, as part of your sponsorship application, you and any dependants travelling with you, will be required to pay costs directly to The Home Office for the application before you start your role with us. UKRI is normally able to reimburse some, or all of these fees after you have become an employee and this can be discussed with the Hiring Manager. For more information, please visit https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa/how-much-it-costs or contact [e-mail].

Join us and discover what's possible!

About Us

UKRI - UK Research and Innovation

UKRI is an organisation that brings together the seven disciplinary research councils, Research England and Innovate UK. Together, we build an independent organisation with a strong voice and vision ensuring the UK maintains its world-leading position in research and innovation.

Supporting some of the world’s most exciting and challenging research projects, we develop and operate some of the most remarkable scientific facilities in the world. We are pushing the frontiers of human knowledge through fundamental research and delivering benefits for UK society and the economy through world-class research, skills and business-led innovation.

More information can be found at www.ukri.org.

Choosing to come to work at UKRI means that you will have access to a whole host of benefits from a defined benefit pension scheme, excellent holiday entitlement, access to employee shopping/travel discounts and salary sacrifice cycle to work scheme. For more details, visit benefits of working for UKRI.

How we support EDI in the workforce

At UKRI, we believe that everyone has a right to be treated with dignity and respect, and to be provided with equal opportunities to thrive and succeed in an environment that enables them to do so. We also value diversity of thought and experience within inclusive groups, organisations and the wider community. For further information, please visit ‘How we support EDI in the workforce’.

Disability Confident Employer

As users of the disability confident scheme, any candidate who opts into the scheme and best meets the essential criteria, will be shortlisted for interview. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

About the Team

The Science and Technology Facilities Council is a world-leading multi-disciplinary science organisation where curiosity-driven, blue-skies thinking meets practical, application-led science and engineering. Our goal is to deliver economic, societal, scientific and international benefits to the UK and its people – and more broadly to the world.

One of Europe’s largest research organisations, we’re trusted to support, enable and undertake cutting-edge projects in an amazing diversity of fields. Through world-class facilities and people, we’re driving ground-breaking advances in science, engineering, computing and technology. Our research seeks to understand the Universe from the largest astronomical scales to the tiniest constituents of matter, yet creates impact on a very tangible, human scale.

For more information about STFC please visit https://stfc.ukri.org/

• You can also visit our careers site https://www.stfccareers.co.uk/