Manufacturing Innovation Consultant (Scale-ups, Production Partnerships) for NATO

Plenty of start-ups can build one. Very few can build ten thousand.

An international defence organisation is piloting a network that connects manufacturers with spare production capacity to scale-ups and SMEs that need somewhere to industrialise their products - especially in additive manufacturing, engineering services and manufacturing as a service. It is looking for manufacturing innovation expertise to get that pilot moving and to show how it can grow. The work is remote, with occasional travel within Europe.

What you would be doing

• Analysing the production capacity offered by manufacturers and the production needs of scale-ups and SMEs
• Assessing how ready participating companies are to manufacture at scale
• Defining matching criteria and objectives and key results that track introductions and completed business-to-business arrangements, without becoming a party to them
• Finding and engaging suitable scale-ups and facilitating introductions with manufacturers
• Designing and running expert workshops and sprints with manufacturers, start-ups and the organisation's own teams
• Spotting what blocks partnerships between large manufacturers and young companies, and turning it into a final report with practical recommendations and tools

What you would bring

• At least 5 years in manufacturing innovation, with recent work helping scale-up companies industrialise their products
• A record of facilitating partnerships between corporates and scale-ups in production or manufacturing
• Experience designing repeatable procedures or frameworks that work across many organisations
• Comfort in heavily regulated industry such as aerospace and defence, and creative ideas for using civilian factory capacity for defence needs
• Experience in complex multi-stakeholder settings - defence, government or international organisations
• Excellent written and spoken English

Why this one is worth a look

It is a chance to shape a brand-new initiative from its first matches, fully remote, at the point where innovation, industry and defence meet.