Innovation Lead Advanced Connectivity Technologies

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

Applications must be submitted by

08-05-2026

Innovation Lead Advanced Connectivity Technologies

As an Innovation Lead, you will be responsible for developing and delivering specific interventions that support the implementation of an innovation strategy for the ACT sector, working with partners across government, industry and academia.

*Please note this advert will close on the 7th May 2026 at 23.59pm.

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

Title:                  Innovation Lead Advanced Connectivity Technologies

Band:                UKRI Band F (UKRI Ts & Cs)

Salary:              £58,589 gross per annum

Reports to:     Head of Advanced Connectivity Technologies

Location:        Field based

Contract:        Permanent

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

Job Purpose:

As an Innovation Lead, you will be responsible for developing and delivering specific interventions that support the implementation of an innovation strategy for the ACT sector, working with partners across government, industry and academia.

ACT are an important enabling technology for many UK industries, as recognised in the UK Industrial Strategy. They provide the connectivity capabilities that support a wide range of products and services used across modern society.

This role will work as part of the ACT team at Innovate UK, supporting activities that help grow the UK’s ACT sector and encourage the commercialisation of these technologies. The role holder will report to the Head of ACTS and work closely with colleagues across UKRI, including other research councils and sector teams.

The role will involve collaborating with organisations across industry, academia, government and the wider ACT ecosystem. This includes supporting the coordination and delivery of initiatives that help connect research, innovation and industry opportunities.

The successful candidate will have an interest in innovation and technology and an understanding of how ideas move from research into real-world use. They should be comfortable working with a range of stakeholders, have good communication skills, and contribute to team activities that support the wider ACT programme and strategy.

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

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities:

• Act as a key member of the Innovate UK team for the sector, and a primary point of contact for businesses and stakeholders related to your specific programme areas.
• Support the Head of ACTS with the ongoing development and implementation of the innovation strategy for your sector.
• Ensure implementation of the strategy to enable industry to develop and commercialise new products, processes, business models and services.
• Ensure that your understanding of the sector remains up to date as technologies and markets evolve, feeding this intelligence into strategy refreshes.
• Lead on the delivery of components of the strategy: both accelerating the growth of UK companies that design and develop ACTs, and promoting and supporting the impact of these solutions.
• Deliver appropriate interventions to bring this about: leading 'fund' or 'connect' activities in the area and ensuring that resources are targeted at the companies and technology areas most likely to create impact and economic growth.
• Work closely with relevant bodies - business, Government, academia, trade associations, etc. - in the area, to inform programme delivery and build truly UK-wide innovation programmes.
• Leverage the resources of the wider Innovate UK family (IUKBC, Catapults etc.) in this endeavour.
• Support the creation of the appropriate wider infrastructure for a successful UK ACT sector, including contributing to technology roadmaps, standards, and input to future regulation.
• Support the international objectives associated with the programme, assisting in developing collaboration across national boundaries where this maximizes the opportunities for UK business.
• Identify integration opportunities between emerging technologies
• Work with system integrators and end users
• Seek and encourage additional investment in the UK’s ACT capability, as appropriate.
• Work with the broader team to track, using the tools provided, the progress of the resource investments (financial and other) deployed to monitor impact and inform future portfolio decisions.
• Supporting Innovate UK and Digital and Technologies Directorate communications activities, representing Innovate UK at industry events and raising awareness of the innovation opportunities that exist.
• Contribute to the wider implementation of Digital and Technologies Directorate and Innovate UK strategy; supporting colleagues in the implementation of their programmes where you can.

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:

Experience & Qualifications:

Essential –

• Degree in a relevant science, engineering or related discipline to a high level, or equivalent experience, with evidence of continued learning. (S)
• Preferably additional business qualifications. (S)
• A sound and up-to-date knowledge of technologies, companies, and applications within the ACT domain (in the UK and globally), demonstrated through a mix of experiences. (S&I)
• Of particular interest is experience with the design, integration, and application of complex ACT components. This could include, for example: (S&I)
  • 5G/6G Technologies
  • Secure and Resilient Connectivity  
  • Sustainable and Energy Efficient Networking
  • O-RAN / Satellite Integration (NTN)
• A strong understanding of the end-user markets that consume ACT and how they apply to the broader solutions is also required. (S&I)
• Experience in exploiting connectivity technologies commercially, through new product development, system integration, marketing, and manufacturing. (S&I)
• A working knowledge of the UK knowledge transfer activity, demonstrated by collaboration between companies and potentially universities. (S&I)
• Experience tracking the progress and impacts of a broad portfolio of activities or investments. (S&I)
• Proven ability to deliver major and complex programmes to time, cost and required quality (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;

08-05-2026