KTN is hiring: Analyst – Smart Specialisation
We are looking for an analyst to support Smart Specialisation Hub, KTN and Innovate UK place-based delivery plans.
Background:
Place-based innovation is of growing importance in the UK.  As a key part of the Industrial Strategy, ‘ideas’ (or innovation) are part of how the UK is to address the need for better jobs, higher productivity and greater economic growth. Further, the Industrial Strategy, alongside devolution, metro mayors, Science and Innovation Audits, ‘rebalancing’ and ‘the economy that works for all’ have brought the issue of Places into national focus.
Innovate UK and KTN have an evolving and growing focus on Place. The Smart Specialisation Hub is managed by KTN in cooperation with NCUB with the purpose to support and improve local and national understanding of innovation capabilities. The Hub’s remit is to surface place-based data, insights and interventions in order to support local actors as they identify their innovation activities and align them with national policy.
The Hub plays an important role alongside Innovate UK’s regional team in supporting Science and Innovation Audits and the emerging Local Industrial Strategies supporting evidence use and encouraging evidence-based decision-making.
Job Purpose:
●      To support the delivery of the analytical programme of the Smart Specialisation Hub
●      To improve the understanding of place-based innovation, innovation processes and capabilities – including sectors
●      To deliver data and services to track and improve innovation investment performance
●      To develop own external relationships with relevant stakeholders to maximise opportunities to the KTN and the Smart Specialisation Hub.
●      To help surface data to improve the understanding of national and local innovation capabilities and assess comparative capability
Reporting to:  Director Smart Specialisation Hub – Head of Place
Scope:  Analysis Support for Place-based Innovation and Effectiveness
The role fits within the Innovation and Effectiveness directorate and encompasses aspects of research and analysis of innovation and policy with a specific focus on place-based analysis.  The role will include partnering with outside organisations and collating external research.  The role involves evaluation of external practice and data, including for enabling the comparison or benchmarking of LEPs (and other geographies) against other innovation actors.  It also seeks to build analytical capability in support of external innovation processes and policy, be that through KTN projects (as in Smart Specialisation) or in response to requests from the Executive team. The role will include building relationships with peers in other organisations around the country.
Key accountabilities:
●      Support Smart Specialisation Hub, KTN and Innovate UK place-based delivery plans
●      Building an in-house analytical capability which supports Smart Specialisation Hub and KTN ambition to be a central point for understanding of place-based innovation
●      Building and maintaining a network of relevant external contacts who deliver to place-based data / analysis, innovation research and policy
●      Supporting Smart Specialisation Hub and KTN projects which deliver on innovation understanding, processes and practice
●      Reporting and KPIs as required
Job responsibilities
●       To support key KTN projects that address innovation capabilities, in particular Smart Specialisation Hub
●       To maintain and expand the Smart Specialisation Hub comparative mapping of UK innovation activities
●       To help design parameters to measure innovation capabilities, and curate measurement of these
●       To collate and synthesis innovation and other relevant analysis from external bodies
●       To build and maintain a strong relationship with counterparts in relevant innovation stakeholders
●       To support the Head of Place and Hub Director in assessing effectiveness of local innovation interventions
For a full job description, please click here. Please send your CV and covering letter to hr@openktn.co.uk by Friday 31st August 2018.