Economic Development Senior Manager

The Role and Department

The Economic Development Senior Manager is a managerial position within the University’s Commercialisation, Economic Development & Policy (CEDP) team, which sits within the Research and Innovation Services (RIS) Directorate. The post will report to the Head of Sector & Place Development and will work closely with professional services colleagues across CEDP and RIS, as well as senior colleagues in faculties, academic departments and wider University teams.

Durham University is a significant driver of economic growth for County Durham, the North East and the UK. In its last economic impact evaluation, Durham University generated £1.9 billion Gross Value Added (GVA) and 17,320 jobs in the UK, including £668 million GVA and 10,790 jobs in the North East. The current University Strategy sets out an ambition to deliver still greater impact and to play a key role as an anchor institution: translating emerging research and development, influencing policy, supporting priority sectors and enhancing our commercialisation and income generation opportunities.

The Economic Development team helps Durham University apply its research, knowledge exchange, skills and innovation strengths to economic opportunities. It provides targeted support for major projects, investment propositions, skills initiatives and external relationships that deliver economic, intellectual and financial value to the University and its partners.

The Economic Development Senior Manager will lead and support a portfolio of activity focused on economic development, business and industry engagement, investment propositions, strategic partnerships and fundable opportunities. Working with academic, professional services, civic, public sector, further education and industry partners, the postholder will help develop shared priorities, coordinate collaborative programmes and shape business cases and bids aligned to regional and national economic priorities.

The role will have responsibility for supporting sector skills activity where this is directly linked to economic development priorities, including identifying opportunities to align the University’s education, research and innovation strengths with business and industry needs in priority sectors. The postholder will also contribute to place-based programmes, regional innovation ecosystem development, investment pipeline activity and strategic proposals where Durham’s capabilities can support local and regional economic transformation.

The Economic Development Senior Manager will also support the development of staff, including at least one direct report. They will contribute to continuous improvement across Economic Development service delivery, processes, governance and reporting, ensuring the team provides a coordinated, professional and high-impact service to internal and external stakeholders.

The Location

The base location for this role is Boldon House, our exciting new professional services hub. Boldon House is situated on the outskirts of Durham near the Arnison Centre in Pity Me. Boldon House brings a number of professional services teams together in a vibrant office environment which supports collaborative working and is designed to embrace hybrid working. To find out more, visit the project webpage: .

What you need to submit

• A CV: and
• A supporting statement which outlines how you meet all of the criteria within the Person Specification.
• A personal case study demonstrating your how your specialist expertise in economic development has helped deliver place, sector, innovation and/or skill related impact (Max 500 words)

Contact details

For a chat about the role or any further information please contact Neil Bhandary (Head of Sector & Place Development)

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