About the role

At National Grid we are increasing the pace of our innovation cycle so we can deliver greater value to society, faster. To be successful in this challenge, we are looking at recruiting an entrepreneur to join our team. National Grid is hiring an Innovation Manager to be based in the UK – either London or Warwick. This position requires being in the office 2-3 days per week.

This role is specifically designed to strategise, ideate, setup, track and support the delivery of a disruptive innovation programme across the National Grid group. This will include keeping up to date with changes in the energy, technology and entrepreneurship landscapes, developing innovation strategies and initiatives to address our decarbonisation ambition and delivering on them. Your key stakeholders will be National Grid existing Businesses as well as the wider innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem. You will be part of a team of Innovation professionals and develop new initiatives from the very beginning of ideation and customer discovery through to business model validation. The activities will be truly entrepreneurial ranging from strategic work at the early stage to generating a pipeline of projects, to customer validation and job-to-be-done interviews, to developing financial business propositions, novel technical solutions and compelling pitches to the investor and start-up community.

Disruptive Innovation is about identifying and validating opportunities for new revenue streams or customer benefits that that do not exist today, but which if we leave for others to pursue could ultimately erode or disrupt present revenue streams across the Group. To be taken up by the CoE such opportunities must have clear and plausible economic, environmental and / or societal benefits which will be valued by both National Grid and our consumers. This role is specifically designed to manage and deliver disruptive innovation across National Grid’s Business units, taking projects from ideation through to a validated business case for scale up.

Key Accountabilities

• Alongside colleagues, develop and propose compelling business cases and innovation campaigns to senior managements.
• Leveraging your strong relationships, you will be accountable for delivering transformative and disruptive innovation initiatives across the National Grid’s business units. Taking projects from ideation through to a validated business case for scale up.
• Accountable to source and deliver Innovation ideas into the pipeline
• Accountable for the managing the innovation process for your personal and teams’ initiatives.
• Accountable for being a role model team member of the innovation team, ambassador to the wider business and externally.
• Work with the other pillars of the Innovation and Venture Acceleration team to support reporting, commercialization and external storytelling efforts.

About you

We are looking for entrepreneurial candidates comfortable working autonomously as well as in team settings. You will be a passionate leader that the team is enthusiastic to follow, obsessed about the decarbonisation of the energy industry and innovation. We're looking for someone with experience across the below:

• Exhibits inspirational commercial, entrepreneurial, problem solving, creative skills and bureaucratic resiliency.
• Has experience of building new ventures and products
• Has technical experience in grid technologies, transmission, storage, energy efficiency or renewable generation a plus.
• Deep understanding of global energy emerging and current trends.
• Experience of bringing compelling ideas to life from ideation to approval of business cases
• Understanding of innovation practices including Design Thinking across a wide range of industries and market segments
• Willingness to take on new challenges and learn.
• Resiliency and experience working in large organizations.
• Experience in building strong working relationships across a diverse stakeholder base.
• Excellent communication skills (written and verbal) that can transcend many levels of the organisation.

What you'll get

A competitive salary circa £80,000 – dependent on capability

As well as your base salary, you will receive a bonus of up to 15% of your salary for stretch performance and a competitive contributory pension scheme where we will double match your contribution to a maximum company contribution of 12%. You will also have access to a number of flexible benefits such as a share incentive plan, salary sacrifice car and technology schemes, support via employee assistance lines and matched charity giving to name a few.

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About us

National Grid touches the lives of almost everyone, with an energy network that stretches across the Atlantic. We’re an international team, and our work underpins the lives of millions of people. Feet forwards, head up, and eyes bright, we’re working hard to create value for people today – and shape the future of energy tomorrow. In the UK, we don’t generate or sell energy – we join the dots to get energy from A to B. From making a cup of tea in the morning, to keeping the lights on in hospitals, our electricity network puts power in the hands of people. Without it, the world as we know it would grind to a halt. The world of energy is changing beyond recognition. Working at National Grid, you won’t just be touching the lives of almost everyone in the UK – you’ll be shaping the way we use and consume energy for generations to come.