Senior Innovation Manager

Kerry; United Kingdom; On-site; EUR 50,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player in the dairy sector is seeking a Senior Innovation Manager to lead the innovation process for iconic brands. This role involves identifying consumer trends, developing new product ideas, and collaborating across teams to ensure successful market launches. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in FMCG innovation, a passion for consumer insights, and the ability to drive strategic growth. Join a dynamic team that champions creativity and continuous improvement, making a significant impact in the competitive dairy landscape.

Qualifications

• 5+ years' experience in Innovation or NPD roles within FMCG.
• Degree qualified with a strong commercial mindset.

Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end innovation process for key brands.
• Identify consumer trends and develop new product ideas.

Skills

Innovation Management

Consumer Behavior Analysis

Project Management

Market Research

Strategic Planning

Education

Degree in Business or related field

Job description

Requisition ID: 58641
Position Type: FT Fixed Term
Workplace Arrangement:
About Kerry
Kerry Dairy Ireland is a vertically integrated Dairy Business that encompasses a number of divisions spanning from its Agribusiness (Kerry Dairy Farms) through to Dairy & Nutritional Ingredients & its Dairy Consumer Foods Business. With its strong Dairy heritage, world class sustainability credentials, a deep-rooted connection to its 3000 Farmers & milk suppliers, right through to its portfolio of household favourite Brands, Kerry Dairy are one of the World's Leading Dairy Businesses, with a Revenue in excess of €1.3bn annually.
The Dairy Consumer Foods division, is home to a number of the UK & Irelands favourite Dairy & Plant Based Brands (Strings & Things; PURE Dairy-Free; Dairygold, Charleville, Golden Cow, Coleraine, Low Low & Attack a Snak). On top of this, we are the largest supplier of Private Label Dairy spreads in the UK & supply all major Retailers in the UK, Ireland as well as parts of mainland Europe.

About the role
As the Senior Innovation Manager, you will spearhead the end-to-end innovation process-identifying consumer trends, developing new product ideas, and delivering winning innovations to market. You'll work cross-functionally with insight, marketing, R&D and category teams to build a robust innovation pipeline that drives growth and strengthens our brand position in the competitive dairy landscape.

This role will be responsible for leading innovation across our drive brands, including the iconic kids' brand Strings & Things, and our market-leading Irish brands Dairygold and Charleville, both of which are in their categories in the Republic of Ireland. You will play a pivotal role in ensuring these brands remain innovative, relevant, and future-ready.
Key responsibilities

• Opportunity Identification: Proactively identify and evaluate emerging consumer needs, market gaps, technological advancements, and competitive activities within the UK dairy market to uncover unmet needs and whitespace opportunities.
• Idea Generation & Concept Development: Lead and facilitate ideation sessions, leveraging insights and resources to generate a robust pipeline of innovative product and process concepts
• Concept Validation & Feasibility: Collaborate closely with insight to design and execute research to assess consumer appeal and market potential of new concepts.
• Project Leadership & Management: Lead cross-functional project teams through all stages of the innovation process, ensuring projects are delivered on time, within budget, and to the required quality standards. Oversee gate process, timelines, and cross-functional alignment.
• Strategy Development & Execution: Develop and own the 3-5 year innovation pipeline aligned with brand strategy and business objectives.
• Continuous Improvement: Monitor performance of launched innovations and identify learnings for continuous improvement.
• Culture Building: Champion a culture of innovation within the organisation, encouraging creativity, experimentation, and continuous improvement.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Build and maintain strong relationships with internal stakeholders including R&D, Marketing, Insight, Category and Sales.

Qualifications and skills
• Degree qualified
• 5+ years' experience in Innovation or NPD roles within FMCG
• Curiosity & interest in consumer behaviour, motivations & consumer trends that will shape the future of food.
• Enterprising spirit - experience of identifying new revenue streams, launching new business models, or brands.
• Commercial mindset - ability to translate insights into future / new business growth opportunities (experience of managing P&Ls and delivering brand-led business impact).
• Influence: Personal impact & ability to influence all levels of the organisation including Senior Stakeholders
• Commitment to & demonstration of key behaviours: Think Bigger, Prioritize the Priorities & Make it Happen, underpinned by our Kerry values.

Please note: We do not accept CVs or candidate profiles from recruitment agencies where Kerry terms of business have not been signed. Additionally, we will not consider or agree to payment of any recruiter fee under these circumstances. This also applies to CVs or candidate profiles sent directly to any Kerry Hiring Managers .

Beware of scams online or from individuals claiming to represent us. A Kerry employee will not solicit candidates through a non-Kerry email address or phone number. In addition, Kerry does not currently utilise video chat rooms (e.g., Google Hangouts) to conduct interviews. Refuse any request that asks you to provide payment to participate in the hiring process (e.g., purchasing a "starter kit," investing in training, or something similar). Kerry will not ask you to pay any money at any point in the hiring process with the exception of reimbursable travel expenses. In addition, any payments made by Kerry will be from official firm accounts bearing the Kerry name.

Recruiter:
Posting Type: LI