The Brand Innovation & Process Manager has direct accountability for establishing, managing, and enforcing a structured innovation process across the organization, ensuring alignment of all functions and stakeholders to deliver innovation initiatives efficiently and consistently.

ROLE SPECIFICATIONS

ACCOUNTABILITIES & PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS

Innovation Process Development & Ownership

• Develop, implement, and continuously improve a standardized end-to-end innovation process.
• Define and enforce stage gates, evaluation criteria, and governance structures.
• Ensure consistent application of the process across all functions and stakeholders.
• Maintain visibility and control of innovation activities across all stages.

Enterprise-Wide Coordination & Integration

• Act as the single point of ownership for coordinating all innovation touchpoints across: 
• Internal functions (Commercial, Marketing, R&D, Supply Chain, Finance)
• External stakeholders (suppliers, agencies, development partners, co-manufacturers)
• Ensure alignment, accountability, and timely execution across all stages.
• Manage interdependencies and resolve bottlenecks to ensure continuous process flow.

Idea Intake & Pipeline Management

• Establish structured channels to capture innovation ideas from Commercial, Marketing, and Research.
• Maintain and manage a centralized innovation pipeline.
• Facilitate structured evaluation and “tear-down” sessions to assess and refine ideas.
• Prioritize ideas based on defined strategic and commercial criteria.

Concept Development & Validation

• Translate selected ideas into clear, actionable concept briefs.
• Coordinate early-stage validation, including: 
• Consumer relevance
• Technical feasibility
• High-level commercial viability
• Ensure all projects meet defined criteria before progressing through stage gates.

Cross-Functional Delivery Management (Up to Industrialization)

• Coordinate execution across all stakeholders through development stages.
• Ensure all required inputs are delivered in line with timelines and process requirements.
• Monitor and drive progression through each stage of the innovation process.

External Stakeholder Integration & Management

• Identify and engage external partners required to support innovation development.
• Ensure external stakeholders are: 
• Engaged at appropriate stages of the process
• Aligned to project objectives and timelines
• Delivering required inputs to support progression
• Manage risks and dependencies related to external contributors.

Structured Handover to Brand Teams

• Lead formal handover of projects at the industrialization stage.
• Ensure Brand Teams receive: 
• Clearly defined concept and positioning
• Target consumer and value proposition
• Relevant assumptions and supporting inputs
• Ensure seamless transition to commercialization execution.

Innovation Governance & Reporting

• Facilitate governance forums and stage-gate reviews
• Track and report on pipeline performance, including: 
• Idea progression through stages
• Pipeline health and status
• Provide visibility and updates to leadership.

Training and Development

• Support development of internal capability in structured innovation processes.
• Train teams on idea submission, evaluation, and process requirements.