Innovation Specialist (Especialista de Desarrollo Innovación)(Analista de Innovación y Desarrollo)

Position Title: Innovation Specialist (Especialista de Desarrollo Innovación)(Analista de Innovación y Desarrollo)(Coordinador de innovación y desarrollo)
Location: Guadalajara, Jalisco (Providencia Office)
Language: Advanced English

Summary

The Innovation Specialist is a key driver in shaping the future of our portfolio. This role is responsible for supporting the development of a robust innovation strategy and pipeline, ensuring that every project transitions seamlessly from a creative concept to a successful market reality. You will bridge the gap between visionary thinking and disciplined execution, managing the end-to-end lifecycle of new initiatives.

Core Responsibilities

• Strategic Execution: Drive the annual innovation plan by managing a diverse project portfolio, ensuring all initiatives meet or exceed established KPIs.
• End-to-End Development: Lead new initiatives through the full Stage-Gate process, overseeing the journey from initial ideation and prototyping to full-scale commercialization.
• Market Intelligence: Maintain a 360-degree view of the business landscape, synthesizing internal and external trends, competitive moves, and brand equity to identify high-growth opportunities.
• Data-Driven Decision Making: Utilize advanced analytical skills to transform complex data into actionable insights, refining the product mix and optimizing the marketing strategy.
  
  

Major Duties/Responsibilities

50%

Innovation Stage Gate process management  

End-to-End Governance: Lead project development through the Stage-Gate pipeline, ensuring rigorous adherence to timelines and quality standards.

Strategic Alignment: Prioritize initiatives to ensure total consistency with the innovation strategy and overarching business goals (e.g., speed-to-market and financial KPIs).

Resource Planning: Forecast and plan requirements for each stage of the pipeline to ensure adequate depth and resource allocation to meet objectives.

Cross-Functional Leadership: Serve as the "Project Champion," orchestrating activities across R&D, Supply Chain, Sales, and Finance to ensure seamless delivery.

Financial Stewardship: Own the financial health of assigned projects, including P&L development, capital feasibility studies, and ROI analysis.

20%

Innovation Analysis & Ideation

Trend & Market Intelligence: Track and synthesize global/local innovation trends and FMCG (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods) dynamics to identify "white space" opportunities.

Insight-Driven Innovation: Analyze consumer, shopper, and market research to build a robust pipeline of insights and ideas for future exploration.

Business Case Development: Partner with Insights and Marketing teams to build compelling business cases and consumer learning plans for new initiatives.

Strategic Recommendations: Present and advocate for initiatives that maximize commercial success within relevant brand spaces

20%

Reporting & Performance Tracking

Data Consolidation: Orchestrate the monthly Innovation Tracker by gathering and validating inputs from all cross-functional marketing partners.

Executive Reporting: Generate high-impact Local and International Innovation Reports, providing visibility on pipeline health and performance to senior leadership.

10%
Personal Capability Development 
Continuous Growth: Take proactive ownership of professional development, identifying key areas for growth in innovation methodology and leadership.
Self-Driven Training: Commit to a structured self-training plan under the mentorship of the Innovation Manager to stay at the forefront of industry best practices.

Minimum knowledge, skills and abilities required to successfully perform major duties/responsiblities:  

• Analytical & Strategic Mastery
• Insight Synthesis: Ability to apply comprehensive research and analytical principles to identify patterns and transform complex data into strategic business recommendations.
• Adaptive Problem Solving: Proficiency in utilizing (or designing) innovative analytical frameworks to address evolving business questions and ambiguous situations.
• Strategic Thinking: Demonstrated potential to connect market dynamics with business objectives, fostering long-term value creation.
• Intellectual Curiosity: A proactive mindset characterized by the ability to ask thought-provoking questions and challenge the status quo to drive innovation.
• Operational Excellence & Resilience
• Agile Prioritization: Proven ability to manage multiple, sometimes conflicting, priorities in a fast-paced environment with tight deadlines and short time constraints.
• Reliability: Strong commitment to operational excellence and a consistent track record of meeting or exceeding deadlines.
• Learning Agility: Capacity to rapidly acquire and apply new technical skills and industry methodologies.
• Collaboration & Communication
• Cross-Functional Influence: Ability to interact effectively and build rapport with diverse teams (R&D, Sales, Finance, Supply Chain).
• Communication Skills: Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to present complex information clearly to stakeholders.
• Technical & Tools Proficiency
• Business Intelligence: Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Excel and PowerPoint are essential).
• Data Platforms: Familiarity with retail databases such as Nielsen or ISCAM (Answers/Cubo) is highly desirable.
• Project Management: Working knowledge of project management software (e.g., MS Project, Asana, or Smartsheet).

Additional Requirements

• Mobility: Willingness and ability to travel (10-20% of the time).

Education:

• Bachelor’s Degree required (Marketing/Management, high achievement and quantitative abilty primary considerations).

Experience:

• Innovation Experience:  2 - 3 years.   
• Project management experience with stage gate process
• Brand management experience (as brand associate) a plus
• Working knowledge of syndicated data a plus (e.g. Nielsen).

Business Experience: 

• 1-3 years.
• Background in consumer packaged goods considered a plus 
• Experience in crossfunctional disciplines a significant plus (e.g. marketing, finance, category management, consulting, R&D, etc.)
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