Business Support Tool Developers for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

and Early-Stage Ventures (ESVs)

IfM Education & Consultancy Services Ltd

Three-year fixed-term contract

Two roles

IfM Education and Consultancy Services

IfM Education and Consultancy Services Ltd (IfM ECS) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the University of Cambridge which disseminates the research and education outputs of the University’s Institute for Manufacturing (IfM) to industry and governments. Dissemination methods include: consultancy for firms of all sizes and levels of maturity; executive and professional education; open short courses and events, such as conferences and symposia; and publications. It also operates the ideaSpace Enterprise Accelerator which supports the development of early-stage ventures.

IfM ECS’s consultancy for firms is configured to provide knowledge and engagement methods appropriate to their needs. For example, services for multinationals include: configuration of global operations networks; innovation and technology management; and transition to service-based business models. Services for SMEs include business-wide diagnosis and prioritisation of improvements; business strategy; and business-wide capability development. Services for ESVs address four key stages of their development, including: opportunity identification; business concept development; start-up and business scale-up.

IfM ECS has been advised that it has secured a 3 year European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) project called Practical & Innovative Solutions for Manufacturing Sustainability (PRISMS) to:

  • Develop structured business support tools for Small and Medium Enterprises and Early-Stage Ventures, applying research being conducted in the IfM in areas such as Industrial Sustainability, Technology Enterprise and Strategy to help established firms and new ventures to:
  • Design and develop sustainable products and processes
  • Make products in ways that improve resource and environmental sustainability
  • Service customers better through more sustainable business models
  • Deploy these new approaches to 150 SMEs and 120 ESV to increase business performance, sustainability and employment

The purpose of the Business Support Tool Developer role is to support the customer-facing teams with particular responsibility for the PRISMS project.

To support PRISMS engagements with both Early Stage Ventures(ESVs) and Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) it is necessary to adapt existing tools, and develop new tools. A small team of developers will work with IfM researchers and with IfM ECS Industrial Fellows (IFs) who lead engagement with clients. The researchers and IFs will inform the design of PRISMS tools; the researchers providing the knowledge content and assessment process, the IFs advising on the design, communication and structure of the engagement.

IfM ECS has a well-defined and structured tool development process. The key objectives of the development process are to manage the quality of the tools developed, and assure the quality of the engagement process. The tool development process first creates detailed tool specifications based on IfM’s research findings and prototype tools for beta-testing. Following beta testing the design of the tool is finalized and then the tool is released for use by the IFs.

The PRISMS programme will utilize a number of tools, and each client SME or ESV may require more than one diagnosis or development project. A critical element of the tool development process is therefore to ensure that the tools share a common ‘look and feel’, and are fully complementary (i.e. duplication is minimised, and the suite of tools covers all required business functions and development issues).

Reporting to the IfM ECS Development Managerthe Business Support Tool Developers are responsible for:

  • Developing tool specifications
  • Creating tool prototypes
  • Working with researchers & Industrial Fellows to beta-test prototype tools
  • Management and realisation of a consistent ‘look & feel’ for the tools
  • Quality management of tools across the tool-lifecycle

Criteria / standard / Essential/desirable
Qualifications
Educated to first or master’s degree level with significant study of management and/or manufacturing theory. / E
Demonstrableexperience
Minimum of two years’ experience in a manufacturing company and/or successful start-up / E
Experience in a junior or middle management role / D
Experience of working in a customer-facing role / E
Demonstrable experience of translating knowledge into action / E
Experience of working to deadlines / E
Obtaining feedback and self-assessment / D
Knowledge
Good knowledge of current good practice in management of manufacturing SME’s and/or early stage ventures. / E
A deep understanding of the spectrum of the manufacturing value chain: R&D, design, supply and production management,routes to market (marketing, sales, distribution) after-sales / through-life service / E
Experience in a consultancy or research environment / D
Knowledge or awareness of sustainability issues relating to manufacturing management. / D
Skills
The ability to design & develop business support tools / E/D
Attention to detail / E
Working closely with others, including university researchers & manufacturing business advisors / E
The ability to develop efficient, structured processes / E
Personal attributes
Self-organised / E
Accurate / E
The ability to develop rapport & credibility with practitioners and researchers / E
Completer – finisher / E

Term of Employment

The ERDF project provides funding to support employment for a term of up to 3 years.

Employment in the Business Support Tool Developer rolemay be extended if additional funding is secured.

Opportunities may also arise for successful candidates to take on assignments within IfM ECS’s other activities, such as consultancy, once the PRISMS Business Support Tool Development project commitments have been fulfilled on completion of the programme.

Salary

Up to £35,000 p.a.

Application

Please send your CV and covering letter by 31 August 2012 to:

Kate Willsher

Business Projects & Office Manager

IfM Education and Consultancy Services Limited

Institute for Manufacturing

Alan Reece Building

17 Charles Babbage Road

Cambridge CB3 0FS

Email: Tel: 01223 766141.