Senior Consultant – Group RTO & University Strategic Partnerships

Job summary (Short promotional text)

PNO Innovation is looking for a Senior Consultant to support the implementation of its Group RTO & University Strategy. This Group-level role focuses on building and coordinating long-term strategic partnerships with leading Research & Technology Organisations (RTOs) and research-intensive universities across Europe, ensuring internal alignment and contributing to scalable commercial outcomes linked to European R&I funding.

Your mission (What are you going to do in text) summarised down below

Your mission is to translate PNO Innovation’s Group RTO and university strategy into concrete, structured collaboration models. You will act as a senior interface between PNO teams and key RTO and university partners, ensuring effective coordination across countries and sectors while supporting a steady pipeline of high-quality European funding opportunities.

Your tasks 1st part (in max 4 bullets)

• Support the development and operational management of strategic partnerships with selected RTOs and universities

• Act as a senior counterpart for research managers, programme managers and European funding leads

• Contribute to the design and coordination of multi-year collaboration frameworks and proposal pipelines

• Support partner matching and consortium building across European R&I ecosystems

Your tasks 2nd part (In max 4 bullets)

• Coordinate internal alignment across sectors, countries and delivery teams

• Support the structuring, prioritisation and monitoring of RTO- and university-related proposal pipelines

• Contribute to governance, coordination routines and reporting related to RTO collaborations

• Support commercial discussions, framework agreements and performance tracking with key partners

Your profile 1st part (in max 4 bullets)

• 5–8+ years of experience in European R&I environments or innovation consulting

• Proven experience working with RTOs, universities or research-intensive organisations

• Strong understanding of European and national R&I funding programmes, including Horizon Europe

• Experience coordinating complex initiatives in international, matrix organisations

Your Profile 2nd part (In max 4 bullets)

• Strong stakeholder management, communication and coordination skills

• Strategic mindset combined with hands-on operational capability

• Commercial awareness and ability to support revenue-generating collaboration models

• Fluent in English; additional European languages are an asset

Why us? (What do we offer) 1st part (in max 4 bullets)

• Join a leading European innovation consultancy with over 600 professionals in 10 countries

• Play a key role in a strategic, high-visibility Group initiative

• Work closely with Group leadership and cross-border sector teams

• Exposure to Europe’s leading RTOs and research-intensive universities

Why us? (What do we offer) 2nd part (in max 4 bullets)

• Highly international and collaborative working environment

• Competitive salary range of €38,000–€45,000 gross per year, depending on experience

• Remote working within Spain

• Clear growth and career development opportunities within PNO Innovation