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Kinder's Premium Quality Seasonings & Sauces · 1 day ago

Innovation Manager

Walnut Creek

Full-time

Hybrid

Senior Level

$140K/yr - $150K/yr

5+ years exp

Kinder's is a flavor-obsessed company that is expanding globally and needs innovative thinkers to join their team. The Innovation Manager will be responsible for generating and optimizing new growth opportunities, working closely with cross-functional teams to deliver strategic innovation that drives sustainable value.

Food and BeverageFood ProcessingManufacturingRestaurants

Responsibilities

Demonstrate a deep understanding of consumer needs and motivations and translate into actionable insights

Proactively identify consumer, customer, market and macro trends and contextualize these into growth opportunities

Closely partner with our insights & analytics team to develop and execute learning action plans to evaluate and develop target opportunities

Develop business cases for key innovation projects and support leadership in aligning on key go/no-go decisions

Build business plans for key innovation programs including development of strategic rationale, evaluation of consumer and customer need / white-space, coordination of technical evaluation (e.g. product development, packaging, or manufacturing hurdles), development of pack / pricing strategy, and evaluation of key financial characteristics (e.g. sales opportunity, margin profile)

Support innovation categories with interim brand management support until programs are turned over tour CORE brand management team

Activate strategic go-to-market plans for new opportunities and work with cross-functional stakeholders to drive alignment around execution needs including establishing business and financial objectives

Drive internal & external alignment around key programs and support customer engagements on new projects including partnering with the sales organization and developing sell-in materials

Evaluate in-market performance post-launch through analysis of key data sources and communicate findings internally and drive alignment on any optimization opportunities in real-time

Collaborate with and cross-functional teams to overcome executional and logistical hurdles to meet aggressive in-market timing and coordinate product and packaging solutions that lead the market

Support alignment on the growth initiatives with key cross-functional stakeholders including Brand Marketing, Product Development, Finance, Operations and Sales

Develop and present relevant business updates to executive leadership

Qualification

CPG innovationGrowth strategyBusiness case developmentCross-functional leadershipAnalytical skillsConsumer insightsMarket analysisProject managementSyndicated data knowledgeCreative thinkingCommunication skillsLeadership skills

Required

Bachelor's Degree required

5+ years relevant work experience in CPG innovation or growth strategy; brand management and product marketing experience is a plus

Experience as a strategic thinker and developing business cases and corresponding execution plans

Experience in identifying consumer needs and motivations through research and / or market analysis

Track record of creative thinking, generation of new product ideas, and working with internal and external partners to develop new concepts / products

Experience working with and leading cross-functional teams

Strong analytical & quantitative skills with capability to use data and / or research to make insight-based arguments to drive organizational alignment

Strong project management skills and understanding of new product development process from ideation to commercialization to in-market activation

Business builder who owns and drives results

Growth mindset with an excitement to learn (and teach)

Thrive in a dynamic, lean, and agile environment with proven record of completing projects on time in full through excellent cross functional team management, leadership, communication and influence

Self-starter who takes initiative and speaks their mind

Excited to be part of a fast-moving team with the ability to be a leader and a follower

Enjoy making decisions and finding ways to say ‘yes' as often as possible to impactful and important priorities