Director, Innovation

Your Opportunity as the Director, Innovation

This role has the unique opportunity of owning the development and execution of the innovation strategy for both the Coffee and Frozen Handheld & Spreads business units. Spanning both iconic brands such as Folgers, Dunkin', and Jif to high-growth brands such as Smucker's Uncrustables and Cafe Bustelo, there are tremendous opportunities for growth and opportunity to make a significant impact.

Location: Orrville, OH- Corporate Offices

Work Arrangements: Hybrid - onsite a minimum of 9 days a month primarily during core weeks as determined by the Company; maybe more as business need requires.

In this role you will:

• Own the development and execution of the innovation strategy and pipeline to achieve Net Sales and Segment Profit targets established by each of the business units

• Work with the business teams to size each concept and financially validate through testing, gross margin expectations, and long-range plan building blocks

• Lead with a General Management mindset, balancing the need for creativity and an entrepreneurial approach with strategy and discipline

• Build internal innovation capabilities and help to shape a culture of creativity, growth mindset, and innovative thinking

• Develop validated concepts that deliver on key consumer needs, align to the brand strategy, and drive category growth

• Partner with market research to deliver consumer testing at various points in the gate process, leveraging results to optimize concepts and/or deselect concepts

• Lead a diverse, cross-functional best in class team who will be responsible for shepherding platforms and product concepts through the innovation process, considering strategic, consumer, technical and business viability

• Champion innovation across multiple stakeholders including brand marketing, operations, research & development, finance, and retail customers to create organizational momentum and breakdown barriers

• Gain customer buy-in by crafting a compelling innovation vision and category and customer story

• Coach, develop and motivate a high-performing team of five individuals

• Manage Portfolio-level Innovation performance metrics to ensure visibility and accountability for long term innovation health for the business

The Right Role for You

We are bold, kind, strive to do the right thing, we play to win, and we believe in a strong community that thrives together. Our culture is rooted in our Basic Beliefs, and we believe in supporting every employee by meeting their physical, emotional, and financial needs.

What we are looking for:

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree required, MBA preferred

• 12+ years of relevant work experience

• 8+ years in the consumer packaged goods industry

• 8+ years of brand marketing/innovation experience with proven innovation success; either new product development, creation of new business models, start-up experience or other entrepreneurial ventures (food industry experience preferred)

• Excellent leadership skills combined with ability to influence cross-functional partners

• Demonstrated expertise in understanding the P&L along with strong analytical proficiency with Nielsen/Circana data, Microsoft PowerPoint, Word and Excel

• Understanding of how consumer insights drive the development of effective innovation concepts

• Demonstrated experience with consumer research methodologies including statistics, research design, marketing, and product development applications

• Proven experience in innovation management. Proposes and executes plans that add value and create competitive advantage based on knowledge of how the business works

• Previous experience launching multiple new products, including major product launches / platforms from inception to launch

• Demonstrated capabilities and competencies to effectively manage up, across, and down an organization, remove barriers and effectively problem solve

• People management experience

• Willingness to travel for work approximately 20% of the time

Additional skills and experience that we think would make someone successful in this role:

• Sets a high standard for performance and pursues goals with purpose and a sense of urgency

• Persistent despite setbacks with ability to gain acceptance for ideas

• Ability to rally team (both internally and externally) behind a vision

• Comfortable with ambiguity and ability to envision future opportunities

• Capability to lead across multiple brands, projects, and complex pipelines

• Passion to take initiative and drive change

• Highly collaborative mindset; team player

• Strong communication skills and ability to craft compelling story to communicate vision and ideas

Learn more about working at Smucker:

• Helping our Employees Thrive

• Delivering on Our Purpose

• Our Continued Commitment to Ensuring a Workplace for All

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