Student and Graduate Enterprise Adviser
WORLD CHANGERS TOGETHER
Job purpose
The Student and Graduate Enterprise Advisor will be responsible for delivery of enterprise support and activities to aspiring student and graduate ventures at the University of Glasgow. The primary purpose of this role is working with clients on a one-to-one basis (discussing business propositions, reviewing business plans, supporting the development of competition applications and pitch decks, signposting to appropriate ecosystem partners and working collaboratively with University colleagues to access expert support and mentorship from our alumni network), supporting their development as they progress through the company formation process and beyond.
The post holder will also develop and manage a range of programmes including regular start-up bootcamps, an annual Start Up Factory Weekend, Summer and Growth programmes, as well as supporting design sprints and other emerging programmes across specific disciplines. The role holder will also support the development of entrepreneurship in the curriculum.
The role holder will be line managed by the Student and Graduate Enterprise Manager and work closely with the Innovation and Enterprise Programmes teams, who hold overall accountability for the operational delivery of the Directorate’s enterprise programme activities. The post does require some evening and weekend support for programme delivery.
Main duties & responsibilities
- Ecosystem Support: Provide the initial point of contact for all early stage start-up opportunities (excluding spin-out opportunities) emerging from the University of Glasgow student and alumni community, deliver advice and support to enhance enterprise activities. Review client information, conduct initial client meetings and onboard clients into the support process.
- Portfolio Management: Manage a portfolio of early-stage start-up clients, providing bespoke business support (business case, business model canvas and business plan reviews, business competition application support, signposting) through one-to-one meetings and follow-up actions.
- Programme Delivery: Support, deliver and evaluate UofG Enterprise programmes for staff and students, including workshops, hackathons and associated programme activity, working with the Student Enterprise Manager and Innovation and Enterprise Programmes team. Support the development and delivery of Innovation 101 programmes to drive awareness of innovation. Increase the number of participants across these programmes. Provide in curriculum support as required.
- Provision of Advice: Provide specialist advice to potential programme applicants/participants on preparing external funding applications, business plans and business cases and helping them with the practicalities of starting a business from concept onwards.
- Best Practice: Develop and implement an evaluation framework to assess the effectiveness and impact of interventions, including employing qualitative and quantitative analysis, capturing demographic information on engagement, project outcomes and follow-on activities.
- Stakeholder management: to manage and maintain appropriate relationships with key stakeholders, including senior members of staff, Innovation, Enterprise and Economic Development and College Innovation Teams, and with key external stakeholders.
- Service excellence: Develop accessible online materials to support one-to-many approaches
- Data management: to provide management information and data analysis to inform both day to day decision making and also the long-term strategic outlook of the programme and ensuring the integrity of all relevant project data on University systems.
- Other: Other activities as set out by the Student and Graduate Enterprise Manager.
Knowledge/Qualifications
Essential
- Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework level 9 \[Ordinary Degree, Scottish Vocational Qualification level 4\], or equivalent in a relevant discipline/business area with evidence of continued professional development in an area relevant to the role.
- Thorough and detailed Knowledge of project management methodologies and principles.
- Thorough and detailed Knowledge of the innovation and knowledge exchange landscape within HE, or knowledge of the Scottish innovation and start-up ecosystem.
- Detailed understanding of business idea validation tools, such as Business Model Canvas, and matters surrounding company creation.
- Understanding of business case development processes and completion of successful funding applications.
Skills
Essential
- Project management – both short-term deadline driven and longer-term involving multiple conflicting deadlines and coordination across multiple organisational units.
- Excellent oral and written communication and presentation skills with the ability to communicate at all levels.
- Ability to work flexibly and adapt to changing environments.
- High level of influencing and negotiating skills.
- Ability to exercise initiative and work independently but also as part of a team.
- Ability to network effectively.
Desirable
- Ability to assess risks and financial implications.
Experience
Essential
- Experience of working with Spinout, start-up or small companies, providing advice/management or development activities.
- Experience of working successfully in a complex organisational structure and bringing together and coordinating external partners.
- Experience in the successful development and delivery of presentations and workshops (e.g. public speaking, enterprise workshops).
- Experience of commercialisation of academic research, particularly in one of the following areas: technology, engineering, physical/chemical sciences, green technologies.
World-Changing Campus
We have delivered one of the most significant expansions of a UK university city campus for over a century.
Over the last decade, the University of Glasgow has invested in its estate to expand its world-class campus and facilities.
An area covering 14 acres of land next to our magnificent Gilmorehill campus has been redeveloped to build a mix of modern research, teaching and public spaces.
Our new buildings will mean the University remains a centre for world-changing research, as well as a vibrant community hub and centre for public engagement.
The development will transform our teaching, learning and research spaces. It will allow us to bring together the best minds of today and tomorrow within world-class interdisciplinary research spaces that offer flexibility and stimulate collaboration, and modern study spaces that will combine study and social learning space with technology enabled teaching.
- The Mazumdar-Shaw Advanced Research Centre (ARC) is changing the way research is conducted at Glasgow. The ARC is the creative and collaborative heart of research at the University of Glasgow, bridging the boundaries between research, cross-subject collaboration and true societal impact . The ARC brings more than 500 world-leading researchers from a range of disciplines together in a building specifically designed to break down organisational structure and facilitate collaboration and interdisciplinary work.
- The James McCune Smith Learning Hub is an inspirational and diverse learning space. The flagship building was the first to be completed as part of our campus development, and provides a creative environment, combining flexible study and social learning space with multi-styled and technology-enabled teaching. It can accommodate more than 2,500 students, and includes a lecture theatre with capacity for 500 students. State-of-the-art teaching facilities, with flexible study spaces and interactive teaching for students, help to create a more immersive learning experience.
Find out more
Living in Glasgow
A UNESCO City of Music, a vibrant arts and culture scene, a food-lover’s delight, and a shopper’s paradise. Just some of the highlights of the ‘friendliest city in the world’. As well as that accolade by the Rough Guides poll, Glasgow has also been named a must visit destination by publications including the New York Times, The Guardian, and Wanderlust.
Music
The city hosts an average of 130 music events a week catering for every taste; from rock to rap, and classical to country. Glasgow also has a world class club scene playing host to some of the world’s top DJs.
Shopping
Outside of London’s West End, Glasgow is frequently voted the best place for shopping in the UK. A must-visit destination for any shop-a-holic, it houses high street chains, international designers, and independent retailers. The West End, home to the University of Glasgow, is bustling with vintage fashion, vinyl stores, and second-hand bookshops.
Arts and Culture
Glasgow’s arts scene has gone from strength to strength, and is the base for five internationally renowned performing arts companies including the National Theatre of Scotland and Scottish Ballet. The city has several world-class museums, which are free to the public, and the city’s architecture is a work of art in itself.
Food and drink
You can be in Glasgow and taste the world with its many diverse restaurants, cafes, and bars. And if you’ve yet to sample the delights of haggis and whisky, Glasgow is the place to be.
The City and Beyond
Glasgow has all the opportunities and excitement of a big city but its compact size means you can quickly travel from one vibrant district to the next. You could be relaxing in one of its many parks, before shopping in the quirky West End, and then dancing until the wee small hours in the Merchant City.
And when you fancy getting out of the city you can reach the stunning Loch Lomond in just 30 minutes, climb one of our many breath-taking Munros, play golf at one of Scotland’s many world-class courses, visit one of our ancient castles, or go further North and search for Nessie! Scotland has also just been named the world’s most beautiful country by Rough Guides.
Relocating to Glasgow
Choosing to relocate to Glasgow is a big decision. There are numerous things to be considered, such as the costs of moving, the cost of living, and where exactly to relocate to. We have created a guide to aide you in the decision making process.
Find out more on relocating to Glasgow at the below link:
WORLD CHANGERS TOGETHER
WORLD CHANGING GLASGOW 2025
Our outstanding disciplinary breadth and expertise has enabled us to make world-changing advances in fields as diverse as medicine, physics, linguistics, public policy and global development.
The key to our success is our talented staff and students pushing back at the boundaries of knowledge and understanding together.
Our World Changers Together strategy recognises the fundamental importance of a culture of open cooperation: not just as colleagues and mentors or students and teachers, but as a community of discovery that reaches beyond its walls and draws inspiration and strength from its connections and partnerships worldwide: excellence that's part of something bigger. The strategy is articulated across three themes:
COMMUNITY
- People centred, globally engaged
CONNECTIVITY
- Collaboratively minded, digitally enhanced
CHALLENGES
- Solution focused, impact oriented
Find out more
How to apply
Full details of the role and how to apply can be found by visiting our website:
The closing date for applications is 8 February 2026
Terms & Conditions
Salary will be Grade 7, £41,064 - £46,049 per annum.
This post is full time (35 hours p/w) and open ended. The post does require some evening and weekend support for programme delivery.
Relocation assistance will be provided where appropriate.
The University of Glasgow has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK. If you require a Skilled Worker visa to work in the UK, you will be required to meet the eligibility requirements of the visa route to be assigned a Certificate of Sponsorship.
Please note that this post may be eligible to be sponsored under the Skilled Worker visa route if tradeable points can be used under the Skilled Worker visa rules. For more information please visit: https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa.
As a valued member of our team, you can expect:
1 A warm welcoming and engaging organisational culture, where your talents are developed and nurtured, and success is celebrated and shared.
2 An excellent employment package with generous terms and conditions including 41 days of leave for full time staff, pension - pensions handbook https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/payandpensions/pensions/, benefits and discount packages.
3 A flexible approach to working.
4 A commitment to support your health and wellbeing, including a free 6-month UofG Sport membership for all new staff joining the University https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/staff/healthwellbeing/.
We believe that we can only reach our full potential through the talents of all. Equality, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of our values. Applications are particularly welcome from across our communities and in particular people from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community, and other protected characteristics who are under-represented within the University. Read more on how the University promotes and embeds all aspects of equality and diversity within our community https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/humanresources/equalitydiversity/.
We endorse the principles of Athena Swan https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/humanresources/equalitydiversity/athenaswan/ and hold bronze, silver and gold awards across the University.
We are investing in our organisation, and we will invest in you too. Please visit our website https://www.gla.ac.uk/explore/jobs/ for more information.
It is the University of Glasgow’s mission to foster an inclusive climate, which ensures equality in our working, learning, research and teaching environment. We strongly endorse the principles of Athena SWAN, including a supportive and flexible working environment, with commitment from all levels of the organisation in promoting gender equity.
Our values
The future holds innumerable challenges for our sector, our society, and our world. We will have to adapt and change what we do and what we offer if we are to navigate these successfully. Our strategy and approach may evolve as the landscape changes, but our values will remain constant: a fixed point of certainty in uncertain times.
We have identified our values in consultation and partnership with our staff and student community. Living and upholding these values will ensure that we remain true to the spirit of our community and ourselves:
Ambition and Excellence
- We strive for excellence through our work
- We defend academic freedom globally
- We recognise and celebrate shared success
- We have an unrelenting focus on development
Curiosity and Discovery
- We innovate and solve problems together
- We lead by influence and example
- We engage with lifelong learning and personal development
- We learn from our mistakes
Integrity and Truth
- We uphold honesty, integrity and fairness
- We share our work widely and generously
- We do the right thing, not the easy thing - or we don’t do it
- We take responsibility
An Inclusive Community
- We are one Glasgow team, and we care for and respect one another
- We advocate for diversity and believe in variety as a vital part of a healthy university
- We champion education as an engine for social progress
- We practise and advance sustainability