Nesta is looking to hire a contractor for a 6 month contract (~2 days a week) to lead the growth of our Visit A Heat Pump service. 

About the service

Nesta will launch its Visit A Heat Pump service in Autumn 2023. We will enable people across the UK to visit a heat pump near them and support them to take the next steps in getting a heat pump. The service will operate as a digital platform that connects visitors with hosts across the country. Visitors will be able to book visits and be supported with advice before, during and after their visits to help them gain confidence in getting a heat pump. Hosts will be a mix of private households who agree to open up their home to visits, and showroom locations run by retailers and manufacturers where consumers can see a heat pump working in person.

Over the next 6 months we want to significantly grow the service so that it can consistently support visits for thousands of visitors, is supported by a wide range of partners and works with complementary services, and has a clear direction on the business and/or funding model to make it sustainable for the long term. We are currently working with private households, the installation industry, energy companies, governments, local authorities and community groups to deliver the service and scale it up. 

At the end of the six month period we would like to see a thriving service with an active user base, high visibility amongst key audiences, and a convincing proposition for partners that has resulted in new relationships being developed. This role will be key to making that happen.

About the role

As the delivery and growth lead, you will drive the growth of Vsit A Heat Pump over the next 6 months, resulting in a service that has the foundations to operate at scale across the UK and has a clear path for sustainable growth.

Working alongside a delivery team of designers, developers, researchers and marketing specialists, you will be responsible for growing the user base of the service over six months, and ensuring that key partnerships are in place to enable sustainable operations over the long term.

This role requires hands-on delivery skills, strategic thinking, project and stakeholder management expertise, and an entrepreneurial mindset to respond to opportunities quickly.

Person specification

• Track record of successfully delivering and scaling user-centred digital services, ideally with experience working within/for social enterprises.

• Experience developing go-to-market propositions, testing these with users and stakeholders and communicating them effectively to partners.

• Proven experience of developing business plans and operating models for social enterprises that enable services to be run sustainably

• Ability to translate a wider product vision into actionable tasks, in response to new opportunities 

• Able to identify growth opportunities through market analysis and stakeholder engagement and translate these into action

• Experience and/or knowledge of working with multi-skilled digital product teams to support delivery and improvement of the service

• Project management expertise, including the ability to manage complex initiatives involving multiple stakeholders.

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with diverse teams and stakeholders.

• Interest and enthusiasm for low carbon technology and sustainability 

Key objectives for the role

• User growth: Successfully oversee over 1,000 visits by members of the public, and grow the host network from 50-100 locations

• Partnership development: Establish strategic partnerships with key stakeholders such as installer networks and energy companies, resulting in increase in visibility and access to new user segments

• User satisfaction: Monitor user feedback and ensure that the majority of visitors have a positive experience, feeding back insights to product team to prioritise improvements

• Host retention: Develop process to ensure that hosts are continually engaged and offering regular events for visitors

• Network capacity: Increase the frequency and number of visits taking place to locations on the service through initiatives with partners and hosts such as marketing

• Grow reach: Support the growth of the service into 2-3 new geographical areas, supported by comms and marketing

• Strategic comms: Build visibility of the service through communications activities to ensure we are reaching key audiences and building awareness

• Sustainable model: Deliver the service within existing budgets, and develop a costing for a preferred future operating model based on learnings from this stage (working with and supported by Nesta’s strategy unit)

Responsibilities and team

The delivery and growth scaling lead will be responsible for delivering the key service objectives above, reporting to the project lead and Nesta project sponsors. You will be expected to lead on developing new relationships and build existing contacts within the network to grow the scale and impact of the service. You will also work closely with the service team and have the support of Nesta’s comms and mission team to deliver key activities such as marketing and communications, as well as regular contact with the project sponsors to review activities and guide growth strategy.

Contract terms

• Freelance contract

• £15k over 6 months, equivalent to 2 days per week

• Flexible working hours

At Nesta, we believe that a diverse workforce leads to an organisation that is more innovative, more creative and gets better results. 

We want our workforce to represent the diversity of the people and communities we serve. We also want our workplace to be one where different experiences, expertise and perspectives are valued, and where everyone is encouraged to grow and develop. 

This means that when we are recruiting, we actively seek to reach a diverse pool of candidates. It also means that we are happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that potential employees may need to in order to be successful. 

We recognise the importance of a good balance between work and home life, so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working, including working from home, compressed or part-time hours, job shares and other arrangements.   

Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process (and beyond) if these are options you’d like to explore.