Breakthrough Innovation Senior Manager - Strategic Opportunities

Job Title:

Breakthrough Innovation Senior Manager - Strategic Opportunities

About the role:

This role reports to the Senior Breakthrough Innovation Lead – Strat Ops (Next Gen TBA). The role will be accountable for delivering against key strategic briefs through responsonsibility for early strategic scoping, development and exploration of ideas all the way through to bringing these to life as pilots prior to integration into the business at scale.

Role Responsibilities:

Shape the Future:

• Shape & lead the development of 2-3 key projects against the relevant strategic opportunity space(s);
• Be a thought leader through continually developing our understanding of the strategic opportunity in a constantly evolving competitor landscape.
• Create momentum and alignment for the strategy ensuring it is in service of market, brand and consumer strategies.
• Create solid and collaborative interdependencies across GBTs, Markets, R&D and Supply to build early support for projects enabling teams to implement at pace and make bold decisions while taking accountability. 

Drive Impact Today:

• Lead multiple cross-functional and complex projects comprising internal and external partnerships to excel in ambiguous and novel environments. Partner with key brands and markets to ensure the projects have a powerul future runway for impact.
• Lead projects through the Ignite process developing the business model canvas, test plans and pilots partnering with supply fulfillment, procurement, and wider technical teams.
• Take a leadership role within the Breakthrough innovation team to build capability & culture across the team.

Win through Execution:

• Lead allocated OIE budget to best develop the project(s) roadmap;
• Use both conventional business finance and new business model financing models and approaches.
• Exit successful projects from BI into the core business to scale in core markets globally or into venture models.

Key Partners

• Global Head of Strategic Opportunities and Planning; GM Breakthrough Innovation
• Regional Innovation Directors and regional Heads of R&D as required by project
• GBT Innovation Leads
• In-market Marketing Directors, Category Directors & GBT Directors as appropriate

Experience / skills required:

• Envision future needs and build capabilities ahead of the curve both strategically and tactically
• Strong analytical systems thinker able to create credible propositions from a blank page, translating the unknown into tangible business practices.
• Deep consumer bias & insight
• Strong communication skills, able to seamlessly influence across multiple boundaries (internally and externally)
• Strong drive, delivery and determination
• Ability to constantly prioritize projects and workload
• Balances autonomy with interdependence and collaboration with tenacity
• Ability to implement projects and adapt/change strategies in a timely manner as needed
• Strong relationship building and alignment skills. Resilience combined with emotional intelligence to build collaborative and powerful relatiopnships and teams that are able to thrive within uncertainty
• 8+ years of experience in leading large, cross functional projects, ideally including breakthrough/disruptive or novel products/capabilities within established organizations and/or innovation across partnerships or ventures
• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent

Flexible Working Statement:

Flexibility is key to our success. Talk to us about what flexibility means to you so that you’re supported to manage y