Innovation Lead

Accenture; Dublin; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Accenture is seeking an Innovation Lead – Commercial (Manager Level) to drive AI strategy and innovation. This role involves leading complex projects, working with senior clients, and shaping AI business strategies.

The ideal candidate will blend strategic and commercial thinking, have a robust understanding of AI implications for businesses, and possess strong leadership instincts to navigate complex environments.

Qualifications

• Experience in consulting, industry, or commercial strategy roles.
• Comfort with ambiguity and creating clarity in situations.
• Ability to hold presence with senior stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead innovation and commercial strategy projects.
• Shape AI‑enabled business strategy for enterprises.
• Develop business cases and go‑to‑market strategies.

Skills

Strategic and commercial thinking

Commercial instinct

Genuine curiosity about AI

Delivery experience in complex environments

Leadership instinct

Education

MBA or equivalent advanced degree

Job description

The Dock is Accenture’s flagship R&D and Global Innovation Center, based in Dublin’s Grand Canal Dock. As an incubation hub for the next generation of AI and GenAI agentic solutions, The Dock brings together a global community of business strategists, designers, engineers, data scientists, and entrepreneurs. Our mission is to solve some of the world’s hardest problems and create transformational products and services that help industries thrive in the face of unprecedented change.

We are looking for an Innovation Lead – Commercial (Manager Level) to join the Business, Product & Commercial Strategy team.

Why This Role

Enterprise AI is moving from experimentation to execution — and the organisations that succeed will not be the ones with the best models. They will be the ones with the strongest leadership, governance, and organisational adaptation. That gap between AI capability and enterprise reality is where this role operates.

This is a rare opportunity to build expertise at the intersection of enterprise transformation, emerging AI technologies, and commercial strategy — during one of the largest platform shifts in decades. You will work on frontier AI challenges before they become mainstream, alongside the ecosystem partners shaping those capabilities, and with the enterprise clients who must operationalise them at scale.

We are not looking for someone who has already done all of this. We are looking for someone who is ready to. The right candidate will have strong foundations — in strategy, commercial thinking, or complex delivery — and the instinct, curiosity, and drive to apply them in genuinely new territory. In return, this role builds a profile that is difficult to develop anywhere else: AI commercialisation, enterprise transformation leadership, and ecosystem influence, gained in an environment where the work is real and the stakes are high.

The Role

The Innovation Lead – Commercial (Manager Level) provides strategic delivery leadership across AI‑enabled innovation and commercial strategy engagements. You will own and steer complex projects while developing the capability of your team and acting as a credible, trusted voice with senior client stakeholders, account teams, and ecosystem partners.

Your work will span shaping AI‑enabled business strategy across large‑scale enterprise programmes, collaborating with frontier AI ecosystem partners, and identifying how advanced AI technologies — including agentic AI systems — can reshape commercial models, delivery approaches, and client value creation. You will work closely with senior client stakeholders and account leadership to embed AI‑first thinking into major transformation engagements, assess where AI changes the economics of large enterprise deals, and help define the strategic pivots that follow.

You will also be focused on outcome‑based pricing and licensing.

No two engagements are alike. You bring rigour, commercial instinct, and intellectual honesty to all of them.

What You Will Do

• Lead and own innovation and commercial strategy projects — from initial scoping through incubation, transition, and launch — with accountability for quality and outcomes.
• Work closely with senior client stakeholders and account leadership to embed AI‑first thinking into major transformation and outsourcing engagements, and to identify how AI changes the structure and economics of large enterprise deals.
• Shape and communicate commercially viable AI strategies — accelerating enterprise modernisation, identifying new growth opportunities, and translating emerging technology into actionable client propositions with a focus on outcome‑based pricing and licensing.
• Develop business cases, commercial models, and go‑to‑market strategies grounded in evidence, delivery reality, and a clear‑eyed view of market economics.
• Focus on outcome‑based pricing and licensing.
• Collaborate with frontier AI ecosystem partners to understand where capability is heading and bring those insights into client strategy and project direction.
• Guide and coach your team to self‑organise, make informed decisions, and deliver strong outcomes; create the conditions for high performance and remove the barriers in the way.
• Build and manage relationships with senior client stakeholders, CAL teams, and ecosystem partners; contribute actively to sales conversations, RFPs, and commercial discussions.

Experience You Will Build

This role provides direct exposure to frontier AI developments, complex enterprise transformation programmes, and the evolving economics of AI‑driven business. For the right person, it is a path to a profile that is genuinely difficult to build elsewhere. Over time, you will develop expertise across:

• AI commercialisation and go‑to‑market strategy
• Enterprise transformation leadership at scale
• Ecosystem and strategic partnership management
• Innovation portfolio development and stage‑gate governance
• AI operating model design and organisational adaptation
• Executive stakeholder engagement
• Business model transformation in response to AI‑driven market disruption
• Strategic identification of new revenue opportunities in fast‑changing environments

What We Are Looking For

Background is less important than mindset. We are open to candidates from consulting, industry, or commercial strategy roles. What matters is how you think and how you work.

• Strong strategic and commercial thinking — you can structure ambiguous problems, identify what matters, and build a credible case for a course of action.
• Commercial instinct and an ability to translate ideas into propositions with real market logic: who pays, why, and at what value.
• Genuine curiosity about AI and its enterprise implications — not just awareness, but active engagement with what is changing and what it means for how organisations operate and compete.
• Credibility and presence with senior stakeholders — you can hold a room, ask the hard question, and be trusted with complex, high‑visibility work.
• Delivery experience in complex, matrixed environments — you have managed workstreams, navigated competing priorities, and brought people with you.
• Leadership instinct — you develop others naturally, create clarity in ambiguous situations, and take accountability for outcomes rather than just activities.
• Comfort with ambiguity — you do not need a fully formed brief to get started, and you bring structure rather than waiting for it.
• Robustly defend your perspective on how AI will disrupt the industries that Accenture works with, and do this from a place of deep understanding of the commerciality, business strategy and technologies that support your point of view.

Extras We’d Love to See

• Exposure to AI‑enabled transformation — whether shaping strategy, defining operating models, or contributing to delivery.
• Familiarity with ecosystem‑based business models, platform strategy, or partnership‑driven value creation.
• An MBA or equivalent advanced degree in a related field.
• Contribution to thought leadership, community engagement, or industry‑facing initiatives.

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