Head Of Innovation in Buckinghamshire

Pen Test Partners works with clients globally providing cyber security consultancy and testing services. We work with the most cutting-edge industries, including Automotive, Aerospace, and Maritime.

With over 130 employees across pen testing, consultancy, digital forensics, sales and support functions, we pride ourselves in attracting the right people and providing them with the environment to develop and perform at their best. Going the extra mile to work on cool research, publish and promote expert cyber security knowledge and deliver outstanding work for our customers, all in support of our industry.

PTP are in a key period of growth and development, and therefore the Head of Innovation role is key to enhancing and implementing our strategic vision. You will play a hands on role in shaping the future of PTP as we drive creativity, innovation and lead transformative initiatives.

We know with innovation you may try 10 ideas and 1 of them sticks – this is what drives us to continue to research, improve and trial ideas. We encourage innovation from around the business and are on a mission to find the right person to help shape PTP’s future through technology driven innovation.

The successful candidate will already have a strong background and experience in bringing together innovative ideas using a mix of commercial and technical skills. Our ideal candidate will actively identify key innovation projects, bring together the relevant and complementary internal skill sets and work together to bring cutting edge technological ideas to life. Having a global mindset for innovation and transformation projects will be key, as well as creating a culture of innovation, bringing our people on the journey and ensure our competitiveness in a dynamic market landscape. For absolute clarity, this is a hands on role where the successful candidate will use their existing skills and knowledge to build the innovation pipeline from idea stage to proof of concept, with support and endorsement from the wider PTP teams.

Role Requirements

Strategic vision

• Review, develop and communicate PTP’s innovation strategy aligned with our goals
• Collaboratively build and present an innovation roadmap to drive operational delivery
• Work with key stakeholders to research, analyse and summarise complex technical security concepts for other audiences
• Documenting all stages of innovation for internal and external audiences
• Implement creative techniques and processes to enhance efficiency and productivity
• Deliver on plans on time, within budget, within the resource capabilities
• Define KPIs for measuring innovation success, remembering to assess, adjust and celebrate the wins.

Commercial opportunity

• Identify emerging trends, technologies, and market shifts to stay ahead of the curve.
• Idea generation, evaluation and prioritisation in line with PTP’s organisational goals
• ROI (return on investment) modelling experience
• Evaluate risks associated with ideas and projects, balancing risk with reward and cost.
• Networking, researching and identifying strategic business opportunities, presenting these back to key and relevant stakeholders in the business.

Technical capability

• Take commercial ideas and bring them to life by creating products from inception through to BAU
• Review emerging technologies and evaluate their relevance to PTP’s goals
• Drive adoption of emerging digital tools, automation, and data-driven processes
• Champion agile methodologies for innovation projects
• Using coding for rapid prototyping to assess viability of ideas
• Run experiments with AI to assess business impact

Innovation culture

• Enhance the innovation culture to ensure it thrives and is in line with our people culture
• Foster an environment where innovation is key and encourages people to share ideas, skill sets and collaboration to problem solve
• Drive company wide initiatives and events to champion innovation at all times
• Taking large abstract projects and breaking them down into smaller, deliverable work streams

Internal relationships

• Partnering with key stakeholders and departments (delivery & sales) to drive delivery of innovation ideas
• Work in close collaboration with the finance team to commercialise innovation ideas, ensuring they are modelled appropriately.
• Build an innovation team who work effectively and in partnership with the whole organisation.

Skills and Experience

• Proven experience in innovation management or a similar role, within the cyber security industry
• Experience in a role that requires creativity, challenging group-thought and taking calculated risks.
• Demonstrable leadership experience in a technical role with key decision-making capabilities
• Proven experience of taking products from inception to market
• Analytical thinking, experience of working with limited information to analyse, investigate and simplify challenges
• Experience of taking ideas and bringing them to life through technical development
• Capable and confident in writing and presenting to all audience sizes
• Budget management experience
• Passion for driving change, pushing boundaries and creative thinking.
• Project Management qualification or similar, e.g APM, PRINCE2, CSM, PMI-ACP

Current benefits include:

• Competitive salary based on experience
• 25 days holiday + 8 bank holidays
• Private Medical Insurance and Healthcare Benefit on completion of probation
• Group personal pension
• Financing available for training and conference attendance
• EV lease salary sacrifice scheme on completion of probation
• An environment where you can flourish, learn, and grow, as a person not just as an employee