Community and Innovation Associate

The Role's Purpose

This role will be based in Reading.

Community: Embedded on a client site, you will be the first point of contact for clients and guests, creating an exceptional first impression for everyone. You will be a critical actor in the continued development of the culture, awareness and adoption of the space, curating an environment which enables innovation at pace and ensuring the facility operates effectively and efficiently. This requires excellent relationship‑building skills, strong attention to detail, and a proactive approach to solving challenges.

Innovation: You will work with the delivery team on managing the innovation project pipeline, supporting early‑stage challenge/problem definition and project triage, overseeing regular written and in‑person reporting and stakeholder communications. This will include planning and delivering engagements with a broad range of teams, managing stakeholders to gather the information required to ensure successful project delivery, and communicating opportunities and case studies across the client organisation.

What You'll Do

• Community responsibilities:
• Leverage new and existing channels of communication across the organisation to strengthen awareness of the innovation accelerator and encourage submission of project ideas.
• Help to build a network of innovation advocates across the organisation and embed adoption of the offering.
• Identify and communicate innovation opportunities, project outcomes and case studies across the wider client organisation.
• Support the development of a positive, collaborative and innovation‑focussed culture that learns from experience and experimentation.
• Build strong working relationships with clients, stakeholders, and internal teams.
• Support the smooth delivery of events, meetings and engagements taking place within the space.
• Curate a calendar of relevant and topical events to grow and engage the community and showcase Plexal’s expertise.
• Facility management:
• Act as the first point of contact for clients, partners, visitors and guests, delivering a welcoming, professional and high‑quality experience.
• Manage visitor booking and access to the facility.
• Create and maintain an exceptional first impression of the space through strong day‑to‑day operational management.
• Curate an environment that enables productive collaboration, creativity and innovation.
• Ensure the facility operates effectively, efficiently and to a consistently high standard.
• Proactively identify and resolve operational, facilities or member experience challenges.
• Respond confidently and professionally to day‑to‑day queries, issues and requests.
• Maintain high standards of presentation, organisation and attention to detail across the space.
• Ensure facility kitchen is clean, tidy and fully stocked – reordering sundries as needed.
• Innovation responsibilities:
• Support management of the innovation project pipeline, ensuring effective tracking, prioritisation and coordination of opportunities.
• Assist with early‑stage problem/challenge definition and project triage to identify requirements and support successful project outcomes.
• Coordinate regular project reporting, including written updates, status reporting and in‑person stakeholder briefings.
• Manage stakeholder communications across innovation projects, ensuring timely, clear and effective information sharing.
• Build strong relationships with stakeholders to gather the information, requirements and inputs needed for successful project delivery.
• Support cross‑functional collaboration between delivery teams, clients and partners to maintain project momentum.
• Ensure project documentation, communications and reporting materials are maintained to a high standard.
• Proactively identify risks, blockers or information gaps and escalate where appropriate to support smooth delivery.

Your Skills

• Reliable, highly organised and able to provide a high level of customer service.
• Effective planning and prioritisation skills with the ability to keep track of multiple tasks and deliverables.
• Excellent Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint skills.

Your Experience

• Educated to degree level or equivalent relevant experience.
• Proven administrative experience of working in a fast‑paced team environment and a customer‑facing role.
• Experience working with multiple stakeholders, such as startups and corporate clients, and understanding the practicalities of operating in a small and growing company.
• Dealing with ambiguity and operating in a constantly changing environment.

Who You Are

• Energised by the challenges and opportunities presented by working for a high‑growth company.
• Excellent communicator with strong interpersonal skills and the ability to interact with diverse stakeholder groups.
• Team player and motivated self‑starter who is able to take initiative with workload and tasks.

Benefits

• Salary: £30,700 - £45,000 depending on skills and experience.
• Annual bonus scheme.
• Generous pension scheme (with a company contribution of up to 10%).
• Private healthcare, life assurance and critical illness cover.
• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays.
• Volunteering day.

Plexal is an equal opportunities employer and we actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds. We are a Disability Committed employer and are willing to make reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.