Senior Manager, Breakthrough Innovation

Rich's, also known as Rich Products Corporation, is a family-owned food company dedicated to inspiring possibilities. From cakes and icings to pizza, appetizers and specialty toppings, our products are used in homes, restaurants and bakeries around the world. Beyond great food, our customers also gain insights to help them stay competitive, no matter their size. Our portfolio includes creative solutions geared at helping food industry professionals compete in foodservice, retail, in-store bakery, deli, and prepared foods, among others. Working in 100 locations globally, with annual sales exceeding $4 billion, Rich's is a global leader with a focus on everything that family makes possible. Rich's®-Infinite Possibilities. One Family.

PURPOSE STATEMENT

Are you a dynamic and visionary leader with a passion for driving breakthrough innovation? We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Senior Breakthrough Innovation Manager to join our team. In this role, you will be responsible for developing and incubating new platforms within assigned priority growth categories for the U.S & Canada Region. Collaborating with our Category Business Unit Leaders, you will play a pivotal role in driving growth through accelerated breakthrough innovation

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES/OUTCOMES

As the Senior Breakthrough Innovation Manager, you will have the following key responsibilities:

Managing Platforms:

- Oversee the day-to-day operations, results, and strategic direction of assigned platforms

- Manage the P&L and develop business cases for early-stage business platforms

- Drive activities to accelerate validation, incubation, and early-stage growth of assigned platforms

- Ensure validation, growth, and scale by leveraging organizational capabilities where applicable

- Incorporate market information and make necessary changes to shift strategic direction quickly

- Contribute to revenue and portfolio value targets by sizing new platform opportunities and driving platforms through Discovery, Develop, and Deploy phases

Discovery and Voice of Customer:

- Lead and participate in discovery and Voice of Customer activities to identify opportunities continuously

- Partner with insight strategists to develop an innovation strategic framework

- Initiate and lead discovery activities as needed

- Stay updated on contemporary trends, emerging technologies, start-ups, and leaders in innovation

- Foster a healthy pipeline of innovation opportunities in collaboration with Category Business Units

Platform Development:

- Develop viable platforms and business models aligned with customer requirements, market needs, and consumer demand

- Conduct business case development and market assessments

- Translate data and observations into insights and elements of new business/platforms

- Apply knowledge of channel and customer economics effectively

- Utilize knowledge of the competitive landscape

- Lead co-creation and Idea spark sessions to identify solutions that satisfy customer/consumer requirements

- Oversee the development and optimization of new products leading to validated propositions

- Develop and implement sales and marketing launch strategies

- Assess post-launch performance and make in-market improvements for successful launches

Transition and Collaboration:

- Ensure effective transition of platforms to the appropriate division marketers, where applicable

- Utilize validation and commercialization processes

- Collaborate with divisional marketing and business leads throughout platform development for a smooth transition to the full launch phase

- Align platforms with category and divisional strategies in partnership with divisional category marketing leads

Exploring New Opportunities:

- Work with U.S & Canada Category Business Unit leaders to explore and develop recommendations for new opportunities in breakthrough innovation

KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS/EXPERIENCE

Bachelor's degree in marketing or related field

- Minimum of 8 years of experience focused on new product, platform, or business development, either in a corporate or start-up environment

- Demonstrated ability to develop, incubate, and scale new products, platforms, or businesses

- Solid business and financial acumen, with the ability to develop financial and economic strategies for business opportunities

- Proven history in developing innovation strategies, executing successfully, and driving strategic insights through business analysis and launch

- Expertise in translating quantitative data and customer insights into strategies that drive business results

- Strong ability to move seamlessly between big-picture thinking and detailed execution, making solid judgment decisions based on limited data

- Exceptional influencing skills, with experience working with diverse levels within an organization

- Highly energetic and enthusiastic, with an entrepreneurial spirit and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, performance-driven culture

- Excellent verbal and written communication and presentation skills

- Proven ability to articulate an inspiring vision and instill a powerful sense of shared purpose in others

- Ability to navigate ambiguity and fluidity, making decisions in a rapidly changing environment while achieving quality results

- Demonstrated ability to work independently with minimal direction, exercising initiative and judgment within assigned authority

- Strong organizational and time management skills, with the ability to manage multiple assignments concurrently in a fast-paced environment

- Willingness and desire to immerse oneself in the market, understanding customers' problems through ethnography and other market research exploratory techniques

- History of leading innovation projects from front-end discovery through to launch

- Solid basic analysis skills

- Expert proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) and Adobe Acrobat

- Ability to travel up to 10% of the time #CORP123 #LI-RT1

Rich Products Corporation, its subsidiaries and affiliates ("Rich's"), are committed to a policy of Equal Employment Opportunity and will not discriminate against an applicant or employee on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, sex, age, physical or mental disability, veteran or military status, genetic information, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal, state, or local law. The information collected by this application is solely to determine suitability for employment, verify identity, and maintain employment statistics on applicants.

Applicants with disabilities may be entitled to reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act and certain state or local laws. A reasonable accommodation is a change in the way things are normally done which will ensure an equal employment opportunity without imposing undue hardship on Rich's. Please contact Rich's Human Resources department at [email protected] if you need assistance completing this application or to otherwise participate in the application process.