Innovation jobs in United Kingdom

About the Organisation Spring is the open-innovation hub for the UK and Irish water sector. We work at the centre of a rapidly changing industry that is shaped by climate change, growing populations, ageing infrastructure and increasing public scrutiny.

• Our vision is to become global leaders in open innovation.
• Our aim is to attract, connect and support the brightest thinkers, both within and beyond the sector, so that transformation can happen more quickly.
• Our objective is to centralise innovation intelligence for the UK water sector.

As Head of Service Strategy, you will be responsible for shaping, overseeing, and continually refining Spring's service strategy. You will translate vision into structured service portfolios, ensuring each element is clearly defined, aligned with organisational priorities, and delivering measurable value across the water sector. Reporting directly to the Managing Director and sitting on the senior leadership team, you will work closely with the Head of Operations and the Delivery Manager to ensure coherence between strategy, operations, and delivery. The role will line‑manage one direct report and will be measured by clarity of Spring's service offer, sector adoption, and the alignment you create between strategic ambition and operational delivery.

Your core accountability is to turn strategic ambition into a clear, prioritised, and credible set of services that deliver measurable value to the sector.

• A senior strategic leadership role with immediate accountability.
• Ownership of Spring's service portfolio, including purpose, prioritisation, and evidencing value (metrics and reporting).
• Translating vision into structured services, roadmaps, and investment decisions.
• Leading business cases, value propositions, financial logic, and performance measures.
• Engaging directly with water companies, funding providers, regulators, and stakeholders.
• Making and defending prioritisation trade‑offs in complex, ambiguous environments.
• Leading service change, including scaling, refocusing, or retiring services, making hard prioritisation decisions across multiple services.
• Line‑managing a direct report and setting clear strategic direction.

This role requires immediate strategic credibility. We are open to candidates who meet the role strongly overall, where any development needs are modest and quickly addressable. There is limited capacity for intensive development or step‑up into the role.

• Not a programme or project management role.
• Not an IT, digital, or technical delivery position.
• Not a consultancy or advisory‑only role.

You are likely to be a strong fit if you:

• Have already operated at service or portfolio leadership level, not just contributed analysis.
• Can clearly articulate strategy, prioritisation, outcomes, and value at senior level.
• Are confident handling challenge, disagreement, and conflict with senior stakeholders.
• Have built and defended business cases and investment decisions.
• Can operate with authority in ambiguity and simplify complex issues quickly.
• Are credible with executives, funding providers, and delivery teams alike.
• Can operate under senior‑level challenge and scrutiny without reliance on close support or development.

Water‑sector experience is helpful but not essential. Senior‑level judgement and clarity are.

This role is not suitable if you:

• Are seeking your first senior strategy or portfolio leadership role.
• Have primarily worked in tightly defined, low‑ambiguity environments.
• Prefer advisory influence without direct accountability for outcomes.

The salary range for this role is £65,000-£75,000.

We recognise that some candidates with comparable senior experience may command higher packages in larger organisations. This role offers senior influence, autonomy, and impact within a small, high‑trust organisation at the centre of sector change.

• Rolling interviews. We will assess applications as they are received.
• Shortlisted candidates will complete an early capability assessment designed to test the following - maturity, clarity of thinking, and senior‑level judgement.
• A full Job Role Outline will be made available.