Requisition ID: 58641
Position Type: FT Permanent
Workplace Arrangement:
About Kerry
Kerry Dairy Ireland is a dynamic and vertically integrated Dairy Business, encompassing various divisions from Agribusiness (Kerry Dairy Farms) to Dairy & Nutritional Ingredients and Dairy Consumer Foods. With a rich dairy heritage and world-class sustainability credentials, we proudly connect with over 3,000 farmers and milk suppliers. Our annual revenue exceeds €1.3 billion, making us one of the world’s leading dairy businesses.
Our Dairy Consumer Foods division is home to beloved brands like Strings & Things, PURE Dairy-Free, Dairygold, Charleville, Golden Cow, Coleraine, Low Low, and Attack a Snak. We are also the largest supplier of Private Label Dairy spreads in the UK, serving all major retailers across the UK, Ireland, and parts of mainland Europe.
About the Role
As our Senior Innovation Manager, you will lead the charge in the end-to-end innovation process. Your mission? To identify consumer trends, develop exciting new product ideas, and bring winning innovations to market. Collaborating with insight, marketing, R&D, and category teams, you will build a robust innovation pipeline that drives growth and strengthens our brand position in the competitive dairy landscape.
You will take the reins on innovation for our drive brands, including the iconic kids’ brand Strings & Things and our market-leading Irish brands Dairygold and Charleville, both of which are #1 in their categories in the Republic of Ireland. Your role will be pivotal in ensuring these brands remain innovative, relevant, and future-ready.
Key Responsibilities
* Opportunity Identification: Proactively identify and evaluate emerging consumer needs, market gaps, and technological advancements within the UK dairy market.
* Idea Generation & Concept Development: Lead ideation sessions to generate a robust pipeline of innovative product and process concepts.
* Concept Validation & Feasibility: Collaborate with insight teams to design and execute research assessing consumer appeal and market potential.
* Project Leadership & Management: Guide cross-functional project teams through all stages of the innovation process, ensuring timely and quality delivery.
* Strategy Development & Execution: Develop and own a 3–5 year innovation pipeline aligned with brand strategy and business objectives.
* Continuous Improvement: Monitor the performance of launched innovations and identify learnings for ongoing enhancement.
* Culture Building: Champion a culture of innovation, encouraging creativity, experimentation, and continuous improvement.
* Stakeholder Engagement: Build and maintain strong relationships with internal stakeholders across R&D, Marketing, Insight, Category, and Sales.
Qualifications and Skills
To thrive in this role, you should possess:
* Degree qualified
* 5+ years’ experience in Innovation or NPD roles within FMCG
* A curiosity for consumer behavior and trends shaping the future of food
* An enterprising spirit with experience in identifying new revenue streams
* A commercial mindset with the ability to translate insights into growth opportunities
* Strong influencing skills to engage all levels of the organization
* A commitment to key behaviors: Think Bigger, Prioritize the Priorities, and Make it Happen, aligned with our Kerry values
Please note: We do not accept CVs or candidate profiles from recruitment agencies unless our terms of business have been signed. We will not consider or agree to payment of any recruiter fee under these circumstances.
Beware of scams online or from individuals claiming to represent us. A Kerry employee will not solicit candidates through a non-Kerry email address or phone number. Kerry does not currently utilize video chat rooms for interviews. Please refuse any request for payment to participate in the hiring process.
Recruiter: #LI-SB1
Posting Type: LI