Programme Manager - Innovation and Business Team

Short summary

KQ Labs is a major initiative supporting early-stage, data-driven health start-ups from across the UK. Backed by partners including Wellcome, Innovate UK and Genomics England, the programme helps position London’s Knowledge Quarter as a global centre for health innovation. Now in its eighth year, KQ Labs provides funding, mentoring, expert workshops and investor engagement to ten companies annually, with an alumni network of more than 70 start-ups.

The programme has expanded to include TechBio Boost for later-stage ventures, NG Studios supporting northern university spinouts, and the PULSE bootcamp for emerging life science entrepreneurs.

As a Programme Manager, you will lead the delivery and development of KQ accelerator programmes, working closely with founders, partners, investors and the wider innovation ecosystem. You will ensure the programmes run smoothly from recruitment through to Demo Day, refine programme design and content, and build strong relationships with stakeholders to strengthen the UK’s health innovation landscape.

Key Responsibilities

These include but are not limited to:

• Leading the end-to-end delivery of accelerator programmes (e.g. KQ Labs, TechBio Boost), from outreach and selection to Demo Day and alumni engagement.
• Shaping and refining programme design, content and structure to ensure high-quality delivery and meaningful impact.
• Building strong relationships with founders, providing guidance, mentoring and strategic introductions to support business growth and investment readiness.
• Working with internal and external partners including the BioIndustry Association, universities and investors to expand networks and enhance the UK’s data-driven health ecosystem.
• Designing and delivering engaging workshops, panels and events, ensuring content remains current and forward-looking.
• Working collaboratively across teams to ensure seamless operations and high-quality delivery of key events such as Demo Days, workshops and alumni activities.

About you

You will have: 

• Experience working with early-stage scientific or health ventures.*
• Proven ability to lead and manage structured programmes with multiple stakeholders.*
• Strong relationship-building and stakeholder management skills.*
• Excellent communication skills, with experience in presenting, facilitating workshops and producing written content for varied audiences.*
• A proactive, self-motivated approach and the flexibility to support events outside standard working hours.

About us

The Francis Crick Institute is a biomedical discovery institute dedicated to understanding the fundamental biology underlying health and disease. Its work is helping to understand why disease develops and to translate discoveries into new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, infections, and neurodegenerative diseases.

An independent organisation, its founding partners are the Medical Research Council, Cancer Research UK, Wellcome, UCL, Imperial College London and King’s College London.

The Crick was formed in 2015, and in 2016 it moved into a new state-of-the-art building in central London which brings together 1500 scientists and support staff working collaboratively across disciplines, making it the biggest biomedical research facility under in one building in Europe.

The Francis Crick Institute will be world-class with a strong national role. Its distinctive vision for excellence includes commitments to collaboration; developing emerging talent and exporting it the rest of the UK; public engagement; and helping turn discoveries into treatments as quickly as possible to improve lives and strengthen the economy.

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