Innovation Manager

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Role Summary

• Responsibilities: By stepping into Costello Medical's first Innovation Manager role, you will be responsible for spearheading the development of the company's digital innovation strategy, as well as driving a company-wide culture of creativity and idea generation, ensuring alignment with overall business goals
• Salary: £60,000 to £65,000 per annum, with uncapped discretionary bonuses based on company performance paid twice per year
• Benefits: Discretionary profit share bonuses (uncapped, based on company financial performance), hybrid working options that allow you to work from home up to 50% of your time after passing probation, generous holiday allowance, flexible working hours, employer pension contributions, comprehensive travel insurance, private medical insurance, critical illness cover, income protection, full funding for external training, interest-free travel loan scheme, discounted gym memberships, and more
• Role Type: Full-time, permanent
• Start Date: We are currently recruiting for start dates in early 2025, including February and March, and you will be asked to state your availability on your application form
• Location: This role is available in our Global Headquarters in Cambridge, as well as our London office

About the Role

In 2021, Costello Medical launched its own in-house Technical Innovation and Development (TechDev) division, dedicated to creating and developing innovative products and services that deliver exceptional value to our clients and enrich the services our workforce is able to offer. Blending the power of software development, automation, and research, the TechDev team drives the application of technology, improving the customer experience, streamlining client project outcomes and enhancing efficiencies in professional service delivery across the company.

Due to the company's continued growth, as well as our commitment to modernising our services and proactively competing in the market, we are excited to introduce our very first Innovation Manager role. This pivotal role will not only spearhead the advancement of our digital innovation strategy, but also drive a culture of innovation across the entire workforce. As a focal leader, the Innovation Manager will play a key role in encouraging company-wide creativity and idea generation, embedding sustained innovative practices, and thus ensuring we continue to deliver the best possible service to our clients.

By collaborating closely with internal project teams and external clients, as well as conducting effective market research and competitor analysis, you will help to identify novel technical solutions and support the entire software development lifecycle; this will include ideation and feasibility assessment, product rollout, commercialisation, adoption, and evaluation. Keeping abreast of the latest industry trends, you will ensure all products developed in-house are among the most effective and cutting-edge on the market.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Leading Digital Innovation Strategy: Spearheading the development of the company's digital innovation strategy, in partnership with company leadership, ensuring alignment with overall business goals. This will include engaging with clients, understanding their needs, and maintaining awareness of the competitor landscape
• Fostering an Innovative Culture: Collaborating with the Leadership Team to establish incentives, organisational designs, and capabilities that nurture innovation across all divisions. This will include providing constructive challenge to enhance company-wide creativity and idea generation
• Guiding Product Commercialisation: Oversee the lifecycle of internal software development, acting as an expert advisor to product owners, from ideation and feasibility assessment through to development, rollout, and continued product maturity
• Promoting and Commercialising Products: Leading external promotion and commercialisation strategies, incorporating insights from key stakeholders
• Driving Technology Adoption:

1. Supporting product owners in delivering the strategic direction of the software, communicating key strategies to relevant stakeholders, and ensuring a cohesive approach
2. Evaluating product adoption to determine if business requirements are met, collaborating with the TechDev team to establish suitable metrics for assessment
3. Encouraging product usage across relevant teams and identifying where process or tool changes may offer benefits

• Establishing KPIs: Developing KPIs for company-wide involvement in innovation activities, reporting your findings and recommending actions to company leadership to ensure all teams are accountable for idea generation and sharing
• Prioritising Requests and Solutions: Working with the Leadership Team and TechDev to prioritise company requests and seek alternative solutions when necessary
• Staying Ahead of Industry Trends: Keeping informed about innovative solutions and products across the sector to support product ideation, prioritisation, and adoption

Hybrid Working Policy: We recognise that home-working can improve work life balance, reduce commuting times and costs, and provide the opportunity to juggle personal commitments. At the same time, we believe that having face-to-face time in the office holds many benefits and is central to ensuring that the community we have created, where people have a workplace they belong to and feel part of, is never lost.

Therefore, we offer flexible working arrangements that allow our colleagues who have passed probation to work from home for up to half of the time, measured across a 2-week rolling period. During your probationary period (normally the first 6 months of the role) you will be able to work from home for 1 day per week.

Career Profile

We offer many opportunities for personal and professional development at Costello Medical. Please click below to read first-hand accounts from our colleagues about their time with the company: https://www.costellomedical.com/careers/working-at-costello-medical/

Requirements
About You

We are looking for an ambitious and proactive leader who thrives on embracing new challenges and fostering a culture of innovation across our global services. With an entrepreneurial mindset, a strong aptitude for technical innovation, and an unwavering commitment to upholding the highest standards of quality, you will demonstrate a genuine passion for delivering exceptional service to clients and internal colleagues, even in a demanding and fast-paced environment. You will be committed to inspiring change and improvement, challenging yourself and others to think differently, and embracing innovative solutions.

The successful candidate will have a strong business sense to drive the expansion of our technical capabilities, fostering a working environment that encourages innovation and continuous improvement. You will also be highly collaborative, demonstrating effective communication skills that enable you to nurture a forward-thinking mindset across the company.

Essential requirements for the role are:

• A degree-level or higher qualification (minimum 2.1 or equivalent) in a relevant field, including but not limited to; business management, life sciences, software engineering, computer science, and more
• A minimum of 5 years' professional experience, including at least 2 years working with Software Development/Engineering teams in roles such as Product Manager, Business Analyst, Technical Program Manager, or similar
• Expertise in developing and executing complex technical strategies, along with a comprehensive understanding of the software development lifecycle
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with experience in client engagement, sales, marketing, market research, and driving brand awareness
• The ability to connect with colleagues at all levels and encourage positive change across an organisation
• The ability to deliver high-quality outputs and exceptional customer service under multiple competing demands
• A demonstrated entrepreneurial spirit and strong business acumen, with the ability to make informed decisions based on financial data and other information
• The proactivity and desire to stay informed about key industry trends, such as emerging technologies, best practices, customer/user sentiments, and competitor activities, to influence company strategy and drive innovation
• An analytical and problem-solving mindset, with the ability to interpret data effectively to generate actionable insights
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. This includes attention to detail, a confident and professional tone, and the ability to explain technical concepts in a digestible way to a variety of audiences

Benefits
About Costello Medical

Costello Medical is a rapidly growing global healthcare agency specialising in medical communications, market access and health economic and outcomes research. We work with a wide range of clients, including the industry's most successful pharmaceutical and medical technology companies, patient and public health bodies and charitable organisations. Our mission is to be a community of the very best people, building trusted partnerships across the healthcare sector by delivering an exceptional service. Our vision is to be a leading global partner consistently striving for meaningful and outstanding contributions that improve people's health and lives.

We are committed to our company values which are central to creating our fun, friendly and innovative workplace in which we strive to deliver the highest standards of quality. As a result, we have been listed in The Top 100 Companies to Work For list for six consecutive years.

On 27th May 2022, Costello Medical received its certification as a B Corporation. We are really proud of this achievement as it demonstrates that Costello Medical is meeting the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance. We underwent a rigorous assessment that covered the whole of our business including employee benefits, charitable giving and sustainability. We believe this certification is external validation of our mission to be a force for good.

The Recruitment Process

Our recruitment process begins with a telephone interview conducted by a member of the Talent Acquisition team. Following this, you will be invited to an initial interview to discuss a particular scenario that is presented to you. If successful, you will be asked to attend a final interview in our office with senior members of our TechDev and Operations divisions. Our standard recruitment process lasts around 3 to 4 weeks, however this can be adapted if necessary.

As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce and, throughout the recruitment process, there are a number of reasonable adjustments we can provide. Please click here to read more about this and contact the People Team via recruitment@costellomedical.com should you require reasonable adjustments at any stage.

We are currently recruiting for start dates in early 2025, including February and March, and you will be asked to state your availability on your application form. Whilst there are no set application deadlines, we strongly recommend applying as early as possible so that we can begin processing your application, as the role will close when a suitable candidate is found.

Please note that the successful candidate may be required to undergo security/background checks, and any employment offer will be conditional on the results of these.

What We Offer

• A starting salary of £60,000 to £65,000 per annum, with uncapped discretionary bonuses based on company performance paid twice per year
• A discretionary profit share bonus paid twice per year
• 25 days' annual leave plus bank and public holidays
• The chance to work from home for up to half of your working time after passing probation
• Flexible benefits scheme offering additional holiday, cash payments and pension contributions
• 4% employer pension contributions
• Private Medical Insurance which offers comprehensive cover on a "medical history disregard" basis
• Paid study leave and funding for external qualifications
• Cycle to Work scheme and an interest-free travel loan scheme
• Critical Illness Cover, Income Protection and Life Assurance
• Access to an Employee Assistance Programme
• Discounted gym memberships
• Comprehensive travel insurance
• Flexible working hours
• Regular company-funded social activities

Please click here to learn about our reward package and the other benefits of working for Costello Medical: https://www.costellomedical.com/careers/benefits-package-in-the-uk/

How to Apply

You are required to submit your CV and a cover letter via our online application form. In your cover letter, you must explain why you think you would be suited to the role and why you would like to join Costello Medical, with examples to support both. Your CV should clearly state the dates of all qualifications and grades achieved where applicable.

While we embrace Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to innovate and improve processes, we want to understand your unique skills and experiences throughout the recruitment process. Therefore, if you use AI to assist with your application, we recommend that you do not rely solely on this technology to generate your application materials. As your role may involve developing new written content from scratch and handling confidential data that cannot be uploaded to AI technology, it is important for us to assess your own skills and abilities.

Please contact the Talent Acquisition team at recruitment@costellomedical.com if you have any questions about the role or application process.

Visa Sponsorship

Please note that this role does not meet the eligibility criteria for visa sponsorship, and you will therefore need the right to work in the UK independently from the company.