CMI manager

The world around us has changed and if anything, the pace of change is accelerating. We are facing a lot of disruptors, from local players who are agile in responding to local consumer & market trends to start-ups who are utilizing latest breakthrough technology.

In the outside world, it’s the products & services and innovation culture that puts the human first which are winning the innovation game: human needs, desires and creators’ ingenuity; shared & circular economies in hyper connected worlds, homes and cities; creative repositioning of entire industries making them obsolete; the leverage of digital design and advanced technology as differentiators & enablers of superior consumer experiences; innovations that genuinely improve and add meaning to Brands and people’s lives; and acute levels of externalized accelerators, innovation partnerships and collaborations. These famous innovations we all talk about and admire are quite simple ideas. Yet make seismic shifts, powered by the people that make them & the people they serve. 

Scope:

New Product Development (NPD) and Core Innovations: The focus here will be on funnel innovations and renovations of the core and NPD. We will help the business generate & implement high growth & market/ trend responsive innovations in short time. We will do that by delivering bigger, faster & leaner innovations & implementing a new suite of approaches & toolkits in developing and testing innovations.

Deliverables:

We are responsible for driving innovation GROWTH for Unilever Foods & Refreshment, not just about generating and testing new ideas. We will get there through rapid build/ measure/ learn loops as well as best-in-class research approach and implementation of cheaper and more agile research tools without sacrificing the required rigors. This is also achieved through a thorough understanding of what makes innovations work in-market, so we can scale up the success or pivot the mix while in-market.

Core Responsibilities:/

- Identify & integrate consumer insights into various innovation projects. This will include funnel innovations & renovations on Core and NPD.

- Lead different innovation research projects from ideation/ co-creation workshops to final testing of the full mix, using a differentiated pathway of methodologies depending on innovation type and risk to Unilever.

- Ruthless simplification of all systemic processes and standardizing & automating research methods.

- Lead meta learnings, cross-pollination, innovation monitoring and real time management of innovation projects.

- Be responsible for building and developing relationships with the global-wide Innovation team and across key business partners including CMI (consumer market insights), CTI (consumer technical insights), Marketing, R&D and Finance.

Competencies:

You should be proactive in identifying new trends and innovation ideas on various categories (Foods, Ice Cream, Tea), and acting with speed & agility in landing them with the business partners. You should be connected externally with the latest competitive moves, innovation ideas and trends. You need to demonstrate strong collaboration, communication & presentation skills as you will be required to give internal presentations to senior brand and category leadership teams. You should have a founder mentality & Bias for Action in speed and simplification to embrace new disruptive innovation ideas that transform the business and unlock growth opportunities.

Skills/ Experience/ Qualifications:

- Personal passion for Innovations & Trends

- Innovation research experience

- Strong project management skills

- Good analytical thinking and communication skills to present clearly, simplify complex topics and influence decision-making

- Strong communication skills both written and verbal

- Ability to prioritize and deliver pipeline of innovations across brands and workstreams

- Comfortable working with data

Additional Info   

- Comfortable working independently and as part of a virtual and global team

- Resourceful and able to upskill yourself on new tools and systems through online learning and support from agency partners

- A team player; accountable, open minded who likes to work in rapid and agile way

Key Interfaces:

- Marketing project leads

- Other CMI partners in Foods & Refreshment

- Global-wide Innovation CMI team

- Business Partners: Marketing, Consumer Technical Insights (CTI), R&D, Finance, Marketing Transformation Team

- Research Agency partners – Qual, Quant and Technology agencies