Senior Portfolio Manager - Ventures: BBSRC

Senior Portfolio Manager - Ventures 

£39,748
Open-ended
Swindon
Full Time

Closing Date: 22nd June 2021

Interviews Date: 26th July 2021

 

Background:

The Senior Innovation Manager (Ventures) role, is an exciting new post, which will work across BBSRC, playing a key role in championing, developing and delivering the BBSRC vision, investments and approach to supporting innovation from bioscience research to make a real, positive difference for the UK and beyond.

This is an exciting and unique opportunity to influence research and innovation policy, strategy and investment on a national stage, within the UK’s largest public research funding organisation. As Senior Portfolio Manager (Ventures), you will take on the new role at the start of a new a Comprehensive Spending Review cycle, and be working within a challenging policy environment that the UK Government has set out through its ambitious targets to achieve total R&D expenditure to 2.4% of GDP by 2027. This ambition has been reinforced further by the drivers set out in the UK R&D Roadmap, along with broader narratives such as “levelling up” and increasing UK global competitiveness through harnessing our world-leading research.
 
As Senior Innovation Manager - Ventures, you will:

  • Contribute to development of a strategic framework to incentivise wider private investment in bioscience companies, including supporting the role of UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund (UKI2S) and developing new networks within the investment community
  • Work with colleagues and stakeholders to develop and deliver new tools and mechanisms to enable the strategic framework to incentivise wider private investment in bioscience companies
  • Develop new approaches to promote UKI2S to bioscience innovators and provide support to UKI2S fund managers as appropriate
  • Build and maintain networks across the investment communities including Angel Investors, Venture Capital funds and Corporate Investors in the UK and internationally
  • Monitor and track BBSRC Ventures activities to drive continual improvement and identify new trends
  • Contribute to the leadership of the Knowledge Exchange and Commercialisation Unit, enabling the appropriate integration of activities across the Capability and Innovation Domain.

Shortlisting criteria and Interview Criteria:

Essential:

  • A readiness to be innovative in the development and implementation of new ideas and approaches that positively challenge established thinking in yourself and others, and effectively supporting your ideas with evidence
  • A degree (or equivalent experience) in a Life Sciences subject or related subject, and a demonstrable knowledge of biological sciences and/or the broader natural sciences
  • An understanding of the bioscience innovation sphere, and the impact of scientific discoveries; including an awareness of how BBSRC works with the research and innovation community, other funders, government and wider partners
  • Knowledge of the spin out process, including Intellectual Property management, customer centric product/service design and the challenges of securing investment
  • A proven ability to interpret complex information, and synthesise well-structured, clearly articulated complex documents using primary and secondary sources to provide strategic insight
  • Experience in the development, implementation and evaluation of strategic programmes, activities and/or investments either across the biosciences and/or more broadly
  • An ability to communicate complex information in a range of ways with BBSRC’s stakeholders, including scientific communities, government, industry and investors
  • A capacity to create strong working relationships with both colleagues and stakeholders 

Desirable:

  • An understanding/experience of peer review and the operational delivery of research and innovation funding programmes
  • Experience in project management
  • Understanding of the political and strategic environment in which UKRI operates.

About BBSRC 

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) invests in world-class bioscience research and training on behalf of the UK public. We are the UK's largest public funder of research of the non-medical biosciences, and our aim is to further scientific knowledge, to promote economic growth, wealth and job creation and to improve quality of life in the UK and beyond. 

Funded by Government, we support research and training in universities and strategically funded institutes. The research and the people that we fund are helping society to meet major challenges, including food security, green energy and healthier, longer lives. Our investments underpin important UK economic sectors, such as farming, food, industrial biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. 

For more information about BBSRC, our science and our impact, see: https://bbsrc.ukri.org/   

For more information about BBSRC strategically funded institutes, see https://bbsrc.ukri.org/research/institutes/strategically-funded-institut...

How to Apply 

Online applications only preferred for this role. Please submit your CV and a covering letter which clearly outlines how you fulfil the criteria specified along with your motivation for BBSRC and the role you’re applying for.  Ensure that the job reference number is included in the filename description of each document uploaded. Note that failure to address the above criteria or submit your application without a covering letter may result in your application not being considered.  You will only be assessed on the content of your CV and covering letter and not the ‘experience’ section of the application. 

About UKRI 

Launched in April 2018, UKRI is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). 

Our organisation brings together the seven disciplinary research councils, Research England, which is responsible for supporting research and knowledge exchange at higher education institutions in England, and the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK to create an independent organisation with a strong voice for research and innovation, and a vision to ensure the UK maintains its world-leading position in research and innovation. More information can be found at www.ukri.org. 

How we support EDI in the workforce 

At UKRI we believe that everyone has a right to be treated with dignity and respect, and to be provided with equal opportunities to flourish and succeed in an environment that enables them to do so. We also value diversity of thought and experience within inclusive groups, organisations and the wider community.  For further information, please visit ‘https://www.ukri.org/about-us/work-for-us/edi-in-the-workforce/#contents...

Disability Confident Employer 

As a Disability Confident employer, UKRI will offer an interview to a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria for the job (this is the description of the job as set by the employer). To enable us to do this we ask the appropriate questions within the candidate application. 

For more information on this scheme, click https://disabilityconfident.campaign.gov.uk/

Salary: 
£39,748
Closing date: 
Tuesday, June 22, 2021