Innovation Project Manager

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

Benefits offered by this job

Health Insurance

Work-Life Balance

Financial: 401k matching and bonus

Family Support

Career Growth

Job summary

Henkel is seeking an Innovation Project Manager to lead the Americas Consumer and Construction Adhesives innovation pipeline from conception to launch. You’ll partner with R&D, Marketing, and Supply Chain to maintain momentum, align milestones, and report progress to leadership.

The role emphasizes Stage-Gate and agile practices, requires strong planning and risk management, and offers collaborative growth across functions within a global adhesive technologies organization.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of project management in a product development, R&D, or innovation environment.
• Experience in adhesives, coatings, construction chemicals, or consumer goods.
• Solid knowledge of Stage-Gate processes and/or agile project management frameworks.
• Strong organizational skills to manage multiple concurrent projects in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent communication and facilitation skills; comfortable across functions and levels.
• Fluency in English; Spanish is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Manage end-to-end innovation projects from concept through launch.
• Plan, track and deliver on time, budget and scope.
• Collaborate with R&D, Marketing, Supply Chain, and Regulatory teams.
• Maintain and update the innovation portfolio tracker and risk reporting.
• Facilitate Stage-Gate reviews and coordinate inputs for go/no-go decisions.
• Develop detailed project plans with timelines, resources, budgets, and critical paths.
• Proactively identify risks and drive corrective actions with relevant teams.
• Coordinate across functions to ensure project alignment and on-time delivery.
• Maintain up-to-date project documentation and support governance reporting.

Skills

Project management

Stage-Gate processes

Agile methods

Cross-functional work

Communication

Multitasking

English fluency

Education

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

Tools

Microsoft 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.