Head of Innovation Project Management (NGP)

The Role

Grade: GG5

Location: Liverpool

Principal Accountabilities

• Lead the technical end-to-end project delivery of the complex, strategic Innovation projects/programmes, including managing timelines (according to GCO objectives), reporting and key stakeholders
• Lead a team of project managers (>6), who are responsible for the technical end-to-end project management of the innovation project portfolio
• Provide overall leadership and ensure continuous capability development for the pool of project management resource, including dissemination of best practice project management tools, assets and methodologies like Agile, Design Thinking and Lean Start Up.
• Organize Community of Practice meetings, to embed new ways of thinking and methodologies like Agile, early consumer screening and de-risking of Innovation across the IMB SME community of 100+ people
• Work closely with the Category Project Leads to input into key stage gate documents, including Project Charters & business cases
• Work closely with the Category Project Leads to input into the development of key project documentation and development plans for innovation initiatives
• Supports the category to develop the scale-up plan and post-launch review of innovation initiatives
• Oversee the innovation project reporting, including KPIs and key financial metrics to support the realisation of Imperial’s business strategy and commercial and consumer imperatives
• Liaise closely with Category Project Leads and Innovation Project Managers to ensure all project planning and reporting is accurate and understood, and any risks and/or issues are highlighted
• Liaise closely with the Innovation Project Manager pool to ensure the effective coordination and facilitation of key innovation project meetings, including workshops, stand ups and stage gate forums
• Actively identify, mitigate, and escalate (as appropriate) any key risks associated with Innovation pipeline projects
• Collaborate closely with the Head of Innovation Operations and Process to ensure the effective process management of the Innovation pipeline
• Identify recommendations resulting from analysis and reporting of the of the innovation portfolio vs. business objectives
• Work closely with Category Project Leads to ensure project lessons learnt are captured and fed into the appropriate feedback loop following project closure

KPIs:

• Delivery of projects against GCO objectives
• Adherence to the relevant branches of innovation and risk processes
• Adherence to the relevant innovation pipeline project plan
• Innovation return on investment
• Meeting success criteria captured in project business cases
• Innovation process performance (process efficiency and effectiveness)

Education, Qualifications, Skills and Experience

• Delivering innovation and product development Projects in an FMCG environment
• Working with project management tools, techniques & methodologies
• Effectively planning, managing and reporting on complex innovation projects
• Leading teams of Project Managers, with leadership experience in a variety of situations associated with project and product delivery
• Driving growth through innovation
• Building strong collaborative and influential relationships with a range of stakeholders
• Monitoring and managing a portfolio of innovation projects
• Effectively managing and escalating risks in innovation projects