Mission Manager (Wales), A Sustainable Future

Mission Manager – A Sustainable Future

£56,700 – £70,600 plus benefits (offers are expected to be made towards the bottom of the band)

Cardiff, Wales – hybrid working arrangement

We are recruiting for a Mission Manager, A Sustainable Future (Wales)

About Nesta

We are Nesta, the UK’s innovation agency for social good. We design, test and scale solutions to society’s biggest problems. Our three missions are to give every child a fair start, help people live healthy lives, and create a sustainable future.

For over 20 years, we have worked to support, encourage and inspire innovation. We work in three roles: as an innovation partner working with frontline organisations to design and test new solutions, as a venture builder supporting new and early stage businesses, and as a system shaper creating the conditions for innovation. Harnessing the rigour of science and the creativity of design, we work relentlessly to change millions of lives for the better.

Summary

Mission Managers lead on scoping, designing and delivering portfolios of projects, building a pipeline of work and developing collaborations with partners and stakeholders. In this role you will lead multi-disciplinary teams to design, test and scale up ambitious initiatives that can help meet our Sustainable Future mission goals.

As the lead for the Sustainable Future mission in Wales, you will play a critical role in developing and delivering projects in Wales and building stakeholder relationships. You’ll be part of a wider team delivering the Sustainable Future mission, as well as part of our Nesta Cymru team, and you’ll work with colleagues in Cardiff, Edinburgh and London, both on Wales-based projects and on projects in GB more widely. You’ll help ensure Sustainable Future has a strong presence in Wales and that learning from projects in the rest of the UK informs our work in Wales and vice versa.

This role will suit someone who is curious and excited to get stuck into all aspects of project leadership and delivery – over a given week you might be conducting user research to understand how a service works (or doesn’t), trying to persuade partners to get involved in scaling up an initiative and pitching policy ideas to civil servants on how to increase heat pump uptake.

Skills specification

Required

Domain experience: At least two years’ experience delivering relevant programmes, projects or research work related to the Sustainable Future mission’s focus. This could include, for example, some knowledge / experience relating to retrofit, energy, low-carbon heating, sustainability and / or decarbonisation more broadly.
Policy knowledge: A good working knowledge of the devolved policy context in Wales relating to the Sustainable Future mission.
Project and programme management skills: A proven track record of delivering high impact projects and programmes in a fast-moving and uncertain environment. You can proactively plan work, bring teams together and make the most of their diverse skills, execute against the plan, identify and act on risks and issues, ensure that key stakeholders are engaged throughout, and keep track of spend against budget. You’ll have, or be able to develop, skills in agile project management, and be comfortable re-prioritising and changing direction if needed to make sure projects are as impactful as they can be.
Stakeholder management skills: you can present ideas persuasively and navigate complex stakeholder discussions to keep focussed on impact, maintain project momentum, build strong working relationships, and drive better work through including more voices in planning, designing, delivery and critique.
Research skills: you understand the fundamentals of exploratory research and evaluation. For example, you can interpret research findings, understand common statistics, assess the strength of evidence for something, and understand good practice for key research activities. You have enough knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research methods to lead teams that include methods experts. You have some experience in, or are willing to learn about methods that Nesta has deep expertise in, including data science, design, behavioural science and evaluation.
Partnership building: You are able to proactively develop a pipeline of partnerships or collaborations opportunities in support of this mission.
Communication: You can communicate ideas clearly in writing and verbally, and you’re able to tailor your messaging for different audiences. You’re a confident public speaker and able to represent Nesta externally, at events and stakeholder meetings. You can facilitate workshops and meetings so that they’re engaging for participants and lead to action.

Desirable

Policy expertise and relationships: Experience in shaping policy, from inside or outside government, including in Wales, and relevant contacts in the Welsh Government.
Technical expertise in one or more of the following areas: behavioural science; design thinking; experimental/quasi-experimental design.
Growing the reach and impact of products, services and / or policies: experience in taking initiatives to scale, for example by influencing or directly supporting other organisations to take them on or by building teams that can deliver large-scale initiatives themselves.

Language skills: Ability to speak and write in Welsh.

What we offer

Salary band: £56,700 – £70,600 (Band 4) plus array of benefits, including health cash plans, dental insurance, the ability to buy and sell annual leave, eyecare vouchers and more. We normally recruit at the lower end of the band.

Location: This role is based in Cardiff and you would be expected to come to the office at least twice a week. You’ll also need to be available for monthly travel to London to take part in wider team sessions.

Term: Permanent

Hours: This is a full-time role but we offer a range of flexible working arrangements and encourage our people to take advantage of them. Many do.