The Details
Salary: £65,000 - 70,000
Job type: Permanent
Based in London, Manchester, or Cheltenham
Start date: As soon as possible
ABOUT PLEXAL
The Role’s Purpose
As an Innovation Lead in Clusters, this role will be pivotal in shaping, launching, and growing the UK’s most dynamic innovation ecosystems. You will lead on the strategy, engagement, and delivery of innovation clusters that unlock regional potential and drive national competitiveness.
Working closely with startups, government bodies, academia, and industry leaders, you’ll help turn vision into action—developing clusters that are inclusive, sustainable, and sector-leading.
What You’ll Do
- Lead the development and implementation of place-based innovation strategies
- Define and operationalise the strategic pillars of clusters: sector focus, anchor assets, infrastructure, talent, and investment
- Build and manage relationships with key stakeholders across public, private, and academic sectors
- Design and lead cluster activation plans including convening, governance structures, and programme delivery
- Develop thought leadership and insights to guide cluster growth and influence policy
- Oversee business support and challenge-led programmes that integrate startups and SMEs into clusters
- Provide strategic advisory support to clients on regional innovation and economic development
- Shape funding bids, investment cases, and delivery models for cluster development
- Represent Plexal as a senior partner in ecosystem-building conversations and consortiums
- Contribute to business development efforts, including public tenders and private sector proposals
Your Skills
- Strong programme design and delivery skills, especially in multi-partner or cross-sector contexts
- Excellent verbal and written communication, with the ability to produce persuasive strategies and reports
- Ability to translate policy goals into actionable plans and sustainable interventions
- Confidence working across multiple workstreams and managing project teams or collaborators
Your Experience
- Proven experience in innovation cluster or ecosystem development, or similar place-based innovation roles
- Understanding of the UK’s innovation and economic development landscape, including government policy, funding, and delivery structures
- Experience engaging senior stakeholders and convening diverse partners toward a shared vision
- Familiarity with public funding, R&D consortia, or innovation finance mechanisms
- Higher Education degree, or relevant professional certifications, or equivalent knowledge gained via work experience
Desirable
- Knowledge of emerging technology markets and sector ecosystems (e.g. cyber, healthtech, space, defence, etc.)
Who You Are
- A strategic thinker and systems-builder who thrives in complexity
- Passionate about regional growth, innovation, and the role of place in economic transformation
- Entrepreneurial, curious, and comfortable operating in an agile, high-growth organisation
- Collaborative by nature, with a strong bias for action and partnership
- Proactive, organised, and capable of navigating evolving stakeholder landscapes
- Comfortable representing Plexal publicly and influencing senior decision-makers
- Energised by big challenges and motivated by long-term impact
BENEFITS PACKAGE
Plexal’s Values:
Mission: We inherit the mission of UK government and deliver it in an agile and creative fashion.
Collaboration: We believe in the power of working together.
Equality: We strengthen ourselves as a team by embracing the different.
Care: People are at the heart of what we do; we care about our customers, members and colleagues.
As a start-up, we thrive in a dynamic and fast-paced work environment dedicated to empowering innovators. We embrace individuals who leverage technology and creativity to tackle our greatest challenges head-on. We strongly advocate for maintaining a harmonious work-life balance, our goal is to ensure every member of our team can authentically be themselves and live their best lives. We firmly believe that innovation and creativity flourish when we cultivate a diverse workforce, comprising highly skilled individuals with a wide range of perspectives to contribute.
In return we will offer you:
- Salary: £65,000 – 70,000 depending on skills and experience
- Annual bonus scheme
- A generous pension scheme (with a company contribution of up to 10%)
- Private healthcare, life assurance and critical illness cover
- 25 days holiday plus bank holidays
- Volunteering day
Plexal is an equal opportunities employer and we actively encourage applicants from individuals from all backgrounds. We are a Disability Committed employer and are willing to make reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.
