Innovation Associate

In this role, you’ll work closely with the Lead Research and Innovation Manager and Innovation Leads to coordinate events, engage stakeholders, and identify opportunities that spark meaningful innovation.

Bringing a blend of project management skills and a collaborative mindset, you’ll thrive in a fast-paced environment where agile and iterative development is key. Whether it’s managing multiple workstreams, facilitating cross-functional collaboration, or translating technical ideas into actionable outcomes, your ability to think critically, communicate effectively, and take initiative will be essential to our success.

Within this role you’ll also be involved in;

Collaborating with a wide range of internal teams and external partners to help deliver impactful innovation projects through the Future Labs programme.
Acting as a key connector between innovation leads, subject matter experts, and external innovation partners to ensure seamless and effective project delivery.
Working alongside the Lead Research and Innovation Manager to shape and support the strategic direction of innovation across DFTO.
Applying Agile methodologies to support the iterative development, testing, and delivery of new ideas and solutions.
Helping to foster collaboration across DFTO by coordinating innovation activities and sharing best practices.
Supporting the organisation and delivery of engaging innovation events throughout the year.
Keeping up to date with emerging technologies and industry trends to help identify new opportunities for innovation.
Contributing to the successful adoption of innovation outcomes into everyday operations and services, turning great ideas into real-world impact.

What you’ll need:

Strong stakeholder management skills – You’re confident engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, from technical experts to business leaders, and can clearly communicate complex ideas in a way that highlights their value and impact.
Excellent collaboration abilities – You thrive in team environments and enjoy working across disciplines, building positive relationships that help drive projects forward.
Familiarity with Agile ways of working – You understand the principles of Agile frameworks like Scrum or Kanban and ideally have experience working within agile teams to deliver projects in a fast-paced, iterative environment.
Industry experience (desirable) – Experience within the rail sector, transport, or other operationally focused and regulated industries is a plus, particularly if you’ve worked on innovation, transformation, or digital projects.

We’re a safety conscious business so for all roles you’ll need to pass a medical screening and a drugs and alcohol test before we send you an unconditional job offer. For our safety critical roles, you’ll also need to have a safety critical medical. Our friendly, in-house Health and Wellbeing team will book a time and place to suit you. The sooner, the better, so please be flexible with your availability. Once your medical gets the thumbs up, we’ll finalise any last details and look forward to you joining our team

Please note we are looking for 2 x 6 month fixed term contracts.