Head of Innovation

Unipart Manufacturing Group; Coventry; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job description

This job is brought to you by Jobs/Redefined, the UK's leading over-50s age inclusive jobs board.

Unipart is at the heart of British manufacturing, bringing innovative products to production reality. The Manufacturing business is part of the Unipart Group of Companies.

Our core capabilities are built on 40 years of industry experience and continuous improvement as a Manufacturing Partner for the world's leading automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers. As industry transitions to net-zero, we are solving the complex manufacturing challenges of tomorrow by applying our expertise in automation, joining technology, safety critical processes, supply chain management and design-for-manufacturing to scale-up production of future powertrain systems and diversifying our business into new sectors.

At the centre of our manufacturing strategy is innovation, delivering unique and tailored supply chain solutions. With a proud heritage in the automotive industry, we have an established business that is also expanding into wider sectors while continuing to deliver engineering excellence for our customers in new technologies. Our approach applies industrial knowledge and experience to provide our customers with a full manufacturing and service, operated through Contract Manufacturing or a JV model.

As Head of Innovation, you will be responsible for leading Unipart's activities at our Institute for Advanced, Manufacturing and Engineering (AME), a unique collaboration between Unipart and Coventry University, driving academic and research excellence. The role will require a combination of commercial and technology innovation experience to support business growth and a focus on expanding our advanced manufacturing capability.

Key Responsibilities:

• Deliver high-quality engineering and research projects to support Unipart's business growth strategy
• Lead a multi-disciplinary team of engineers and researchers in the AME delivering innovation excellence
• Develop a pipeline of grant funded research projects to grow skills & capability in advanced manufacturing
• Provide business intelligence, identify future market opportunities and keep us head of industry trends
• Create and run a pipeline of sustainability project initiative to meet Unipart's manufacturing net-zero goals
• Support external market engagement events showcasing Unipart innovation
• Provide effective coaching and to business associates, ensuring the team utilise the Unipart Way tools
• Prepare RFQs, grant bids and business cases for new opportunities
• Have a customer-facing role in all commercial activities, including NPI, focused on manufacturing innovation