QUALIFICATIONS:

• Educated to degree level or equivalent relevant experience.

EXPERIENCE:

Essential:

• Knowledge of Horizon Europe e.g. as a participant, adviser or National Contact Point. (S&I)
• Up to date and broad-based knowledge of the UK civil security/homeland security research and innovation landscape, including that in government agencies, industry, academia and other research organisations. (S&I)
• Evidenced understanding of the wider stakeholder landscape in the UK, including those working within law enforcement, border force and the protection of critical infrastructures. (I)
• Experience of stakeholder engagement and support at all levels including senior level; identifying and understanding their priorities, managing expectations and building and maintaining strong relationships. (S&I)

Desirable:

• Experience in broader security sectors.
• Familiarity with the wider national security environment, both in the UK and the EU.

SKILLS:

• Excellent interpersonal skills, including tact and discretion when liaising with senior stakeholders and staff from businesses, government and other types of organisations.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills including writing clear, concise and accurate reports; and in presenting, with the ability to hold an audience large or small.
• Self-starter, able to work unsupervised and on own initiative with the ability to prioritise and multitask.
• Highly developed team working skills, able to form effective working relationships both internally and externally.
• Ability to respond calmly under pressure and make impartial and well-considered judgments in complex situations when required
• High competency of ICT skills/ IT systems and applications including MS Word, Excel.

TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS:

Field-based: There will be a requirement for regular periodic travel throughout the UK and to the EU (Brussels and elsewhere).

NATIONALITY REQUIREMENTS

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements

CONTEXT AND JOB PURPOSE:

The role holder will be the UK’s focal point for the Civil Security for Society funding opportunities within the EU’s Horizon Europe programme as the Horizon Europe UK National Contact Point (NCP) for Cluster 3. A smaller part of the role will be acting as a focal point within Innovate UK for wider civil security and security matters.
An NCP is a European Commission-recognised technical expert with privileged access to European Commission officials, who works closely with and advises UK Government policy leads responsible for the relevant programme area. This collaboration ensures future calls for proposals are informed by UK interests and priorities and enables a proactive approach to identifying key UK organisations to benefit from engagement in the Programme, and by enabling UK entities to navigate and identify the most suitable opportunities and partners to take forward their research and innovation priorities.
The network of NCPs is the main structure through which Member States and countries associated to Horizon Europe influence priorities and provide essential guidance, practical information and assistance on all aspects of participation in Horizon Europe. The objective is to enable UK entities to navigate and identify the most suitable opportunities and partners to take forward their research and innovation priorities. This in turn will contribute to the increase of UK engagement, funding secured by UK entities and success in the Programme.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• Reach out and assist all types of UK entities to better understand, navigate and participate in Horizon Europe Cluster 3, and any subsequent Framework Programmes, using a diverse set of communication methodologies including: presentations/webinars (face to face and virtual), newsletters, online resources, meetings and email. Throughout, ensure adherence to the European Commission’s key principles for National Contact Points.
• Attend Cluster 3 Programme Committee Meetings in Brussels/online, and actively engage and interact with personnel from the European Commission and NCP colleagues from Member States and other Associate countries, to further develop and maintain positive working relationships.
• Continue to effectively communicate with relevant UK civil security public bodies, such as the Home Office, Cabinet Office, Innovation Leads within Law Enforcement Agencies, Border Force, National Police Chief’s Council and College of Policing to encourage their participation as part of the eligibility criteria across the 6 destinations of Horizon Europe Cluster 3 projects.
• Work with others across UKRI and other business areas within Innovate UK, including Innovate UK Business Connect and Innovate UK Business Growth, DSIT and other UK NCPs, to contribute to the ‘boosting UK participation to Horizon Europe’ initiatives.
• Proactively liaise and arrange regular meetings with the Cluster 3 Horizon Europe Engagement Group (HEEG) UK, to provide details of draft Work Programmes and gain evidence-based insight to influence the content of Work Programmes for the inclusion of UK civil security priorities.
• Participate in the Cluster 3 NCP CSA (Coordination and Support Action) SEREN5 project, and undertake activities that contribute to deliverables, that raise the quality of Horizon Europe proposals, including developing and delivering training to applicants across all clusters in Pillar II.
• Attend and contribute to relevant UK National Security and Defence meetings internal and external to UKRI/IUK to ensure effective exchange of information on new strategic approaches and initiatives introduced by the European Commission across the Cluster 3 domain. The aim is to optimise understanding of alignments and synergies between civil and military capabilities specifically for dual purpose technologies.
• Act as a focal point within Innovate UK for other domestic/international civil security and security related conversations and activity.
  This is an outline description of the key responsibilities and accountabilities involved in the job. This is not an exhaustive list and the post-holder might be expected to undertake any other duties across the wider directorate, commensurate with the Band and level of responsibility of this post, for which the post holder has the necessary experience and/or training.
  There are currently no line management duties for this role.