OUR PLACEMENTS

Placement summary

An exciting and unique opportunity has arisen for a Business Development Graduate to join our innovative research projects team. This role is an excellent career starter for an ambitious graduate who wishes to develop their skills within an internationally renowned software company. This placement is 12 months long, with regular travel across Europe, and has the potential to be made permanent.

Job description

Project Description

Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme ever with nearly €80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020) – in addition to the private investment that this money will attract. It promises more breakthroughs, discoveries and world-firsts by taking great ideas from the lab to the market.

Horizon 2020 is the financial instrument implementing the Innovation Union, a Europe 2020 flagship initiative aimed at securing Europe's global competitiveness.

Seen as a means to drive economic growth and create jobs, Horizon 2020 has the political backing of Europe’s leaders and the Members of the European Parliament. They agreed that research is an investment in our future and so put it at the heart of the blueprint for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and jobs.

By coupling research and innovation, Horizon 2020 is helping to achieve this with its emphasis on excellent science, industrial leadership and tackling societal challenges. The goal is to ensure Europe produces world-class science, removes barriers to innovation and makes it easier for the public and private sectors to work together in delivering innovation.

Horizon 2020 is open to everyone, with a simple structure that reduces red tape and time so participants can focus on what is really important. This approach makes sure new projects get off the ground quickly – and achieve results faster.

The EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation will be complemented by further measures to complete and further develop the European Research Area. These measures will aim at breaking down barriers to create a genuine single market for knowledge, research and innovation.

FlexiOPS are involved with three H2020 projects; DICE, ENTICE and BEACON.

Placement Objectives

The placement will provide professional, graduate-level marketing experience to assist our company as it embarks on new research and innovation within H2020 Research & Development Projects.

Role Description

You will be a key team player within our projects team, which is funded by the European Commission, to carry out innovative research projects. We are looking for someone who can take ownership of both internal and external communications across a portfolio of Cloud computing projects. The post holder will make a significant contribution to the management of our web sites, social media channels and external web portals. They will also be expected to take the lead in managing and delivering project activities at various partner meetings throughout Europe.

Tasks include:

• Researching and writing business plans for exploiting project results, taking research to the marketplace
• Web design (HTML and CSS) and CMS administration using WordPress and Adobe Creative Suite
• Maintaining Social Media communities
• Copywriting and editing of blogs, press releases and internal communications
• Monitoring KPIs and metrics for project dissemination activity
• Preparation for involvement in events and conferences, organising involvement and supporting speakers on the day
• Preparation of reports for the European Commissions and presenting work to reviewers
• Liaison with multiple stakeholders across Europe to coordinate contributions to marketing efforts via email and teleconferences
• Attend regular project meetings (throughout Europe) to present project progress and coordinate future work
• Working flexibly across the team’s activities as needed

The right candidate will be comfortable across the marketing mix, happy getting their hands dirty writing copy everyday, managing social media communities and building and editing websites. This role will be based across Edinburgh and Livingston and will involve regular travel across Europe to collaborate with our research partners.

Qualifications

You should be a recent graduate in a communications focused degree (English, Journalism, Marketing etc.).

Skills / Experience

Essential Skills

• Experience with (or able to quickly learn);

- Productivity software e.g. Microsoft Office, Google Docs

- Common content management applications e.g. WordPress, MailChimp, HootSuite or equivalent

• Experience with Adobe Creative Suite (particularly InDesign & Premier)
• Creative software e.g. Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premier Pro
• Excellent verbal and written communication
• Ability to plan and organise workload, but remain flexible to re-prioritise at short notice
• Work as a key member of a small team taking responsibility for a number of tasks
• Confidence in presenting in front of an audience
• Ability to quickly grasp complex issues, and explain them in simple terms
• Experience of writing for web and social media
• Copy writing for print and knowledge of SEO practise
• Web analytics experience 
• A can-do attitude, self-motivation and the ability to take responsibility for your own workload
• Experience of talking to a wide variety of stakeholders
• Excellent attention to detail
• You will be a ‘digital native’ - at home with virtual work environments, email correspondence and teleconferencing

Desirable Skills

• Experience in the ICT/Cloud computing sector
• Experience with European Union research projects
• An interest in cloud computing and emerging technologies is not a requirement but may be an advantage in this role. Any required training would be given.

Benefits

Company benefits

• Regular travel across Europe
• Hands on experience
• Exposure to different industry sectors
• An excellent platform to jump-start your career
• Exposure to, and experience of, many aspects of other organisations

Placement benefits

As part of the ScotGrad Graduate Placement Programme, you may have access to a tailored graduate business skills training course. ScotGrad placements also offer a unique opportunity to connect with a vast network of graduates and ScotGrad alumni. All graduates appointed through the programme are encouraged to make use of the ScotGrad LinkedIn group to communicate with other ScotGrad participants, learn about any professional development opportunities and build up a professional network.

Additional information

Location: Edinburgh/Livingston

Planned interview date: TBC - August 2016

This placement may result in a permanent employment afterwards

Preferred start date: TBC - August 2016

Company information

FlexiOPS is Scotland’s most successful provider of innovative infrastructure and software technology solutions within the Horizon 2020 funding program. Offering a complete IaaS software platform that allows partners to explore monetized cloud business services.

Since 2010, under the previous guise of Flexiant Research, FlexiOPS became a key player in the European Commission funded FP7 and Horizon 2020 research programmes. Since 2016 FlexiOPS has continued this heritage helping to guide projects in their shape and form to ensure that the output of the project can be realised in the marketplace. We also allow project partners to utilise the state of the art cloud platform that we host. In addition, FlexiOPS works closely with partners to ensure project progress is disseminated successfully and that project results are exploited to their full potential.

It is a very exciting time to join FlexiOPS. We are currently expanding our team, developing new and exciting software solutions and taking on board even more EC funded projects.

Company website: www.flexiant.com