Innovation Lead, Battery Innovation Programme

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, Battery Innovation Programme

*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, Battery Innovation Programme

Band:                 UKRI Band F (UKRI Ts & Cs)

Salary:               £58,589 gross per annum

Reports to:       Ben Walsh, Deputy Programme Director

Location:          Field based

Contract:          Fixed Term (until 31.03.2027)

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:

The Battery Innovation Programme (formerly the Faraday Battery Challenge) is currently undergoing a significant transition. To date, the programme has successfully delivered over £657 million in innovation funding. As it enters its next phase under the management of the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), the programme is expected to deliver an additional £452million in activities between 2026-2030.

This transition marks a new period of delivery, with continued high-level prominence and strategic importance, particularly within the Industrial Strategy and Advance Manufacturing Plan.

We are looking for up to 5 motivated Innovation Leads to join expanding Battery Innovation Programme team. By supporting cutting edge research and development in battery technologies, this team is delivering on UK Government’s ambitions to become a global hub for cross-sector battery manufacturing, which will grow the economy and create high-value Jobs. This work spans cutting-edge university research, business-led R&D, scale-up capital infrastructure and manufacturing workforce development, positioning the UK as a global leader in battery technology and industrial resilience. You will be joining a team of UK wide experts and specialists at the heart of this fast moving, inspirational and high-profile programme

We are an inclusive, diverse, family friendly and respectful team, who enjoy working together. We are deeply committed to inspiring outcomes for the UK, along with our and your development goals. You’ll need to be able to travel around the UK as required.

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

Job Purpose:

We are recruiting multiple Innovation Lead positions within the Battery Innovation Programme. All roles share the same core purpose—driving innovation, managing projects and portfolios, and engaging stakeholders across industry, academia and government. Each position also carries distinct responsibilities aligned to a specific workstream. Applicants may express interest in one or more roles, and successful candidates will be matched to the most suitable workstream based on their strengths and experience. This structure gives us flexibility to build a balanced team and, as the programme evolves, to move people between workstreams to meet changing priorities. It should be noted that in addition to the core responsibilities, each member of the team is likely to be involved in other parts of the programme and other areas within Innovation Service.

The workstreams are as follows:

• Faraday Institution and academic liaison
• UKBIC Liaison
• International Activities
• Sector Engagement
• Business Engagement and Policy

Please indicate the workstream(s) you wish to be considered for in your application and tailor your statement to the relevant responsibilities and expertise set out below.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities in all rolls:

• Innovation Expertise: Act as Innovate UK’s expert in battery innovation, translating policy and strategy into impactful funding interventions.]
• Work with the wider Battery Innovation Programme team to manage the Innovation portfolio, identifying and evidencing progress and scoping future interventions and their business cases. This will include supporting, delivering and/or influencing funding interventions (internal or external)
• Lead technical stakeholder management by building and maintaining positive relationships with partners, funders and supporters who can help us to accelerate innovation.  This includes key industry, academic and government partners/funders/supporters and other parts of UKRI
• Provide thought leadership that connects the battery innovation community and broker relevant links for innovators to others in the innovation system
• Signpost organisations to relevant funds or support (Innovate UK competitions, Horizon Europe etc.) and work with the team to deliver programs effectively (including compliance to relevant regulations e.g. State Aid) including promotion to relevant communities and support for high-quality assessment.
• Gather evidence and evaluate programme success and long-term impact.
• Highlight success stories and demonstrate the value of public investment and represent Battery Innovation Programme at leading industry events, raising awareness of the innovation opportunities that exist through the fund and connect activities

You’ll need to be able to travel around the UK as required to meet with businesses and research organisations. Travel using public transport is promoted although the use of personal or vehicles is permitted. We recognise there can be barriers to traveling, and we’re happy to discuss and support specific needs.

Shortlisting criteria

(S) – Assessed at shortlisting

(I) – Assessed at interview

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

Experience common to all roles:

• Knowledge of innovation in battery technologies and/or its supply chain or demonstrate how your expertise can be applied to battery technologies in order to provide insight and support to business-led innovation. (S&I)
• Demonstrable stakeholder management experience, including working with senior level individuals managing conflicting demands and priorities and building relationships (S&I)
• Demonstrable influencing skills to influence groups of stakeholders towards a desired outcome (S&I)

Workstream specific accountabilities and responsibilities

Innovation Lead – Faraday Institution and academic liaison

Purpose

Act as the primary liaison with the Faraday Institution, managing the strategic relationship and overseeing technology transfer activities, including Sprints and Entrepreneurial Fellowships, to accelerate commercialisation of research outputs.

Key responsibilities

• Serve as principal point of contact for the Faraday Institution, managing governance, reporting and joint planning cycles.
• Oversee delivery of Sprints and Entrepreneurial Fellowship schemes, ensuring clear objectives and impact.
• Map research outputs to industry needs and broker pathways to adoption (licensing, spin-outs, partnerships).
• Monitor performance, risks and outcomes; provide recommendations on future priorities.
• Coordinate with other programme workstreams to align investments and maximise system impact.

Essential expertise

• Knowledge of academic research, IP and technology transfer processes. (S&I)
• Experience managing strategic partnerships between research organisations and industry. (S&I)
• Ability to evaluate technical readiness, commercial potential and scaling needs. (S&I)
• Strong communication and influencing skills across mixed stakeholder groups. (S&I)

Innovation Lead – UKBIC Liaison

Purpose

Act as the primary liaison with the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC), including completion of the Flexible Pilot Line (FPL) and support to its commissioning and successful launch, to accelerate scale-up of UK battery manufacturing.

Key responsibilities

• Manage the strategic and operational relationship with UKBIC, including governance and reporting.
• Oversee completion, commissioning and launch planning for the Flexible Pilot Line (FPL).
• Monitor performance against objectives (utilisation, customer pipeline, outcomes) and funding requirements.
• Facilitate collaboration between UKBIC and industry to maximise access and impact.
• Identify barriers to adoption and work with partners to address readiness, standards and capability gaps.

Essential expertise

• Understanding of battery manufacturing processes, pilot lines and industrialisation challenges. (S&I)
• Experience with complex partnerships and capital/infrastructure projects. (S&I)
• Data literacy to interpret technical and financial performance indicators. (S&I)
• Negotiation and stakeholder management skills.(S&I)

Innovation Lead – International Activities

Purpose

Lead the programme’s international strategy, working with UK partners and global stakeholders to position the UK as a leader in battery innovation, strengthen collaboration and attract inward investment.

Key responsibilities

• Develop and implement an international engagement strategy with clear priorities and outcomes.
• Liaise with UK government departments, trade bodies and overseas partners to identify collaboration opportunities.
• Represent the programme at international missions and forums; promote UK capability and partnership offers.
• Track global market and policy trends; provide insights to inform programme design and UK positioning.
• Facilitate partnerships that help UK firms access international markets and supply chains.

Essential expertise

• Experience in international engagement, trade and investment or intergovernmental collaboration. (S&I)
• Understanding of global battery/energy systems markets and supply chains. (S&I)
• Cross-cultural relationship building and negotiation skills. (S&I)
• Strong communication skills and diplomatic acumen. (S&I)

Innovation Lead – Sector Engagement

Purpose

Lead sector engagement activities to raise awareness of programme, connect innovators with partners, promote the programme across different communication channels and broadcast Programme successes.

Key responsibilities

• Develop targeted engagement and communication plans to reach priority areas across industry, academia and other key stakeholders.
• Build relationships with key media outlets, trade associations and Catapults to amplify messages, opportunities and reach.
• Develop and highlight success stories and other digital and media content that furthers the aims of the programme.
• Represent the programme at sector events and broker connections between innovators and adopters.
• Lead on organising and delivering major promotional events for the programme.

Essential expertise

• Ability to translate technical concepts into compelling content for different audiences across different media. (S&I)
• Strong marketing, brand or comms awareness. (S&I)
• Experience in stakeholder engagement, ecosystem development or business development. (S&I)

Innovation Lead – Business Engagement and Policy

Purpose

Lead business engagement activities with major industry stakeholders to understand growth plans, barriers and opportunities for UK expansion and support policy development that enables growth in UK battery manufacturing.

Key responsibilities

• Build relationships with major battery, automotive and supply chain companies to understand commercial strategies and investment needs.
• Coordinate policy work with DBT, DESNZ and other departments and support development of standards and regulatory frameworks that encourage .
• Identify how government programmes, regulation and targeted support can enable scale up and manufacturing in the UK.
• Provide insights and evidence to inform advice, consultations and briefings.
• Align programme investments and policy activity to reduce barriers and support business growth.
• Represent the programme in policy forums, industry groups and business engagement activities.

Essential expertise

• Ability to build trusted relationships with senior business and government stakeholders. (S&I)
• Experience in policy development in energy, transport or advanced manufacturing. (S&I)
• Strong understanding of UK industry dynamics and scale up drivers. (S&I)
• Knowledge of regulatory processes and the role of government in markets. (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