Sr. Director Innovation-Wells, Ferrero, Ferrara Ice Cream Brands

Senior Director, Innovation, will lead the development and execution of the company’s innovation strategy, focusing on identifying, incubating, and scaling new growth platforms and breakthrough products. Partners cross-functionally with marketing, R&D, supply chain, insights, and commercial teams to drive a pipeline of consumer-centric innovation across domestic and international markets. Creates long-term value, increases brand relevance, and accelerates top-line growth through transformational thinking and disciplined execution.

ACCOUNTABILITIES:

1. Strategic Leadership • Develop the North America Ice Cream innovation strategy roadmap based on the Wells and North American Ferrero and Ferrara Brand and Ferrero Global Brands strategies • Proactively identify emerging consumer trends, where category trends are headed, regulatory shifts and white space opportunities that drive incremental growth and unlock category growth/leadership
2. Innovation Pipeline and Portfolio Management • Ideate, prioritize, develop and manage a robust innovation pipeline, ensuring balance between near-term commercial wins and long-term transformative initiatives      • Partner with Innovation Engine (cross-functional team including Insights, R&D, Operations/Engineering) to test, iterate, and validate new concepts using agile and design thinking methodologies • Manage and foster a strong stage-gate innovation process to accelerate time-to-market while managing risk • Develop and be accountable to KPIs for Innovation Pipeline health and success (top and bottom-line innovation sufficiency)
3. Cross-functional & Global Collaboration • Lead cross-functional Innovation Engine team including Insights, R&D, Operations/Engineering, Finance to conceptualize and develop new platforms and products, enrolling key stakeholders (including Sales and other functions) and aligned to the brand briefs • Manage desirability, (financial) viability, feasibility process and identify CapEx needed • Collaborate with Global Team to ensure global concepts fit local market needs to ensure launch and commercial success • Partner with Insights, Consumer Research, and Analytics to ensure innovation is grounded in data and consumer behavior • Align with Operations and Supply Chain to ensure scalability and manufacturability of innovations across markets
4. Stakeholder Engagement & Organizational Alignment • Collaborate with key stakeholders at Wells and Ferrero to drive alignment, transparency of innovation initiatives • Navigate complex organizational dynamics with strong interpersonal and influence skills to gain internal alignment and cross-functional support for innovation priorities
5. Team Leadership & Capability Building • Lead and foster a strong culture of innovation with the Innovation Engine (cross-functional team) • Lead the vision and development of innovation best practices, setting the gold standard for insights extraction, ideation, concept validation, pipeline development • Develop a team of Innovation Managers, fostering a culture of creativity, accountability, and high performance • Drive internal capability building in consumer foresight application, innovation thinking, tools, and agile methodologies across the organization

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EDUCATION: Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Engineering, or related field; MBA or advanced degree preferred. Proven track record of leading successful innovation initiatives from concept to commercialization.

EXPERIENCE:  15+ years of experience in innovation, strategy, or product development within a CPG environment.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Knowledge – Deep understanding of the end-to-end innovation lifecycle, from trend spotting and ideation to commercialization and scale-up. Expertise in Stage-Gate. Solid knowledge of consumer insights, behavioral research, and market intelligence tools to inform innovation decisions. Familiarity with emerging technologies, sustainability trends, and digital transformation within the CPG space. Understanding of financial modeling and business case development to evaluate innovation ROI and resource allocation.

Skills – Exceptional strategic thinking and business planning skills, with the ability to identify and prioritize high-impact innovation opportunities. Strong project and program management capabilities; able to manage multiple complex initiatives simultaneously. Highly effective communication and storytelling skills to influence senior executives and cross-functional teams. Advanced stakeholder management and coalition-building skills across internal and external groups. Skilled in leading and developing high-performing, diverse teams. Adept at change leadership and driving organizational adoption of new ideas and ways of working.

Abilities – Ability to thrive in fast-paced, ambiguous environments and lead with both vision and execution discipline. Ability