Innovation Project Manager

Henkel; Mentor (OH); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 115,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Insurance

Work-Life Balance

401k Matching

Parental/Fertility Support

Career Growth

Job summary

Henkel is seeking an Innovation Project Manager to serve as the backbone of the innovation pipeline for Consumer and Construction Adhesives in the Americas. You will plan, track, and deliver projects from ideation through commercial launch, coordinating with R&D, Marketing, and Supply Chain to ensure alignment and timely execution.

You will drive governance, maintain portfolio metrics, and push continuous improvement in processes and PM tools, while managing budgets and schedules across multiple

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business, Chemistry, or related field.
• 4+ years in project management for product development or R&D.
• Experience with Stage-Gate processes or Agile PM.
• Strong organization and multi-project handling.
• Excellent communication across functions.
• Proficient with PM tools (MS Project, Smartsheet, Jira).

Responsibilities

• Oversee end-to-end PM of innovation initiatives from concept to launch.
• Maintain innovation portfolio tracker with milestones and risks.
• Coordinate with R&D, Marketing, Supply Chain, Regulatory, and commercial teams.
• Prepare Stage-Gate documentation for go/no-go decisions.
• Develop detailed project plans with timelines and budgets.
• Drive continuous improvement of processes and PM templates.
• Ensure on-time, on-budget delivery across the portfolio.

Skills

Stage-Gate

Agile PM

MS Project

Smartsheet

Jira

Cross-functional

English fluency

Education

Bachelor's in Engineering

Bachelor's in Business

Bachelor's in Chemistry

Tools

MS Project

Smartsheet

Jira

Job description

About this Position

At Henkel, you’ll be part of an organization that’s shaping the future through innovation, sustainability and collaboration. With our trusted brands like Persil®, ‘all®, Loctite®, Snuggle®, and Schwarzkopf® and our cutting-edge technologies, you’ll have countless opportunities to explore new paths and grow.

This position is with our Adhesive Technologies business unit – where we empower our people to transform industries and provide our customers with a competitive advantage through adhesives, sealants and functional coatings.

Dare to learn new skills, advance in your career and make an impact at Henkel.

What you´ll do

• The Innovation Project Manager is the operational backbone of the innovation pipeline for the Consumer and Construction Adhesives business in the Americas.


• This role ensures that innovation projects are planned, tracked, and delivered on time, on budget, and on scope — from early-stage ideation through to commercial launch.


• Working closely with the Director of Innovation Strategy and cross-functional teams in R&D, Marketing, Supply Chain, and Regulatory, the Project Manager drives structure, accountability, and momentum across the entire portfolio.


• Own and manage the end-to-end project management of innovation initiatives across Consumer and Construction Adhesives, from concept approval through launch.


• Maintain and update the innovation portfolio tracker, ensuring accurate status reporting, milestone tracking, and risk identification.


• Facilitate Stage-Gate reviews, preparing documentation and coordinating stakeholder inputs for go/no-go decisions.


• Develop detailed project plans including timelines, resource requirements, budgets, and critical paths.


• Proactively identify risks, bottlenecks, and dependencies, and drive corrective actions with relevant teams.


• Coordinate across R&D, Marketing, Packaging, Regulatory, Supply Chain, and commercial teams to ensure project alignment and on-time delivery.


• Maintain up-to-date project documentation and support governance and reporting to senior leadership.


• Drive continuous improvement in innovation processes and project management tools and templates

What makes you a good fit

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business, Chemistry, or a related field.


• 4+ years of experience in project management within a product development, R&D, or innovation environment — ideally in adhesives, coatings, construction chemicals, or consumer goods.


• Solid knowledge of Stage-Gate processes and/or agile project management frameworks.


• Strong organizational skills with ability to manage multiple concurrent projects in a fast-paced environment.


• Excellent communication and facilitation skills; comfortable working across functions and levels.


• Proficiency in project management tools (e.g., Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, Jira, or equivalent).


• Fluency in English; Spanish is a plus

Some benefits of joining Henkel

• Health Insurance: affordable plans for medical, dental, vision and wellbeing starting on day 1


• Work-Life Balance: Paid time off including sick, vacation, holiday and volunteer time, flexible & hybrid work policies (depending on role), and vacation buy / sell program


• Financial: 401k matching, employee share plan with voluntary investment and Henkel matching shares, annual performance bonus, service awards and student loan reimbursement


• Family Support: 12-week gender neutral parental leave (up to 20 weeks for parents giving birth), fertility support, adoption & surrogacy reimbursement, discounted child and elderly care, and scholarships


• Career Growth: diverse national and international growth opportunities, access to thousands of skills development courses, and tuition reimbursement

The salary for this role is $100,000.00-$115,000.00.This is the range that we in good faith anticipate relying on when setting wages for this position. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range and this range. This salary range may also be modified in the future.

Henkel does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firms or employment agencies. Unsolicited referrals and resumes are considered Henkel property and therefore, Henkel will not pay a fee for any placement resulting from the receipt of an unsolicited referral.

Henkel is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualifiedapplicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, genetic information, and other legally protected categories.