Xylem Innovation Labs Open Innovation Manager

Xylem is a Fortune 500 global water solutions company dedicated to advancing sustainable impact and empowering the people who make water work every day. As a leading water technology company with 23,000 employees operating in over 150 countries, Xylem is at the forefront of addressing the world's most critical water challenges. We invite passionate individuals to join our team, dedicated to exceeding customer expectations through innovative and sustainable solutions.

Open Innovation Partner and Communications Manager will work on the Xylem Innovation Labs team, a collaborative team-oriented environment, to support Xylem’s Enterprise Innovation Team. Primary responsibilities revolve around spearheading Xylem’s open innovation ecosystem program as well as managing the teams’ external communications efforts. The Manager will also conduct market analyses, technical assessments, and put together compelling business cases all in the pursuit of driving growth through innovation by bringing new and innovative technologies to market.

OPEN INNOVATION

• Owns and operationalizes Xylem’s global open innovation ecosystem across the water industry and beyond, overseeing relationships with range of stakeholders including non-profits, universities, accelerator programs, customer innovation teams, investment firms, consulting agencies and research firms, etc.
• Designs and drives Xylem’s open innovation partnership strategy to ensure Xylem has an early look at the best technologies in development globally.
• Strategy must include a broad look at entrepreneurs across types of technologies, stage of company maturity, and geographic distribution
• Make recommendations on which partnerships support and negotiate sponsorships with additional partners as required.
• Coordinates with colleagues companywide to support and engage with open innovation partners, including attendance at external events, including open innovation partners in internal Xylem events.
• Make connections between open innovation partners, colleagues across business, and startup companies

COMMUNICATIONS

• Leads external visibility and positioning of Xylem Innovation Labs by securing speaking engagements, building thought leadership content, and representing Xylem at industry forums. Acts as liaison with corporate communications team to create and execute on Xylem Innovation Labs external communications strategy.
• Work with team Operations Manager to create conference schedule, ensuring speaking and/or panel engagement for XIL team member at every event attended
• Work with team Operations Manager to plan and execute virtual and in-person events
• Identify customer stories and case studies, coordinating creation and distribution of case studies internally and externally
• Manage Xylem Innovation Labs LinkedIn channel and social media presence – including content creation and posting schedule
• Develops and delivers executive-ready pitch decks, business cases, and innovation briefings tailored to internal leadership and external partners.

TECHNOLOGY SCOUTING

• Coordinates data with other teams and stakeholders across the organization to promote collaboration and drive decisions including and not limited to product management, R&D, sales, & business functions
• Support Tech Scouting & Evaluation Analyst
• New technology intake: conducting initial assessments, and further deep dives as warranted – communicating recommendations and next steps to business unit leaders
• Creation and maintenance of technology/startup company database
• Develop and manage decision-support tools to ensure that innovation decisions are aligned with corporate strategy and mission

OTHER

• Attend domestic and international conferences both in-person and online
• Utilize agile IT tools for team communication and collaboration, including promoting these tools to drive innovation culture across the organization
• Participation in Xylem Watermark volunteer activities
• Other duties as assigned

Minimum Qualifications