This ICURe Operations Manager will develop, plan, promote and expand the ICURe Programme for a focused UK region and national devolved administration. This post will cover the North of England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, i.e. the North by North West region (NxNW). They will work closely with other Head of Regional Hubs both Operations and Strategic to support the continued delivery and growth of the national Innovate UK funded ICURe programme and the broader national spinout ecosystem.
Background to ICURe
The Innovate UK ICURe programme was established in 2014 to address systemic failures inhibiting the commercialisation of academic research. The national programme provides training, funding, and commercial networks to teams of researchers from universities and research institutions to enable the market exploration of their research ideas. Today, ICURe is an important and effective intervention in Innovate UK’s (IUK) commitment to achieving societal and economic impact through the development and commercialisation of the UK’s academic research base. ICURe is utilised by around 80% of UK universities and has enabled the creation of over 370 new spin outs nationally leveraging in £650m of public and private funding and has become the base model of several commercialisation interventions offered by Innovate UK. With Innovate UK’s support pivoting to have more focus on early-stage technology start-ups that have high growth potential, the ICURe programme will be one of the anchor programmes to build the pipeline of such ventures. In 2026/27 the ICURe programme budget has been doubled, with an increased focus on building pathways between UKRI Research Councils and IUK, as well as the opportunity to widen the remit of the programme to support ICURe teams which have just spun out through piloting a UKRI Venture Builder in 2026/27.
Head of Regional Hub Operations Manager
The Head of Regional Hub Operations Manager will act as the lead coordinator for the operational delivery and growth of the ICURe programmes led by The University of Manchester and delivered across the North of England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, i.e. the North by North West Region (NxNW). They will work closely with a range of internal stakeholders across the NxNW ICURe programme team and network, the ICURe delivery partners, other regional Heads of Hub postholders, key stakeholders in UKRI, Innovate UK, Universities, and research-intensive institutions, and with external partners from both the public and private sectors.
The role will focus on actively contributing to and increasing the ICURe programmes successful commercialisation of Innovative UK technologies, products, or services that originate from academic research within UK universities and research institutes. The post holder will help bridge the gap for those teams on their journey between academia and entrepreneurship by translating their discoveries into practical licensing deals and spin-out companies and measure the value and impact generated. The post holder will be key in recruiting to technology and sector specific cohorts, where their knowledge of the research landscape in Northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland regions and experience in working with deep technologies will be particularly vital.
This role would be ideal for someone who is passionate about helping researchers commercialise their research, building relationships and networks, and about contributing to the growth of an inclusive innovation ecosystem. The role holder will have exceptional networking, communication, interpersonal, project management, programme and organisational skills and be ready to provide the ideal environment to apply those attributes to the success of the ICURe programme activities.
What you will get in return:
* Fantastic market leading Pension scheme
* Excellent employee health and wellbeing services including an Employee Assistance Programme
* Exceptional starting annual leave entitlement, plus bank holidays
* Additional paid closure over the Christmas period
* Local and national discounts at a range of major retailers
As an equal opportunities employer we welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of age, sex, gender (or gender identity), ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and transgender status. All appointments are made on merit.
Our University is positive about flexible working you can find out more here
Hybrid working arrangements may be considered.
Please be aware that due to the number of applications we are unfortunately not able to provide individual feedback on your application.
Please note that we are unable to respond to enquiries, accept CVs or applications from Recruitment Agencies.
Any recruitment enquiries from recruitment agencies should be directed to people.talent@manchester.ac.uk
Any CV’s submitted by a recruitment agency will be considered a gift.
Enquiries about the vacancy, shortlisting and interviews:
Name: Aline Miller
Email: aline.miller@manchester.ac.uk
General enquiries:
Email: recruitmentservices.people@manchester.ac.uk
Technical support:
This vacancy will close for applications at midnight on the closing date.
Please see the link below for the Further Particulars document which contains the person specification criteria.