Innovation Manager EMEA

We offer a role as Innovation Manager who will be part of the Innovation and Product Development Team. The figure will be held accountable for successfully leading New Product Development (NPD) projects from the Idea phase all the way through to successfully launching the new product into the market. He/She will also be responsible for assisting the Innovation function, ensuring strategic alignment with the Innovation goals and objectives of Aliaxis.

The seat of the candidate can be Aliaxis Casella (GE) or Aliaxis Zola Predosa (BO).

The role reports to the Vice President Innovation and Product Development EMEA.

The main responsibilities can be summarized as follows

Plan and coordinate the different activities within each stage of the NPD process, collect & analyze the findings of these activities, report and present the outcomes of these analyses during gate meetings. These activities are performed by various departments involved (Marketing, Sales, Product Developments, Engineering, Supply Chain, Finance, Legal) during the development of new products.Help to review & edit new ideas submitted by colleagues in specific documents. Propose & present analyses, together with the initiator of the new business & product ideas to Gate Keepers.Visit (in collaboration with Marketing & Sales) clients, end-users, job-sites, professionals to conduct Voice-of-Customer research. Capture client’s problem, needs, wants and insights. Present solutions, concepts, prototypes and newly developed products.Prepare the business cases & budgets (with the finance department), based on the stages’ activities findings and monitor the key financial indicators of the business case along the development of the new product. Plan for the development and launch of new products.Engage with external experts (patent attorneys, design consultants) if necessary to support each project.Manage the project’s risks, listing & sharing them together with their mitigation plans to stakeholders.Participate in post launch activities, including training, trade shows and reviews (project, process, business case). Propose remedial actions for products that are not performing.Provide direction, supervision and mentoring for New Product Specialists, who in turn are managing new product developments projects, assist other IM on key projects.Keep weekly updated project information on both ATLAS and SharePoint pages with assigned projects.Participate in portfolio management reviews and assist in the ongoing improvement of the AIM process.

 Required Experience and Knowledge:

University degree in disciplines related to Engineering and/or Business Administration preferably.Experienced Project Management in municipal, mechanical or civil construction projects.Excellent command of the English language (both written & verbal).Knowledge of plastic extrusion & injection molding is a “+”.Experience with Stage-Gate product developments methods is a “+”.Proven Industry NPD experience.Business savviness with focus on Marketing, New Product Development and Operations/Engineering functions, together with a solid understanding of Supply Chain, QA and Procurement principles.Good knowledge in Finance (Business Case), Risk Management & Legal implication related to NPD (IP, EH&S, Product Liability, Codes & Standard and Certification matters).Project delivery experience and ability to manage multiple concurrent projects that vary in complexity and priority, and cross functional team comprising of varying levels of seniority outside of direct line organizational structures.Excellent interpersonal, influencing and communication skills – both written and verbal.

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