Business Innovation Centres Lead

Building on the success of the Greater Manchester FE Innovation Programme, Oldham College is excited to be recruiting a newly created role—on behalf of the GM FE Innovation Fund, a Business Innovation Centres Lead, to drive the next phase of innovation across the region.

This is a part time position (3 days per week) and initially fixed term until 31/03/2026

FTE Salary £60,000 per annum pro rata

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced and driven professional to take on the role of Business Innovation Centres Lead within the Greater Manchester Further Education Innovation Programme (GMFEIP). This unique, high-impact programme is funded by Innovate UK and brings together nine General Further Education Colleges across Greater Manchester.

The aim of the GMFEIP is to boost business productivity and economic growth by supporting innovation adoption in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Central to this is the establishment of Innovation Centres in each participating college—dedicated hubs that connect SMEs with the expertise, facilities and support they need to innovate and grow.

As the Lead, you will provide strategic coordination, leadership and support to the teams based in each college, ensuring consistent delivery across all Innovation Centres. You will monitor impact, oversee performance against key performance indicators, and build strong connections with regional innovation stakeholders to ensure each Centre is fully embedded within the wider Greater Manchester innovation ecosystem.

To see some of the great work we have already achieved, please follow the video link on the Job description.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and support the work of Business Innovation Advisors and Coordinators based in each college.
• Ensure all Centres are delivering against agreed KPIs and meeting Innovate UK programme requirements.
• Act as the key point of liaison between Innovation Centre teams, the GMFEIP leadership, and external partners.
• Promote alignment with regional innovation strategies and ensure the Centres complement existing business support services.
• Oversee impact tracking and reporting in collaboration with the programme’s Monitoring Manager.
• Facilitate continuous improvement through sharing best practice and supporting professional development.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with partners such as universities, accelerators, and business networks.

About You

We are looking for someone with a strong track record in delivering innovation support for SMEs and experience managing multi-partner programmes. You will bring a collaborative, strategic mindset and be confident working across a complex stakeholder landscape.

You should also have:

• A good understanding of the Greater Manchester innovation ecosystem.
• Excellent programme and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience of supporting SME innovation and business development.
• Confidence in analysing and reporting on impact data.
• The ability to lead and motivate cross-institutional teams.

Experience within further education, skills development, or economic development would be an advantage but is not essential.

Interviews for this post will take place week commencing 5th May

Why Join Us?

This is a fantastic opportunity to play a key role in a flagship programme that is making a real difference to regional innovation, economic growth, and the future of further education. You’ll work at the interface of education, business and innovation—and be part of an ambitious, collaborative and forward-thinking team.

For this role you will be employed directly by Oldham College and be eligible for all the great benefits that come with that

Joining our Journey:

When you join our college, not only will you benefit from an annual reviewed salary but have access to numerous benefits and facilities:

· Generous Pension Scheme

· Fantastic Staff Benefits and Rewards platform

· Very generous holiday entitlement

· Employee Assistance Scheme

· Enhanced Maternity/Paternity provision

· Staff Development days/week (Jan, July, Aug)

· Free confidential counselling service

· Staff recognition awards

· Car Scheme

· Subsidised car parking

· On-site Day Nursery

· On-site hair and beauty salon

Oldham College is a great career choice for ambitious professionals. With one of the best apprenticeship programmes in the region, excellent 16-18 results and truly outstanding GCSE English results, we are already a high performer.

But we want to deliver much more than this. Our ambition is to be “The Best Place to Learn and Work” and we have a clear Strategic Plan which sets out what this means and what we will do to deliver it. We will keep on improving and innovating, and we are investing in new provision, new facilities, and new technology; including our state-of-the-art clinical simulation suite.

We expect a lot from you, so we want ambitious, open minded candidates, who are ready to give their best. But we give a lot in return, from training to pensions, our own benefits package, and one of the best and most helpful group of colleagues you could ever wish to meet.

The role will require you to embed and work to the college’s values; working with Integrity, having Ambition to help our learners succeed and being Inclusive to learners and colleagues alike.

At Oldham College, our mission is to welcome everyone and create inclusive teams. We encourage everyone to join us, as we create a workforce that is as diverse as our wonderful student community. We do monitor responses to our diversity questions in our application, to ensure that we can continue to build a workforce that is representative of the community that we serve.

We understand that not everyone works to the same timetable, and offer a range of flexible working options, including flexible start and finish times, part-time, term-time only or hybrid options, where the role permits.

We will do everything we can to support you during your application. If you need us to make any adjustments to our recruitment process, contact our HR team who will be happy to advise.

If your application is successful, your personal data may be used for a pre-employment screening check by a third party as permitted by applicable law.

Depending on the vacancy and applicable laws, a pre-employment screening could include, employment history, education and other information (such as media information) that may be necessary for determining your qualifications and suitability for the role.

Oldham College is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share in this commitment.

Any appointments will be subject to enhanced DBS checks and a check of the DfE Barred List.

Further details including a Person Specification are included within the attached Job Description.

This role is exempt from the Rehabilitation Act 1974. It is an offence to apply for the role if the applicant is barred from engaging in regulated activity relevant to children and vulnerable adults.