Director for Scaling Innovation

Job description

Job title: Director for Scaling Innovation
Location: Flexible within Scotland
Salary: £94,539
Hours: Full time
Status: Permanent
Closing date: 19 May 2025
Job ref no: R00609

Be part of building Scotland's future

The opportunity

At Scottish Enterprise, we’re focused on supporting Scotland’s most ambitious companies. We back big thinkers, and our purpose is to help them innovate and scale to transform the economy.

The next five to ten years will be a defining time for Scotland’s economy. In the face of global challenges and constrained public finances, it’s more important than ever that we focus on high growth opportunities.

But where there are challenges, there are opportunities. And we’ll be leveraging these by prioritising three missions:

• Developing an internationally competitive energy transition industry in Scotland that benefits the wider economy.
• Scaling the impact of Scotland’s innovation strengths into high growth industries of the future.
• Driving up levels of capital investment to deliver a step-change in Scotland’s productivity performance, leading to more jobs with higher value.

To deliver on these, Scottish Enterprise is changing. We’re refocusing our leadership, people, support, networks, and partnerships across Scotland, the UK, and internationally. This will help us ensure that we’re fully focused on the transformational opportunities that can deliver a more successful, greener, and fairer Scotland.

Unlocking and scaling Scotland’s full innovation and entrepreneurial potential presents a massive opportunity for the Scottish economy.

Our mission focuses specifically on the five future industries: life sciences (human health), industrial biotech, fintech, space, and critical technologies.

We’re working to double the number of Scottish scale-up businesses in these areas over the next decade. This will create 75,000 new jobs and an extra £14 billion turnover.

The role

This is a critical time for Scotland’s economy as we focus on the high-growth opportunities that will drive long-term transformation.

The Director of Scaling Innovation has a pivotal role within our mission-based approach. You’ll lead and shape our ambition to scale Scotland’s innovation strengths into high growth industries of the future. This requires inventiveness, insight, and influence to direct our energies to projects that can support our ambitions.

You’ll be able to drive success across three crucial interrelated strands of activity:

• Innovation and Growth Infrastructure
• Scale Up Company Support
• Funding and investment

In doing so, you’ll enable transformational growth from Scotland’s globally competitive innovation strengths.

Accountabilities

Leadership role within the organisation

You’ll provide direct leadership to our Future Industries and Regional Engagement teams, developing and building capacity and ensuring that activities support our transformation journey.

Scaling Innovation is an ambition that requires commitment and delivery from across the organisation, so you’ll be comfortable collaborating with and influencing colleagues, and leading within a matrix structure.

You’ll also ensure strong communication, negotiation, and collaboration with fellow directors and teams to help create an environment of mission focus and shared accountability.

Strategy development

You’ll lead and shape the strategic direction of our scaling innovation mission at an organisational level. You’ll be a thought leader, aware of changes, opportunities, and challenges to inform our strategy and action plan.

We'll also be looking for you to stimulate and provide evidence of opportunities for operational delivery directors and teams to capitalise on. You’ll identify priorities and outcomes and be accountable for crucial, complex decisions regarding our strategic direction and delivery.

Strategy implementation

You’ll ensure exceptional performance and delivery against agreed outcomes. You’ll be responsible for shaping and commissioning the ‘ask’ to ensure our ambitions are achieved.

You’ll have ownership of the overall resourcing of transformational opportunities, proactively working with leadership colleagues and taking account of opportunity, capacity, and capability of available resources.

You’ll be adaptable, responding to changes to evolve our operational goals to match new opportunities, initiatives, and risks around achieving key mission outcomes and Scotland’s economic development priorities.

Relationship management

You’ll work actively with Scottish Enterprise’s Board, Executive Leadership team, and delivery partners across the public and private sectors. You’ll also engage with founders, business, and industry on critical issues, opportunities and risks.

You’ll engage regularly and purposefully with stakeholders at the highest level to negotiate and collaborate to deliver the best outcome for our Scaling Innovation ambition. This involves driving forward actions which have a major impact for Scottish Enterprise and often in politically sensitive situations.

You’ll maintain a strong network of influential relationships with inward investors, innovation leaders, entrepreneurs, and key contacts within our industries of the future.

Skills and experience

Your skills and experience should include:

• Demonstrable vision and leadership credibility – with the ability to use original and creative thinking to define and develop strategy, manage risk and work across Scottish Enterprise to secure resources and translate operational plans into impactful outcomes.
• Experience operating at senior levels with key enterprise stakeholders in the innovation landscape
• Strong engagement and influencing skills at the highest level, internally and externally and in sensitive or challenging situations
• Ability to leverage a well-developed network of contacts in the scope of economic development, together with direct experience of effective multi-faceted partnerships
• High level of economic literacy and an appreciation of political structures, economic theory and practice, and social structures on a national and international level
• Transformational leadership and management skills, focused on the delivery of ambitious outcomes and the development of high performing teams
• Ability to empower and influence others, working collaboratively across organisational boundaries, leading and uniting a range of diverse business areas to maximise opportunities
• Ability to drive performance in sensitive and high-pressure environments. Can foster potential, driving our culture and values to identify talented and high potential colleagues and meet current and future organisational needs
• You’ll be an inspirational leader and role model that can create a collaborative environment for colleagues to share accountability and contribute to and focus on our ambitions
• Educated to SCQF Level 11 or equivalent relevant professional experience

How to apply

If you're interested in this role, please complete your application by Monday 19 May 2025.

Interviews will take place on the week commencing 2 June 2025.

Life at Scottish Enterprise

As one of Scotland’s Top 10 Flexible Employers, we pride ourselves on empowering our colleagues to work when and where they can best deliver their role in support of our corporate plan. Learn more about working with us  

Our values

Being part of Scottish Enterprise means being open to new ideas and trying different ways of working. We support each other to reach our full potential. We celebrate shared success and learn together when things don’t go so well. And we always treat each other fairly, with respect and understanding. Together, we are the difference.

Apply now and build your future with us

At Scottish Enterprise, we’re proud to celebrate difference. Diversity of experience and thought is vital to the success of our vision for the future of every community across Scotland. As an equal opportunity employer, we actively encourage applications from a wide range of individuals, irrespective of age, disability, gender reassignment, gender identity and expression, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.

We commit to providing any reasonable adjustments required, not only during the application and assessment process, but throughout your employment with us.

We have the following networks, which are open to all colleagues to help drive inclusion: Disability Positive, Gender Balanced, Multi-Cultural, Multi-Generational and Pride (LGBTQ+).