Location
Sheffield | United Kingdom
Job description
Location: Sheffield, or remote - UK
Annual Salary: £32,000 - £38,000 per annum
Contract: Permanent, 37.5 hours per week
Line Manager: Jamie Hurst
Recruiter: Rikki Spencer-Cox
Closing Date: 22/03/2024
An exciting opportunity has opened up for an experienced Innovation Manager to join Twinkl’s Innovation Team. The Innovation Team are on a mission to deliver systematic innovation across Twinkl - ultimately delivering the best products, services and communication to every educator, globally. The ideal candidate will have 3+ years of experience and a proven track record of managing projects through innovation processes, through to launch, and an ability to foster a culture of creativity within a company. As an Innovation manager at Twinkl, you will collaborate and work directly with the Head of Innovation, the Head of Customer & Market Insights and the Competitor Intelligence Unit.
Key Responsibilities:
Innovation Pipeline Management:
- Manage projects through the innovation pipeline, from initial scoping through to implementation.
- Prioritise and evaluate projects based on strategic importance, desirability, and potential impact.
- Develop project plans, timelines, and resource allocation for innovation initiatives.
- Ensure successful execution and delivery of innovation projects.
- Continuously assess and refine Twinkl’s innovation pipeline to ensure its effectiveness.
Customer & Market Research:
- Conduct primary and secondary user research, including surveys, focus groups and interviews.
- Synthesise feedback and data to identify insights or trends.
Workshop Design & Facilitation:
- Create and improve innovation templates to be used internally.
- Design & facilitate workshops across a range of areas such as project scoping and ideation.
Prototyping and Testing:
- Oversee the development of prototypes.
- Design experiments and conduct user testing.
- Iterate on solutions based on feedback and performance metrics.
Performance Metrics:
- Define and track key performance indicators (KPIs) for innovation projects.
- Regularly report on the success and impact of innovation efforts.
Stakeholder Engagement, Communication & Presentation:
- Build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
- Confidently communicate with C-Suite level members of staff including the CEO.
- Communicate the value of innovation and garner support for initiatives through effective and emotive storytelling.
Cultural Transformation:
- Act as a catalyst for cultural change, promoting a mindset of continuous improvement and experimentation.
- Implement initiatives to foster a culture of innovation and risk-taking.
- Develop and implement training programs to enhance innovation skills across the organisation.
- Mentor and coach team members to nurture their experience & capabilities.
In this role, you will:
- Have the opportunity to work in a high-growth and global business.
- Gain experience working on projects internationally across key countries/markets.
- Have an opportunity to create a legacy and have a meaningful impact on the lives of children and educators everywhere.
- Enhance your existing skills and experiences across the field of Innovation, Customer Research and Competitor analysis.
You’ll work with:
- The Innovation Team. Which consists of team members working across Innovation, Customer Research and Competitor Analysis.
- Other key business units around Twinkl. Including but not limited to the Chief Customer Officer, Chief Commercial Officer, Chief Education Officer, VP for Education, VP for Engineering and production departments.
Requirements
To succeed in the role, you must
- Proven experience in innovation management, product development, or strategic planning.
- Experience in managing cross-functional teams and driving collaboration across departments.
- Familiarity with design thinking methodologies and agile project management principles.
- Strong analytical skills and the ability to translate market insights into actionable strategies.
- Proven track record of successfully bringing innovative products or services to market.
- Have a genuine interest in solving real problems for real people.
- Be able to work independently in a fast-moving team, adapting to regular changes.
- Be intrinsically curious and able to learn quickly.
- Be willing to share your voice and take the lead when guiding others through Innovation projects.
- Have the ability to win friends and influence people.
Core Skills:
- Curiosity.
- Leadership qualities - are comfortable guiding others through processes.
- Willingness to be coached by others, and being able to listen and implement learning is key.
- Sound decision-making skills and diligence in seizing new opportunities.
- Ability to communicate a shared vision and motivate individuals and a team.
- Methodical, highly organised, accurate and execution-focused.
- A team player but able to work autonomously, without supervision.
Three-Month KPIs:
- Innovation Pipeline Health - Number of projects in the pipeline (A minimum of one project at each stage of the pipeline)
- Idea Conversion Rate - Ensuring innovation projects are making effective progress (100% of monthly pipeline targets are met)
- Return on Innovation Investment - Financial returns generated from Innovation
Benefits
In return for everything you can bring, we can offer you an exciting role in a fast-growing and dynamic business, with plenty of career opportunities.
Here’s a couple of the things that make Twinkl a great place to be:
- A friendly, welcoming and supportive culture. We believe work should be fun and always put people before process
- Diversity, inclusion and belonging - our Employee Network Program includes working groups for LGBTQ+, People of Colour, Disabilities (visible and invisible), Women in Tech and Working Parents.
- From day 1 - Westfield Health, 29 annual leave days per year (pro-rata) plus up to four additional days that may be awarded each year by the company, flexible working policy with opportunities to work from home and Twinkl subscriptions.
- After probation - company sick pay and cycle to work scheme
- Long term service reward - Life insurance, enhanced pension contribution, enhanced maternity pay, enhanced adoption pay and enhanced paternity pay.
Job tags
Salary
£32k - £38k per annum
