Innovation Manager

Premier Foods; St Albans; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading British food company is seeking an Innovation Manager to drive innovation strategies and expand product offerings. The role involves significant autonomy and accountability, focusing on creating impactful ideas and leading projects from concept to market launch. This position offers a dynamic environment and the opportunity to shape the innovation pipeline within a well-established brand.

Benefits

Bonus

Up to 7.5% pension

Life assurance

Wide range of online and in-house training

Employee discount scheme

Qualifications

• 3+ years successful experience in a leading FMCG or brand-led organisation.
• A mix of innovation experiences including innovation development and project ownership.

Responsibilities

• Identify big, scalable innovation opportunities.
• Ownership of NPD projects from concept to launch.
• Accountable for successful pipeline delivery.

Skills

Results driven

Action orientated

High accountability

Positive disruption

Responsibly daring

Job description

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Date: 14 May 2025

Location: St Albans, GB

Innovation Manager - Central

12 month FTC

Based in St Albans/Hybrid WFH

Premier Foods is on an exciting journey transitioning from turning the business around, to becoming an ‘outperformance business’, by further accelerated growth that’s well ahead of the UK market norms. Innovation is at the heart of our strategic building blocks and the number one driver for long term sustainable growth. With considerable focus, support and resource, there are multiple strategic innovation elements to this:

- Continued healthy growth of our core UK business driven by Fewer, Bigger, Better Innovation and increased brand marketing investment

- Expand our innovation strategy into:

1) New Whitespace Categories within the UK e.g. Ice-creams and Breakfast

- Accelerate our International growth by driving the existing international markets, and expanding into new ones

- Selective M&A that will complement our growth

- Supported by an inclusive and diverse organisation with winning mindset and a future focused ESG agenda

Central Innovation is a high profile, pivotal team focusing on Whitespace Expansion to deliver continued outperformance. The mission is to discover and deliver game-changing ideas to enhance the quality and value of the Innovation pipeline, at an accelerator pace. The position offers a high level of autonomy, and an opportunity to shape the Innovation strategy.

What we need from you...?

• Bring positive disruption by challenging the status quo: comfortable to break free from the establish norms
• Results driven: relentlessly tenacious, a can do attitude to seek solutions, with the end in mind. Harness big data to identify scalable opportunities, understand performance, and influence senior stakeholders. Form strong proposals with long term commercial viability.
• High accountability and comfortable with autonomy: with a drive to deliver credibly at pace
• Action orientated: ability to cut through to enable delivery
• Responsibly daring: unafraid to take calculated risks and onboard key stakeholders
• 3+ years successful experience within a leading FMCG or other brand-led organisation
• A mix of innovation experiences including innovation development and project ownership.

What you'll be doing....?

IMPACT & INFLUENCE THE INNOVATION PIPELINE - turbo charge through Whitespace ideas by:

• Expanding our heritage brands into new categories
• Identifying opportunities in incremental categories, subsectors, channels and markets (could include creation of new brands and leveraging existing brands)
• Identify future pipeline opportunities that complements the core portfolio – we have started this journey and have some proven success e.g. Ambrosia Ready to Eat Porridge
• Identify Ideas with meaningful scale potential: this could include big categories open for disruption - creating competition forcing traditional competitors to up their game; high growth categories we don’t have presence; stretch areas our brands have a right to play; new technologies

LEAD AND LAND YOUR WHITESPACE IDEAS:

• End-to-end accountability from concept to launch in market of specific bets outside of core category pipelines
• Take full ownership of the launch outcome: seek to understand key performance drivers and barriers
• Be comfortable to work independently from core teams and process where required
• Seek out RTM solutions: including internal capabilities and 3PM opportunities – leveraging contact and relationships
• Apply a ‘test & learn’ model: be inquisitive and applying learnings throughout; be unphased by ambiguity; prepared to take calculated risks

DELIVER WITH AGILITY AND PACE:

• Rapid Innovation model landing ideas in market within 3-12 months
• Propose and lead effective WOW: to cut through at pace and deliver with credibility
• Use a ‘fail fast and pivot quickly’ mentality to navigate best delivery solutions

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Identify big, scalable innovation opportunities by partnering with the Innovation Controller to support the development of the pipeline strategy.
• Ownership of NPD projects from concept to launch:

- Own the business case through the gate stage process

- Influence timeline targets

- Lead project meetings from an innovation/brand lens

- Product: brief and review of recipes with R&D; support validation and insight understanding

- Design: brief origination through to repro sign-off

- Budget: Process POs

- Supporting external sell-ins: creating sell stories; organising samples

• Applying techniques within a rapid innovation model to deliver ‘test & learn’ ideas and launch with agility.
• Accountable for the successful pipeline delivery through the business governance and commercial targets.

What we offer you in return...?

• Bonus
• Up to 7.5% pension
• Life assurance
• Wide range of online and in-house training
• Access to an employee discount scheme, with access to hundreds of nationwide retailers

Ready to apply...?

Click apply, submitting an up-to-date CV tailored to this opportunity. We look forward to hearing from you.

A great British food company

Premier Foods is one of Britain’s biggest listed food companies, employing over 4,000 colleagues at 13 manufacturing sites and offices up and down the country.

Many of our brands have been part of UK life for more than a century and you’ll find them in 90% of British households.

At Premier Foods we believe in inclusion, authenticity and individuality. We aim to ensure all existing and future colleagues are given equitable opportunities and are respected, valued and encouraged to bring their true authentic selves to work no matter who they are, what they look like, who they love or what they believe in. Our culture is one where everyone is welcome.