Main purpose of the role
The Director of Strategic Networks is an integral role for NCUB’s future: enabling the effective development, maintenance, and maximisation of NCUB’s strategic networks and partnerships with businesses, universities, government departments, public funders, sector bodies, and representative organisations.
This senior leadership position will drive this pivotal activity, ensuring members and partners benefit fully from our work, while shaping innovative approaches to collaboration and partnerships across sectors: unlocking opportunities and enabling NCUB to be further recognised as the mission critical, strategic actor in the innovation ecosystem.
This role will strengthen NCUB’s voice, deepen and diversify our networks and bring fresh commercial and strategic perspective to our organisation.
Details
Reports to: Chief Executive
Direct reports: 4/5
Salary: £90,000
Location: Hybrid – The Clarence Centre, 6 St George’s Circus, London, SE1 6FE
Responsibilities
- Strategic Leadership:Be the strategic lead for all aspects of NCUB’s networks:
- devise and implement strategy across our multi-sector environment to unlock the potential of our networks and partnerships,
- ensure NCUB is delivering value, benefit and return to all our existing and future networks,
- unlock the potential of NCUB’s work for wider audiences, especially using technological solutions that bring universities and businesses together in tangible ways,
- advocate NCUB’s vision and purpose as an organisation that brings clarity to complex situations,
- bring focus to what NCUB does to ensure we are the mission critical, strategic actor in the research, innovation and skills ecosystems.
- Network Development:Build, maintain and maximise our strategic networks:
- build meaningful and impactful relationships within and across our different networks,
- deepen and diversify our networks, seeking out new ideas and opinions,
- translate our relationships into sharper influence with tangible outcomes,
- ensure systematic and robust approaches are implemented to ensure the effective management of each of our networks,
- adopt and implement integrated and collaborative approaches that maximise the benefits and insights our work can bring back to our networks.
- Network Growth:Drive opportunities to extend our strategic networks
- identify opportunities to increase membership from businesses and universities whose interests and expertise align with our strategic objectives,
- seek opportunities to extend our networks, including bringing in new partners,
- develop new collaborative models for engagement including the utilisation of digital technologies to extend our reach and connection with different networks.
- Leadership and Management:Lead, support and develop a multi-faceted team:
- line-manage a high performing team of direct reports across a diverse range of roles,
- bring expertise and leadership for Strategic networks as part of NCUB’s Senior Leadership team,
- ensure a collaborative cross-organisational approach to working with our strategic networks across NCUB,
- sharpen our focus to ensure our deep knowledge of our networks becomes central to any strategic planning.
- To undertake any other duties commensurate with the role.
Person Specification
Essential skills and experience
- Proven experience in:
- building and maintaining diverse networks,
- gaining tangible outcomes from strategic networks,
- developing innovative or novel approaches to network development.
- Strong strategic planning and leadership skills with an ability to understand the landscape in which NCUB operates and how it is changing.
- Influencing and advocacy skills.
- Commercial or business development experience in identifying new opportunities and creating tangible impact from them.
- Creating relationships and translating them into impactful partnerships.
- Substantial experience in a management/leadership role:
- ability to manage and develop a high performing team of direct reports with a wide range of roles and responsibilities,
- ability to support the wider team in ensuring strategic networks are a cross-organisational priority.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to engage and influence a variety of stakeholders.
- Experience of utilising new technology approaches to build and enhance the benefits to our strategic networks.
- Educated to degree level or equivalent experience.
- Evidence of further leadership and management training or equivalent.
Desirable skills and experience
- Experience of working for a membership organisation.
- A good understanding of university-business collaboration.
How to Apply
To apply for this role, please provide the following documents:
- An up-to-date CV. Please submit a PDF document labelled ‘CV’ with your name and the role title.
- A supporting statement. Please submit a PDF document (maximum two pages) that outlines your interest in this particular organisation and role, and your fit against the essential experience criteria set out in the person specification and role description. Please label this document ‘Supporting Statement’ with your name and the role title.
- A completed diversity monitoring form on the application link.
If you would like to know more about the role or selection process, please contact Richard Grayling from our Executive Search partners, Green Park by emailing Richard.grayling@green-park.co.uk
Please submit your application by 11:59pm Sunday 9th November.