Space Ecosystem Manager

Purpose:  The Satellite Applications Catapult (the Catapult) works with and helps to grow businesses of all sizes across the UK space sector. We have an awesome opportunity for a dynamic team player to join the well-established National Space Capabilities and Clusters team. We work with partners to create a thriving and collaborative UK Space Ecosystem (UKSE) and are seeking a Space Ecosystem Manager (SEM) to help drive our vision forward. The SEM is responsible for supporting and developing space clusters and hubs across the UK, connecting these clusters, and building a collaborative community and ecosystem. If you can engage with the UK Space Ecosystem, bring communities together, and build impactful partnerships, then this is the role for you.

Ways of Working: We are a learning organisation where our ways of working are underpinned by coaching and feedback, fostering adult to adult conversations. Innovation is at the heart of everything that we do, therefore being highly adaptive and agile with a GROWTH mindset will ensure your success at the Catapult. Our mission is to Innovate for a better world empowered by Space and our ways of working are underpinned by our Values: We Care, We Connect, We Learn.

Skills & Experience required:

• A good understanding of the relationship between innovation, local and regional development, and economic growth.

• Experience in building and managing relationships, working with, and influencing a variety of external stakeholders.

• Knowledge of the relevant UK government agencies and departments involved in local growth and space cluster development and their UK strategic priorities.

• Good communication and interpersonal skills.

• Comfortable developing content and presenting to external parties.

• Experience in the development and delivery of strategic objectives and projects.

• A high level of individual drive.

• Ability to organise community building events and activities.

• Skilled at tracking and reporting.

• Experience chairing multistakeholder meetings and keeping them on track to meet pre-determined objectives

Success factors: You know you have been successful when…

• You have developed a solid understanding of the industry, academic and infrastructure capabilities across the UK Space Ecosystem and have helped to connect them.

• You have deployed activities and mechanisms to build a sense of community across the space sector.

• You are an active participant of local space leadership forums.

• You have helped deliver interventions in localities leading to growth in line with relevant metrics.

• The UK Space Ecosystem is recognised as internationally leading.

• You have developed a suite of case studies representing the successes of the ecosystem that you have been supporting.

• You have developed and deployed a strategy to support the growth of a UK space cluster.

The purpose of your new team:

The National Capabilities and Clusters Team’s vision is to create a thriving and connected UK Space Ecosystem that not only enables innovation and growth in the space sector but also encourages collaboration, technological advancement, and economic prosperity.

We are on a mission to work collaboratively across the ecosystem to deliver UK strategic priorities outlined in the National Space Strategy for the benefit of society. Together we accomplish this by:

• Supporting businesses to start up, scale and innovate - We provide an environment where businesses can thrive and exploit the potential of space through tailored business support services, access to cutting-edge technology and facilities, and an extensive network of industry connections.

• Connecting communities to benefit from space data and technology - We unlock the potential of space data by connecting stakeholder communities and bridging industry, government and academia. This in turn enhances knowledge exchange and cultivates collaborative opportunities.

• Stimulating the growth of national capabilities - We advance national capabilities through improved innovation services, infrastructure interventions, business scale-up support programmes, and by nurturing talents and skills of the current and future workforce.

About us & how we work: 

We strive to create a high trust, high performance, and inclusive environment that enables team members to bring their whole selves to work – this helps to create the foundations of an innovation culture. Our shared values are critical to this: 

• We care - for our people, our partners, and our planet. 

• We connect - and engage with people and ideas. 

• We learn - and grow, as people and as an industry. 

Underpinning this is our belief in great teams; our combined efforts will always deliver outcomes beyond that of any individual, providing we are honest through debate, experiment and reflect, and create shared resolutions in support of our purpose. Live these values, work to our principles, take ownership to deliver, and we are certain you will thrive with us. 

This job description set outs the skills and experience we think are needed to be able to perform in this job. However, if you believe you can deliver in this role then we want to hear from you.

Important notice for applicants: We use tools to detect plagiarism and the use of AI or chatbots for applicant answers. If plagiarism, AI use (such as ChatGPT) or similar software are found to have been used in your application you will not be considered for this or future roles within the Satellite Applications Catapult.

At Satellite Applications Catapult, we're committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workforce. We welcome candidates from all corners of the globe, but due to legal and logistical considerations, we want to be transparent about the potential visa-related challenges that could arise. Our ability to offer sponsorship will depend on the level of interest for our roles and salary level.

If you need any additional support during the application process, please do reach out and connect. We also invite you to share feedback via Applied.