Innovation Consultant

**_Have you written proposals for Horizon Europe, Innovate UK or other similar competitions?_**

**_Can you answer yes to the questions belowif yes, then read on_**
- Are you passionate about causes you believe in?
- Are you able to tell a compelling story?
- Can you nurture a concept right from a seedling of an idea, all the way to a fully-fledged concept?
- Are you committed to do what it takes to deliver high-quality?
- Do you know the difference between good and great?
- Are you at ease when influencing a group of people?
- Are you passionate about technical innovation?
- Are you driven to contribute to addressing the world’s biggest challenges?
- Can you spot the flaws in a story?

**_The Role: _**

The role involves all aspects of building a concept - finding the golden nugget of innovation, identifying the partners that will help drive the concept forward, crafting a narrative that accentuates the game-changing elements but remains accessible to experts and laypeople. The role can be fast-paced and complex, requiring planning to meet deadlines and manage clients that could be disruptive SMEs, leading research and technology providers and universities as well as multinational industry leaders.

**_The Person: _**

You must have demonstrable experience in crafting winning proposals for national and international funding programmes such as those mentioned above. This experience could be from single-partner projects as well as collaborative, however, experience in developing proposals is essential.

You should be detail-oriented whilst being able to keep an eye on the bigger picture. You will need to be self-motivated as well able to motivate colleagues. A passion for innovation and new product/process development would be valuable.

Your **_main responsibilities_** will include:

- Reviewing competition and call briefing documents and communicating what any given proposal requires to be a ‘winning proposal’;
- Working with the business development team to identify the best partners to work with;
- Leading meetings with consortium members to define concepts and project ideas;
- Be the driving force for high-quality information exchange between industrial, academic and research consortium partners;
- Building relationships and rapport with experts amongst the consortium;
- Drive the development of proposal concepts through crafting a logical narrative that covers the need, innovations and solutions;
- Carrying out due diligence/techno-economic feasibility studies;
- Planning, drafting, crafting and editing compelling ‘stories’ for your proposals;
- Ensuring timelines are appropriately planned and met;
- Being responsible and accountable for your proposals - making sure they are prepared to a high-standard, evaluated and submitted on time, every time.
- Strong communication and relationship-building skills;
- Persuasion and influencing skills;
- Critical thinking;
- Problem-solving ability;
- Drive and ability to work effectively under pressure towards deadlines;
- A focus on delivering results;
- Adaptability and openness to change;
- Desire to learn new skills;
- Strong teamwork ethic;
- Ambition and passion for what they do;
- Interest in technology and innovation;
**_The Benefits_**:
This is an extremely varied, exciting, and dynamic position. It will bring challenges and plenty of opportunities to excel. You will work with a range of dynamic, highly innovative companies, from multinationals and SMEs to leading research and technology organisations to support the development of ground breaking new technologies.

We are remote-first, meaning that you will be remote-based and employed from one of our three locations (Spain, Ireland or UK). There will be occasional travel to Iconiq HQ (UK) to work with the team, and some other travel nationally and internationally will be expected occasionally (in line with Covid guidelines). If appropriate, you could be office-based but this is not a necessity. The role comes with a competitive salary package.

**_About us: _**

Iconiq is a dynamic innovation consultancy with a mission to create the opportunities to accelerate innovation for the benefit of science, industry, society, and the environment. We do this through navigating access to funding opportunities, and primarily through securing grant funding for our client's new product and process development. The team has secured over €170 million in the last 5 years, with substantial funding in the areas of coatings, printed electronics, composites, materials science, packaging and renewable energies.

Please note, only applicants from the UK and within the EU will be considered.

**Job Types**: Full-time, Permanent

Application Question(s):

- How many innovation funding proposals have you developed as a Lead Consultant in the past 3-5 years?
- Have you ever written a funding proposal for Horizon Europe, H2020, Innovate UK or Eureka competitions?

**Experience**:

- preparing and submitting innovation