Vacancy - SENIOR INNOVATION MANAGER (M/F)
Full-time, based in Brussels
PROFILE DESCRIPTION
As a Senior Innovation Manager, you will use your strong project management skills and your technical understanding to support our advisory bodies in the development of the innovation portfolio impact activities of the association and will support our members in the maximisation of R&I opportunities and access to EU funding. You will adjust plans as necessary but still push forward with urgency and diplomacy. You will support the review of secondary reports, analyse data, and elaborate progress reports on our SPIRE and P4Planet projects and the Partnership. You will lead the projects team within A.SPIRE, representing A.SPIRE in key meetings and events.
You should have 7 to 10 years of solid, hands-on experience working on innovation and project management, with relevant knowledge of at least one or two sectors of the process industry and being familiar with the European Partnerships in Horizon Europe.
You will be in charge of:
2/ Coordinate and support A.SPIRE’s advisory and working groups in activities related to the innovation portfolio impact. You will organise the work of the advisory bodies and support them in the yearly Advisory Work Plan implementation in the impact area and will support them to connect the pipeline of SPIRE and P4Planet projects with the funnel of funding and financing opportunities (HEU, NIF et al.) that would enable the deployment of innovations and investments. You will support organising and coordinating the process of creating a new A.SPIRE vision and R&I Agenda with members and stakeholders.
3/ Manage EU-funded projects. You will have a role in several EU-funded projects in which A.SPIRE is a partner, and will lead the projects team, ensuring timely and efficient fulfilment of rounded and complete tasks owned by A.SPIRE.
4/ Contribute to the development and support of A.SPIRE membership. You will supervise the organisation of A.SPIRE brokerage and marketplace activities to maximise the R&I opportunities and networking of our members. You will strive to attract new members to A.SPIRE and will contribute to the analysis of their profiles and to their onboarding and engagement in our activities.
You will report directly to the Executive Director and collaborate with the Advisory and Programming Group and with the rest of the team to ensure the completion of all the yearly goals of the Association. You will also collaborate directly with some of our PWGs, with the European Commission and other stakeholders, making sure to preserve the confidentiality of data.
QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE – ESSENTIAL
• University degree in engineering, sustainability or other technical area related to A.SPIRE sectors.
• Technical competence to understand and analyse issues related to the process industry sectors.
• Knowledge of the context of A.SPIRE sectors and Energy Intensive Industries.
• From 7 to 10 years of relevant work experience in innovation and European R&I project management in Horizon or other R&I programmes.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in an industrial setting or related.
• Excellent knowledge of projects' administrative and financial aspects.
• Excellent network with European and national funding agencies and with European Academia, RTOs and process industries is an asset.
• Knowledge of EU policymaking (especially on climate neutrality and circularity) is a good advantage.
• Flexible availability for events and other ad-hoc meetings in Brussels and Europe is needed.
TECHNICAL SKILLS AND LANGUAGES
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English. Other languages are an asset.
• Excellent IT skills, including Microsoft Outlook, MS Office (Word, Excel) and online collaborative tools (e.g. Teams, Sharepoint).
• Knowledge of AI tools relevant to work and project management is an advantage.
PERSONAL AND FUNCTIONAL SKILLS
• Proactive, able to work autonomously and take full ownership and responsibility of the innovation area in a short time (essential) • An enabler, able to lead direct and indirect teams towards the delivery of results, and good at managing the expectations of different stakeholders and at putting the pieces of the puzzle together (essential).
• Sound capacity of analysis and to structure complex content into simple and reader-friendly documents (e.g. policy, technical documents, reports…); delivering high-quality results is essential for this role. • Should be well organised and with a high capacity to programme well in advance, to retro-plan and to timely adjust plans is essential.
• A team player with real social and communication skills and a sound collaborative and helpful spirit.
• A polyvalent person, flexible and open-minded, with excellent multi-tasking skills and the capacity to take on board tasks of a diverse nature.
• Ready to work with us in a small team and with our members and other stakeholders.
• A sense of diplomacy and community is very important.
