Head of Regional Innovation Partnerships (Glasgow)

Application Deadline: 20 April 2026

Department: Built Environment & Local Growth

Location: Glasgow

Compensation: £80,000 – £89,000 / year

Contract type/Duration: Permanent

Working hours: Full time (9‑day fortnight companywide)

Band: 4.3

Reports to: Regional & Local Growth Director and Intelligence Hub Manager (GCC)

Internal job code: RC073

Closing date: 9am on the 20th April 2026

The Role

Connected Places Catapult (CPC) is partnering with Glasgow City Region (GCR) to find a new Head of Regional Innovation Partnerships in the Regional & Local Growth Directorate. The postholder will have two core priorities:

• Led by the GCR Innovation Action Plan, build partnerships across the Glasgow City Region that drive business growth and accelerate the journey of local innovation businesses from discovery to commercialisation. This may involve driving new investment, bidding for R&D grants or providing opportunities for tech transfer.
• Lead CPC’s relationship with the Glasgow City Region, the Scottish Cities Alliance, Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish Government, Innovate UK in Scotland and other regional stakeholders. You will help regional stakeholders tap into CPC’s experience running programmes across transport, the built environment and cities.

Within CPC, the role is a leadership position and may be asked to oversee, support and line‑manage individuals embedded in other regional innovation economies across the UK. You will be a member of the Regional & Local Growth Directorate’s leadership team, working with other Heads across the business – especially the Head of Regional Delivery – to shape and deliver new programmes that unlock local business growth through innovation.

Key Responsibilities

• Deeply understand the needs of partners to bridge the gap between innovation and the market.
• Shape, lead and deliver value through guiding innovative delivery projects and engagements.
• Lead stakeholder management and relationship building at senior levels to ensure buy‑in to innovation delivery.
• Provide recognised thought leadership.
• Support the team to meet revenue targets.
• Lead the development of collateral to support ‘go‑to‑market’ propositions and service offerings.
• Work with account leads and teams to support opportunity identification, qualification and contracting.
• Oversee and ensure compliant use of the CRM process and system.
• Own pipeline management for accounts and business development.
• Manage contracting with Legal and Commercial teams.
• Assure the quality of client delivery.
• Act as Senior Responsible Officer on delivery programmes and projects.
• Oversee programme budgets.
• Ensure dissemination and feedback on Connected Places Catapult standard internal communications.
• Support the development of others in your professional community’s skills to ensure consistency of service delivery and expertise.
• Coach and mentor junior colleagues.
• Drive high attendance at internal professional community activities and events.
• Maintain your own professional development.
• Ensure an ethos of equity, inclusivity and diversity underpin your work activity, contributing to inclusive innovation across all Catapult activities.
• Undertake any other reasonable duties to support the Catapult in achieving its strategic outcomes and ensuring effective business operations.

Required Competencies

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• Provide coaching and feedback that drives development, innovation, creativity and delivery in the team using key metrics and data points.
• Use emotional intelligence to create an environment where team members feel safe to experiment, challenge and try new things.
• Seek, encourage and create conditions for continuous improvement in processes, systems, behaviours and ways of working.
• Build motivation and engagement in the team through understanding individual aspirations and development needs.
• Manage performance through effective goal setting based on business and role objectives and development needs.
• Provide clarity of expectations and take ownership of wider team performance.
• Manage change, navigate the team through transition, mitigate resistance and ensure everyone is on board with new directions.
• Organise the work and team around multiple simultaneous initiatives, prioritising tasks and delegating effectively.
• Use management information to understand trends, gaps, challenges and opportunities and make commercial decisions.
• Actively build an inclusive and sustainability‑focused team culture that celebrates diverse experiences and perspectives, ensures compliance with policies and applies equalities impact assessments.

Benefits

• 9‑day fortnight for everyone, with a full company shutdown every other Friday.
• 23.5 holiday entitlement for everyone, with pro‑rata calculations for part‑time employees and a Christmas shutdown period for additional days off.
• Competitive pension, up to 10% company contribution to help you save for your future.
• Two paid days of volunteering leave per year (pro‑rata for part‑time employees) to support charitable activities.
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) providing 24/7 confidential work/life support services to you and your immediate family members.
• Cycle to Work Scheme encouraging a healthy and sustainable commute.
• Cash Health Plan, offering reimbursement for a wide range of essential and everyday healthcare expenses.
• Payroll Giving scheme, allowing regular charitable contributions from pre‑tax income.
• Discounts and offers from a wide variety of retailers, enhancing purchasing power.
• Mortgage Advice benefit, delivered in partnership with Charles Cameron & Associates – free expert mortgage advice and end‑to‑end support from application to completion.

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