Senior Innovation Manager (M/F)

Senior Innovation Manager (M/F)

Full-time

A.SPIRE

Brussels, Belgium

Starting date: As soon as possible

A.SPIRE is a European Association that represents ten European industrial sectors (cement, ceramics, chemicals, engineering, minerals and ores, non-ferrous metals, steel, water, refining and pulp&paper) and the research & innovation interests of more than 170 members (companies, research & technology organisations et al.). A.SPIRE is the private partner for the implementation of the Processes4Planet co-programmed Partnership launched as part of the Horizon Europe framework programme.

To support our ecosystem and implement the Partnership, we provide services in the following streams:

1. Facilitating cross-sectorial dialogue on the process industries R&I for the implementation of the Partnership;
2. Facilitating a structured framework for collaboration and knowledge co-creation among our members;
3. Facilitating networking for our members to learn, develop and maximise R&I opportunities.

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 maximization 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, will analyse data and elaborate progress reports of 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:

1. Overview and analysis of SPIRE and Processes4Planet projects’ innovation portfolio: Monitoring and reporting on the progress of the projects and the Partnership; Developing and contributing to projects progress reports to monitor their capacity of impact, and to identify their results and outputs, additional investments and success stories; Providing stats and analysis on SPIRE and P4Planet projects, and on the sectors and A.SPIRE members participation in P4Planet calls and projects; And contributing to raise awareness of the value of P4Planet partnership by defining the dissemination actions and providing input to surveys from the European Commission on the progress of the Partnership;
2. Coordinate and support A.SPIRE’s advisory and working groups in the activities related to the innovation portfolio impact. You will organize 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 to organize and co-coordinate 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 market place 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 projects 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 for 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 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 organized 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, open-minded, with excellent multi-tasking skills and capacity to take on board tasks of 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.

HOW TO APPLY

• Suitably qualified and interested candidates are invited to send an application to Ms Evelina Paunksnyte (epa@aspire2050.eu) quoting the following reference “Senior Innovation Manager”. Your application should include:
  • A cover letter (no longer than 1 page) describing how your profile matches the different job requirements and what the motivation for the position is;
  • A CV, including details of two people who can be contacted for references.
• Applications will be reviewed regularly, so we strongly encourage early applications. Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted;
• Application deadline: 15 December at 17:00 CET.