Open Innovation Associate

Are you passionate about shaping the future of corporate open innovation? Do you want your strategies to end in deployment rather than in a final presentation?

We are looking for an Innovation Strategist to help companies and governments define, design, and implement cutting-edge open innovation strategies and formats. The role is based in Valencia, Spain, with a genuinely global mandate and significant travel. You will work in a dynamic, entrepreneurial, and international environment, leading open innovation projects at the forefront of technology and creativity.

WHO WE ARE:

Plug and Play is the world's largest open innovation platform, with 60+ locations worldwide. We support leading corporations with their innovation efforts by strategizing innovation and connecting them with break-through startups to drive joint innovation and strategic growth. Our mission is to bring Silicon Valley's innovation mindset to companies and governments worldwide.

WHO WE’RE LOOKING FOR:

We are looking for a proactive and creative team member to shape and execute open innovation strategies for our corporate and public-sector partners. This role combines consulting, research, and service design to enhance innovation methodologies, optimize processes, and deliver impactful projects. You'll lead and contribute to workshops, strategy development, and execution, ensuring real-world impact for our clients.

Open innovation is our operating model: you will work across corporates, governments, and startups at the same time, and the same platform that writes the strategy also sources the startups and takes the solution through to deployment inside the client organization. Our definition of success is not a pilot. It is a solution in operation, at scale.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Strategy & Execution

• Develop and implement open innovation strategies tailored to corporate and government challenges and objectives.
• Optimize innovation processes, integrating best practices in corporate innovation, venture clienting, venture building, and open innovation.

2. Workshop Facilitation & Stakeholder Engagement

• Design and lead workshops to drive ideation, strategy formulation, and open innovation roadmaps.
• Collaborate with corporate teams, executives, startups, and external partners to ensure seamless execution and measurable impact.

3. Research & Insights

• Analyze emerging trends, market insights, and disruptive technologies to inform open innovation strategies.
• Provide thought leadership by translating research into actionable recommendations.

4. Business Development & Growth

• Identify opportunities to expand open innovation initiatives and craft innovation-driven proposals.
• Support business development efforts by contributing insights, strategy recommendations, and proposal writing.

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE:

• 3+ years of experience in open innovation, innovation consulting, corporate innovation, product development, digital transformation, or a related field.
• Hands-on experience facilitating ideation sessions, design sprints, or co-creation workshops with senior stakeholders.Practical command of Design Thinking, Lean Startup, and Agile methodologies applied to real projects.
• Strong ability to translate research insights into actionable strategies and solutions.
• Excellent communication and storytelling skills, including presentations that carry an argument to an executive audience.
• Entrepreneurial mindset: self-motivated, proactive, and results-driven.
• A genuine team player. Our team is fast-moving: we share client work, cover for each other across time zones, and expect people to pull in the same direction rather than optimize for their own project. Lone wolves are not a fit here.
• Fluency in English, and readiness to travel frequently for global client engagements.
• Experience working with startups as solution providers, such as scouting, assessment, or venture clienting, is a plus.
• Public sector or government innovation experience (procurement, national innovation programmes, EU funding instruments) is a plus.
• Working fluency with AI tools for research, synthesis, and production is a plus.
• Additional languages, particularly Spanish, German, French, or Arabic, are a plus.

A completed University Degree (Master's level preferred) is an advantage, and a strong analytical or technical background, such as engineering, natural sciences, design, business, or economics, will serve you well in front of deep-tech and government stakeholders. 

WHY JOIN US?

• Work in a dynamic, global open innovation environment at the intersection of startups, corporates, and governments.
• Collaborate with future-oriented corporations and pioneering governments across EMEA, Asia, and the Americas.
• Based in Valencia, one of Europe's most liveable cities.
• A clear development path
• Be part of a fast-growing, energetic team with flat hierarchies, short decision paths, and a genuinely collaborative culture