Senior Consultant (Innovation Procurement)

Senior Consultant (Innovation Procurement) RC355

Contract type/Duration: Permanent  

Working hours Full time

Band: 3.1

Salary: £51395 to £62,013 (depending on office location and proven ability)

Reports to: Head of Regional and  Local Growth Technical

Location: Milton Keynes/London  (minimum of two days a week in the office. You can do more than two days if preferable)

Closing date: 10am 11th of May 2026


The Role

Connected Places Catapult leads the Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre (IPEC), which helps public authorities and commercial buyers use procurement spend to unlock better outcomes, drive more diverse and localised supply chains, and provide an order book for high-potential businesses with the public sector as the first customer. Through tailored support programmes, thought leadership and partnerships, IPEC is shaping a new standard for procurement practice under the Procurement Act 2023. To understand our approach, see The art of the possible in public procurement and Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre (IPEC) - Connected Places Catapult

We are recruiting a senior consultant to lead IPEC work programmes and provide hands-on technical procurement expertise across innovation procurement. This is not a generalist role. We need someone who has designed and run live procurement processes, combined with innovation expertise - who understands the end-to-end lifecycle from preliminary market engagement through to contract award and can advise buyers with the authority that comes from having delivered outcome-based innovation programmes.

You will help design and deliver skills programmes that build procurement confidence and capability across public and, sometimes, private sector partners. You will work with contracting authorities and commercial buyers to shape challenge briefs, design routes to market, and set conditions of participation that open markets to SMEs and new entrants rather than locking them out. You will know where the Procurement Act creates genuine flexibility - refining award criteria between stages, integrating dialogue into multi-stage processes, using preliminary market engagement to develop supply chains - and where equal treatment and proportionality still apply.

We are particularly interested in candidates with experience across innovation procurement approaches such Contracts for Innovation, pre-commercial procurement, innovation partnerships or dynamic purchasing systems - and who understand how to bridge the gap between R&D-funded demonstrators and mainstream contract pipelines. You will also be expected to grow the IPEC community and network, , and identify and secure commercial opportunities for the programme.