SME Engagement Facilitator - ATETA

Job Purpose

The SME Engagement Facilitator role will form a key part of the project team for the Accelerating Thermal Energy Technology Adoption (ATETA) project. Employed by the University of Birmingham but based at and reporting into the Operations Directorate of the Energy Systems Catapult, this person will work closely with the ATETA Business Engagement Manager and Project Manager at the University of Birmingham, providing effective support in all aspects of business engagement for the project. This position will involve duties such as working closely with the Business Engagement Manager (BEM) to engage SMEs into the project and managing the resultant relationships for UoB/SME research collaborations that develop from this initial engagement. The post holder will also substantially contribute to the planning of events and meetings and assist the Business Engagement Manager in the successful delivery of these activities.

Person Specification

Knowledge and Skills

• Experience of undertaking marketing and events activity for business development with clearly identifiable contributions to influencing the success of activity.
• Ability to summarise complex issues/concepts and present them appropriately for a range of audiences.
• Ability to plan, manage and prioritise own workload, respond to changing priorities and deliver innovative solutions to deadlines maintaining a consistently high standard of service and meeting client needs.
• Ability to work effectively as part of a multi-functional team.
• Excellent client relationship management and interpersonal skills and an ability to work closely with other people at all levels of seniority.
• Excellent communication skills: oral, written and presentational.
• Understanding of the higher education research environment, its research functions and markets.
• Understanding of research and knowledge transfer practices for business including funding streams and motivations.
• Ability to implement processes and identify where processes or procedures might be improved.
• Ability to understand complex regulations and work appropriately to these regulations.
• It would be an advantage to demonstrate proficiency of working with projects funded by the EU and related bodies.

Qualification and Experience

• Experience in a business engagement or technology consulting / industrial / commercial environment with senior level interactions with client organisations, ideally SMEs.
• Marketing qualification / experience of marketing in a science & engineering environment.
• Experience of working within a publicly funded business support organisation, higher education or research management environment desirable.