Director of Consultancy and Services

We are seeking a commercially minded leader with:

Proven experience in consultancy, commercial services, or business development.
Strong leadership and strategic vision to drive growth and operational excellence.
Financial and commercial acumen, including business models and contracting.
Excellent relationship management and negotiation skills to engage with academics, industry, and stakeholders.
A problem-solving mindset, identifying opportunities and delivering innovative solutions.

The purpose of this role to lead and manage the academic consultancy and commercial services activity through Imperial Consultants (ICON) and Imperial Projects (IPROJ), maximising the application of Imperial’s academic know-how and expertise to create impact, supporting the development and growth of activity across the wider Enterprise division which includes commercialisation and industry partnerships.

Imperial Enterprise Consultancy and Commercial Services works with over 4000 academic researchers to translate their work into commercial opportunities creating impact from academic knowledge.

We combine a deep understanding of science and technology with commercial acumen and a wide professional network to identify opportunities for our academics to support businesses and organisations to develop knowledge, advance technologies and innovate. The delivery of consultancy and commercial services is central to this activity, enabling academic expertise to directly contribute to real world solutions in industry and commerce and create impact.

The Director of Consultancy and Services is responsible for the day-to-day operations, strategy and organisation of the consultancy and services group, which are tasked with seeking to grow engagement with services, meet profitability objectives, widen participation and deliver a great experience to academics and clients.

The post holder will support the Director of Enterprise – Corporate Partnerships in delivering Imperial’s strategy – ‘Science for Humanity’, supporting initiatives towards the development of the world’s most impactful innovation ecosystem.

Consultancy and commercial services attract many new innovation partners to the University and the role will seek to grow and build deeper relationships with partners, extending collaboration into research and education.

This post requires a wide range of skills and aptitudes including diligence, strategic thinking and determination to see projects through. More specifically, the position requires an ability to understand the science involved across a broad range of disciplines. It also requires an appreciation of how service provision and academic expertise creates customer value and can have wide market scale and impact.

The post holder will also be formally appointed as a company director for internal subsidiary companies through which consultancy and services are transacted.

Key Responsibilities
Management and Planning
· Oversee the full life cycle of ICON and IPROJ projects, from identifying new opportunities, evaluating, protecting, developing, marketing, negotiating, managing risk, concluding commercial deals and project delivery working with other College functions as required.
· To lead the annual budget and performance targets setting process in conjunction with University governance forums to develop approaches to providing consultancy and commercial services on behalf of College and the academic community, tasks include:
· To steer the businesses through changes in legislation, tax arrangements and external market conditions, enabling long term success.
· To determine how to deliver growth in the number of academics engaged in consulting and commercial services activity with external partners.
· To continue to enhance the quality of service provided to academics, ensuring the long-term sustainability of the companies.
· To contribute to the development of new (often complex) enterprising initiatives, where the university delivers academic and commercial services to third parties, and where ICON or IPROJ might provide part of the solution.
· Direct and manage bids for commercial collaborations opportunities between business and Imperial, seeking resonance between academic curiosity and business need.
· Develop and drive adherence to standard operating procedures and guidelines within Consultancy and Technical Services, ensuring consistency of approach and fit with other College and Enterprise activities.
· To assess and review operational infrastructure including IT systems to ensure that the service is optimised for current and future operations

Liaison and Influence
· Build and maintain excellent working relationships with academics
· Work closely with the Co-Director of Enterprise – Corporate Partnerships, other members of the Enterprise team and College management to inform and influence College policy and strategy.
· Grow links with externally facing groups at Imperial that provide a touch point for industry, including Research Office, Research Services, Executive Education, Advancement, Business School Careers, School of Professional Development, ThinkSpace and White City management groups.
· Interact with relevant external bodies to represent and Imperial’s interests and promote the College.
· Work with relevant professional services teams within Imperial to ensure projects are delivered effectively, including faculty-based teams, research services, central finance and College legal office and other areas as appropriate.
· Ensure the project interface with relevant academic staff and client/customer organisations is managed effectively.

Finance and Resource Management
· Responsible for an annual headcount of circa 25-30 staff and subsidiary turnover over of £20-30M per annum.
· Deliver key consultancy and commercial services performance and financial targets on time and on budget.
· Directly manage staff headcount and oversee others flexibly employed in support of service delivery (e.g contracted, seconded, visiting).
· Support the external reporting processes of Enterprise, College Finance and Secretariat related to receipt of Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) and Knowledge Exchange Strategy delivery and company accounts.
· Prepare and submit strategic plans and budgets to support planning processes as required.
· Support the annual financial auditing programme for the ICON and IPROJ.

Analysis, Reporting & Documentation
· Report and represent Enterprise at relevant College governance forums.
· Review and analyse performance and benchmark against leading practice across Imperial’s peers and elsewhere to inform and advise on the future strategic direction of consultancy and commercial services.
· Identify appropriate improvements in Imperial’s processes and structures and incorporate where appropriate.
· Regularly monitor, review and report activity and achievements against targets using qualitative and quantitative information.

Customer Service
· Initiate and manage processes to ensure internal (e.g. faculties, academics, management) and external (e.g. industry, government) customers’ needs are met, championing development of innovative solutions for improvement where required.
· Promote and respond to client surveys, evaluating feedback and implementing improvement actions.
· Provide relevant expert advice and guidance to Enterprise, wider College functions and external industry partners where required.

Continuous Improvement
· Actively contribute new ideas and proposals to drive continuous improvement and innovation
· Identify improvements in processes and structures and implement where appropriate, for example through workflow and standard operating procedure changes.
· Champion and encourage participation of team members in the Enterprise working groups, improving the working environment for all. Current working groups encompass Workflow Tools, Equality Diversity Inclusion, People Development, Data Analytics, Health Safety  Wellbeing.
Observe and comply with all College policies and regulations, for example Health and Safety, Data Protection, Equal Opportunities, Financial Regulations, Health and Safety, Imperial Expectations, Information Technology, Private Engagements and Register of Interests, and Smoking.
· Undertake specific safety responsibilities relevant to individual roles, as set out on the College Website Health and Safety Structure and Responsibilities page (http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/safety/policies/organisationandarrangements)

Our values are at the root of everything we do and everyone in our community is expected to demonstrate Imperial:
• Respect
• Collaboration
• Excellence
• Integrity
• Innovation
Employees are also required to comply with all Imperial policies and regulations.
We are committed to equality of opportunity, to eliminating discrimination and to creating an inclusive working environment for all. We encourage candidates to apply irrespective of age, disability, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion and belief, gender reassignment, sex, or sexual orientation. You can read more about our commitment on our webpages.