Job description

About the role

DS Smith is seeking to transform how we deliver Innovation to our customers and in doing so, we are introducing new ways of working to the organisation, focusing on how we develop and scale innovative products and services to our customers. It’s a very exciting time to join, as we have committed to investing in our future across our strategic growth enablers within Innovation (R&D), Sustainability and Digital & Data.

We are looking for an experienced Innovation Product Manager. Be a game changer as we invent, reimagine and redefine packaging!

This is a key role to play within our ambitious Innovation Transformation Agenda, driving growth through offering a portfolio of product innovations, including primary direct food contact packaging, which meet the needs of the market and trends, and our customers strategic challenges across Circularity, Cost efficiency, Sales Growth and Managing Risk.

Your remit will include but not limited to:

Facilitating cross-functional squads to bring innovations through the Innovation Stage Gate process from Prototype, through Product Development, and into Market Deployment
Proactively sourcing and understanding insights to react to the needs of the Market, Customer, and Consumer, particularly within the primary direct food contact opportunity spaces
Managing and owning assigned Product Portfolios within specific market segments and channels
Working collaboratively across functions and regions, working hand-in-hand with commercialisation squads
Acting as a guardian and single point of contact for assigned products and bringing clarity across the organisation on complex multi-regional projects
Being a champion of the process in terms adoption, implementation, and improvement, ensuring the squad are working in a consistent way and within the defined cadence.

About You

Degree Qualified, with professional experience in a product management role in a manufacturing environment operating across different countries
Proven experience within the food industry, and food packaging development
Experience managing cross functional teams to deliver ambitious projects
Experience of working within a stage gate process and Agile ways of working
Knowledge of commercial aspects; costing, MOVC, pricing, etc.
Advanced MS Office skills
Tenacious, pragmatic, task orientated, bringing clarity and alignment where there is ambiguity.

Benefits