Innovation Partnership Director (Manchester x Cambridge)

Cambridge × Manchester Innovation Partnership

Location: Based in Manchester, with regular time in Cambridge (or vice versa for the right candidate)
Hours: Full time
Salary: Competitive, based on experience
Contract: Fixed term (with potential for extension)

This position is part of a joint venture between the University of Manchester and University of Cambridge and we will be recruiting in partnership to this position. Details of your application will be shared with relevant parties involved in the recruitment process at University of Cambridge. By submitting your application for this position, you are giving your implied consent for your data to be shared, this would be for recruitment purposes only and relevant GDPR process would be adhered to. Your application will be treated confidentially and will not be shared with any other party outside of this recruitment process.

We Welcome All Backgrounds

We are committed to building a diverse team and an inclusive culture where everyone can thrive. We’re building a team that reflects the rich diversity of our society. We strongly encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and identities, including those who are underrepresented in leadership, innovation and tech roles. Appointments are made on merit.

An opportunity to lead this exciting new innovation partnership

The Cambridge x Manchester Innovation Partnership is a bold new collaboration between two of the UK’s leading innovation cities, designed to unlock greater impact from world-class research, enterprise and talent.

With a shared ambition to accelerate the UK’s position as a global leader in science, technology and innovation, the Partnership brings together the complementary strengths of Manchester and Cambridge to tackle major national and global challenges.

This Partnership is driven by a commitment to amplify innovation-led economic growth, improve productivity, and ensure that the benefits of innovation are spread more widely. It aims to harness the collective capabilities of our regions — from pioneering research to translational expertise to investment communities and access to talent — to make a lasting difference to the UK’s future prosperity.

The University of Manchester and The University of Cambridge have secured £4.8m from Research England over the next 3 years to activate the partnership. Led by Unit M and Innovate Cambridge, the programme has support from the two Mayoral Combined Authorities, City Councils, businesses and investors.

The Opportunity

As the Partnership Director, you’ll play a pivotal role in:

• Establishing the partnership team
• Designing and delivering a nationally significant programme
• Connecting two of the UK’s most powerful innovation ecosystems
• Driving investment, collaboration and inclusive innovation
• Developing a sustainable financial model to sustain and grow the partnership
• Shaping the future of innovation policy and practice in the UK

You’ll work across sectors, cities and communities to make this partnership more than the sum of its parts. You’ll work with founders, academics, civic leaders, investors and government, unlocking the conditions that allow ideas to flourish.

What You’ll Be Doing

Vision & Strategy:

• Be the face of the partnership sharing our mission, securing buy-in, and creating momentum
• Set priorities and direction, aligned to long-term impact
• Champion collaboration, inclusion, and purpose in everything we do

Programme Delivery:

• Lead delivery of a complex, multi-stakeholder programme with national visibility
• Manage operations, governance, finances and outcomes with clarity and confidence
• Develop and secure long-term funding to sustain and grow the partnership

Ecosystem & Influence:

• Build bridges between Cambridge and Manchester ecosystems
• Connect founders, researchers, industry and policymakers
• Represent the partnership nationally and make it a model others want to replicate

Leadership:

• Recruit, build and lead a collaborative, cross-city team
• Shape a culture rooted in openness, mission and experimentation
• Inspire confidence, connection and action from everyone involved

What We’re Looking For

If you’re values-driven and excited by the opportunity to build something meaningful, we want to hear from you. We’re looking for a strategic, mission-driven leader with the experience and mindset to make innovation work across organisations, sectors and cities.

We’re especially interested in people who bring:

Experience:

• Managing programmes or initiatives in research, innovation, or economic development
• Leading projects involving multiple partners, locations, or stakeholder groups
• Securing and managing funding from public or private sources
• Building and managing teams

Knowledge and Understanding:

• How innovation ecosystems operate, including the roles of research, business, and government
• Working with complex organisations or partnerships
• Familiarity with the innovation communities in Cambridge and Manchester, or a willingness to learn

Skills:

• Building and managing relationships with a range of stakeholders
• Planning, budgeting, and delivering programmes
• Developing partnerships and managing shared goals
• Communicating clearly with different audiences
• Adapting to change and working across different settings

Approach:

• Committed to the missions of Unit M and Innovate Cambridge and the two Universities
• Comfortable working in a cross-sector team
• Interested in innovation that delivers public benefit
• You might come from innovation, policy, economic development, academia, start-ups, investment or somewhere else entirely. What matters is your mindset and mission.

About Unit M

“The transformative potential of fully embracing innovation cannot be understated, both for the region and for the UK more widely. Unit M lies at the heart of the University’s ambition to power an inclusive economy, positioning Manchester as a central player on the global stage to accelerate growth for all in society.”

— President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Duncan Ivison

Unit M is the University’s new dedicated innovation arm, with a mission to unlock the University’s full potential as the region’s largest innovation asset. With a mandate to accelerate industry access to our extensive innovation assets, capabilities, and talent, Unit M will drive growth in startups and scaleups, diffuse technologies into SMEs, and attract foreign direct investment to the region and UK. At the heart of the Unit M mission is an ambition to pioneer a more inclusive, more sustainable model of growth - social innovation hand in hand with economic - that works for all of the people of our region.

At Unit M, you’ll join a team that is mission-driven, people-first, and unafraid to challenge the status quo. We support flexible working, value lived experience, and are committed to learning, collaboration, and purpose-led leadership.

Further information and how to apply

For further details about the vacancy, Unit M and the University of Manchester please download the candidate brochure at the bottom of this advert.

As an equal opportunity employer we welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of age, sex, gender (or gender identity), ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and transgender status. All appointments are made on merit.

Our University is positive about flexible working – you can find out more here

Blended working arrangements may be considered

Please note that we are unable to respond to enquiries, accept CVs or applications from Recruitment Agencies.

Enquiries about the vacancy, shortlisting and interviews:

Name: Arran Collinge

Email: arran.collinge@manchester.ac.uk

General enquiries:

Email: People.Recruitment@manchester.ac.uk

Technical support:

Jobtrain: 0161 850 2004 https://jobseekersupport.jobtrain.co.uk/support/home

This vacancy will close for applications at midnight on the closing date.

Please see the link below for the Further Particulars document which contains the person specification criteria.