Innovation Lead - Frontier AI

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

Applications must be submitted by

27-03-2026

Innovation Lead - Frontier AI

The Innovation Lead will play a central role in shaping and delivering Innovate UK’s programmes to strengthen the UK’s foundational capabilities in AI and digital technologies.

*Please note this advert will close on the 26th March 2026 at 23.59pm.

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

Title:                  Innovation Lead - Frontier AI

Band:                 UKRI Band F (UKRI Ts & Cs)

Salary:              £58,589 gross per annum

Reports to:     Head of Foundational Capabilities for AI & Digital

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.

Context:

The Innovation Lead will operate within the AIDE Team.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is recognised as one of the six frontier technologies. AI is playing an increasingly crucial role in driving technological advancements and economic growth, transforming entire industries by enhancing efficiencies, enabling innovation and creating new opportunities for businesses and society.

The AI Opportunities Action Plan sets out a bold roadmap for the UK to strengthen its global leadership in AI. The main aims are to strengthen the UK’s position as a global hub for AI R&D, to maximise the UK’s stake in frontier AI, to promote AI adoption in both the public and private sector across the UK with targeted initiatives and to accelerate AI-enabled scientific breakthroughs.

The role holder will operate within the AI & Digital directorate which sits within the Innovate UK Digital and Technologies domain.

Job Purpose:

The Innovation Lead will play a central role in shaping and delivering Innovate UK’s programmes to strengthen the UK’s foundational capabilities in AI and digital technologies. The initial focus will be on the Sovereign AI programme, identifying and structuring opportunities that build strategic advantage for the UK in frontier AI technologies and its critical inputs. Over time, the role will help design and deliver a broader portfolio of activities to develop foundational AI capabilities across the UK innovation system, with emphasis on novel AI paradigms and multidisciplinary opportunities with novel compute, cyber and quantum.

Working as part of the AI & Digital team, the role holder will lead the development of innovation programmes, from early opportunity framing through to competition design, portfolio management and impact evaluation. They will work closely with industry, academia, government, and other funders to ensure that Innovate UK’s investments are well-targeted, coherent with wider UKRI and government objectives, and capable of unlocking long-term UK capability.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities:

• Taking a leading role in the development and delivery of Innovate UK’s innovation strategy for AI & ML and the wider AI and Digital strategy.
• Helping to shape and deliver programmes, coordinating with key delivery partners, and internal Innovate UK programme operations teams to launch, implement and evaluate competitive funding opportunities for UK businesses.
• Prioritising and coordinating tasks given stakeholder needs and available resources and ensuring the outputs of the work are high quality, and appropriately shared and promoted.
• Leading business development activities and supplying to business cases for investment in areas of strategic opportunity.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with delivery partners, as well as relevant bodies and networks to build truly UK-wide innovation programmes with significant ambition and delivery capability.
• Working effectively with partners, across UKRI and externally, to share data and insight about digital innovation markets and capabilities and to identify cross-sector digital innovation opportunities.
• Support colleagues within the AI and Digital team to deliver key strategic innovation programmes across a number of digital technologies and sectors.
• Supporting the wider organisation to meet strategic objectives as appropriate.
• Representing the team and organisation at meetings, workshops and conferences including giving presentations

This is not an extensive 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:

We are looking for someone with commercial awareness who can lead contending priorities and a sophisticated partner environment. You will be able to make sense of multiple data sources, to establish underlying patterns and articulate a clear and compelling vision of what needs to be done. A great teammate, willing to share knowledge with collaborators/stakeholders and learn from them. Able to self-start when needed.

The role holder will be motivated to achieve goals that enable the success of others (colleagues and UK companies). The successful candidate will be adept at working together with and across industry, research, UKRI and government, building consensus and maintaining strong relationships.

Experience & Qualifications:

Essential –

• Computer Science Degree or post-graduate qualification, or equivalent experience (S).
• Experience of working within a digital innovation environment with an understanding of major trends (S&I).
• Up-to-date of frontier AI, Machine Learning and Digital technologies, and their applications in the wider UK economy (I).
• Confirmed ability to direct innovation processes in a commercial environment (I).
• Demonstrable experience of leading the development and successful implementation of strategic programmes (I).
• Confirmed ability to understand the strategic potential of emerging digital technologies and communicate at senior levels (I).
• A clear track-record of delivery against tight deadlines (I).
• Ability to deal with ambiguity while acting and thinking strategically (I).
• Critical thinking (I).
• Familiarity with the wider research environment (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.

Applications must be submitted by;

27-03-2026