Innovation Manager

To lead on service design approaches, collaborating with colleagues across departments and people we support to co-create innovative, person-centred offers that meet emerging needs, provide creative solutions and opportunities for sustainable growth. You will build and maintain relationships with commissioners, funders and external partners to influence service design, innovation and improvement. Make a significant positive contribution to Growth and Innovation, including raising key issues for decision, debating and contributing to the effective resolution of key challenges.

Lead on service design approaches, collaborating with colleagues across departments and people we support to co-create innovative, person-centred offers that meet emerging needs, provide creative solutions and opportunities for sustainable growth. Use data insights and stakeholder feedback to inform service design, ensuring new offers are person-centred, effective and adhere to the highest standards of quality and safeguarding. Embed social value commitments into all offers, demonstrating how our work benefits communities and contributes beyond contractual requirements. Lead continuous improvement by analysing feedback and sharing learning from service design approaches and creative, innovative offers. Produce regular pipeline reports, growth KPIs and market insights to inform decision-making. Build and maintain relationships with commissioners, funders and external partners to influence contract design, service innovation and improvement. Collaborate with colleagues across the organisation, influencing and motivating them to contribute to service design approaches and deliver excellence. Keep up to date with social care innovation practice and market intelligence. Champion diversity, equality and inclusion and uphold United Response’s values. Travel to services and occasionally work outside office hours. Ensure dignity and respect for the people we support in every aspect of your work. Maintain confidentiality at all times. Adhere to relevant legal and statutory requirements and our organisational policies. Carry out any other duties as reasonably required.

Professional Knowledge and Practice

• Strong knowledge of commissioning environments, social care innovation and public sector procurement.
• Sound levels of professional practice/knowledge across all the care/support areas relating to people with disabilities and support needs.
• Understanding of lived experience approaches and co-production.
• Evidence of service design or innovation experience in a senior role in a social care, community or not for profit organisation.
• Excellent project management and business case writing skills with the ability to prioritise competing demands.
• Experience of embedding social value into service design.
• Familiarity with CRM and contract management systems.
• Strong analysis and research skills, using up to date market analysis, ideas and good practice to inform service design approaches.
• Excellent written, verbal, numeracy and IT skills (competent and confident using Microsoft Office packages).
• Being personally accountable for the area of your responsibility, providing clear vision, strategies, direction and support to your colleagues whilst working in a way which is central to the values and culture of United Response.
• Effective planning, influencing and organisational skills with the ability to think analytically.
• Motivational leadership style which fosters a collaborative environment and encourages creativity.

Values and Equality

• Champion diversity, equality and inclusion and uphold United Response’s values.
• Ensure dignity and respect for the people we support in every aspect of your work.

Communications

• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to present persuasively at senior level.
• Comfortable with leading and attending virtual meetings.
• Skilled at negotiation within agreed, delegated parameters and able to apply different techniques to varying situations.
• Recognise that things can and do go wrong and are comfortable in managing the consequences and are open about applying learning.

Problem Solving and Decision Making

• Take personal responsibility for ensuring decisions are made.
• Identifying problems, seeking to understand their underlying causes and acting quickly and decisively to resolve them.
• Apply project management techniques appropriately to the scale of the task in hand.
• Can work at pace and can juggle competing demands, making reasoned decisions about priorities.
• Able to make sound decisions with incomplete information and to operate successfully in sometimes ambiguous environments.

Quality Assurance

• Promote a vision of quality and continuous improvement informed by the people we support through co-creation and lived experience.
• Organising and Planning. Reviewing, monitoring and evaluating quality.

Resource Management

• Managing and controlling resources to meet demands and changing priorities, ensuring financial viability.
• Show resilience when needed for yourself and assist others to develop this.

Personal Style and Behaviour

• Exhibits ownership for work activities and makes decisions independently within requirements of role.
• Can harness creative thinking and innovative approaches both of your own and enable others to apply these to deliver practical outcomes.
• Ability to adapt approach and plans to fit with changing conditions, responsibilities and people.
• Determined, outgoing, positive, articulate and thrives on challenges.
• Can self-manage workload with excellent time management skills and can work flexibly to meet the competing demands of the role.
• Self-motivating and able to work and network alone.
• Have integrity and display courage in tricky situations.
• Are a team player, with an ability to collaborate effectively in service design, decision making and implementation.
• Describe what your commitment to the aims, values and goals of United Response looks like in practice.