Innovation Manager

About the role

As an Innovation Manager at GS1 US, you have the opportunity to make an impact on the way the world does business. You’ll work in a high-performance, stable, and financially sound company with access to leadership and a supportive administrative team. GS1 US offers a high-quality office environment with modern amenities, a world-class work culture, and a hybrid work model. Your voice matters—feedback on work culture is expected and acted upon.

Responsibilities

• Extend the reach and relevance of GS1 Standards by conducting research on emerging AI technologies and trends, developing solutions for industry challenges, testing and documenting hypotheses, and distilling insights to drive go/no-go decisions for pilot and commercialization opportunities.
• Help shape GS1 US’s AI strategy by identifying, evaluating, and prioritizing high-impact AI opportunities across the organization and member ecosystem, translating insights into recommended focus areas, use cases, and roadmap inputs.
• Drive requirements definition for AI-enabled solutions by translating industry needs, member pain points, and strategic priorities into clear problem statements, use cases, functional requirements, success measures, and pilot scope.
• Partner with internal teams, members, and external collaborators to validate industry pain points, assess opportunities, and drive AI concepts from problem definition through completed pilots and recommendations for scale or commercialization.
• Build and manage relationships with startups, academic institutions, and technology vendors to ensure alignment on AI vision and partnership on deliverable needs.
• Develop subject matter expertise on AI to serve as an “internal consultant” and provide external thought leadership.
• Provide ongoing communication across all levels regarding project status and progress.
• Design and facilitate workshops, support training sessions, and enablement initiatives to build organizational AI fluency.
• Translate complex AI concepts into clear, compelling narratives for executive stakeholders and cross-functional teams.

Requirements

• BA/BS; demonstrated academic and/or professional achievements.
• 2-5 years’ experience working in a technology-related field, specifically in business development, innovation, technology, product/project management, or a related field; preferred knowledge of startup practices and ethical AI frameworks.
• Excellent critical problem-solving skills and ability to execute in the face of uncracked challenges, including experience performing market exploration and assessments, particularly in emerging areas.
• Willingness to approach problems from creative angles, display passionate ownership of projects, and persistently revisit challenges until solved.
• Grasp of design thinking, lean innovation methodologies, risk management best practices, and practical experience in corporate settings.
• Ability to interpret data and synthesize creative conclusions, recommendations, and strategic narratives.
• Excellent oral and written communication and presentation skills, with a proven ability to communicate technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
• Advanced Excel and PowerPoint skills.
• Demonstrated interest in learning a diverse array of topics related to industry needs and the emerging technology landscape.
• Demonstrated expertise in AI/ML strategy, research, and implementation of pilots, proof-of-concept projects, or commercialization efforts.

Skills

• Intellectual curiosity and learning agility in AI and emerging technologies, with the ability to pivot quickly.
• Tenacity—willingness to assert and see through unconventional or unpopular perspectives if supported by data and research.
• Effective relationship-building skills—one-on-one, one-to-many, internally and externally.
• Self-starter with internal motivation—ability to push quickly from conceptualization to realization, synthesizing research insights into strategic narratives.
• Collaborative team-player mentality with a willingness to engage consistently and positively with a high-energy team.
• Strong bias for action and results.
• Courage and tolerance for ambiguity to challenge the status quo, advocate for responsible AI adoption, and be proactive with limited information.
• Innovative thinker with the ability to link strategic and tactical areas of the supply chain.
• Strong project management skills—facilitating cross-functional workgroups across disparate teams.

Pay

Base salary range of $100,000 - $120,000. This position qualifies for participation in our annual employee bonus program.

Benefits

• Health (medical, RX, dental, vision) – effective immediately.
• 401(k) with Employer Safe Harbor and Profit Sharing Contributions – effective immediately.
• Short and Long Term Disability Coverage.
• Mental Health and Wellbeing (6 employer-sponsored therapy and coaching sessions).
• Individual Wellness Platform.
• Paid Parental Leave.
• Generous PTO and Company Paid Holidays.
• LinkedIn Learning.
• Tuition Reimbursement.
• Kudos (employee recognition and engagement platform).
• Catered Lunches 2x/week on in-office days.

Schedule

Hybrid work culture. Travel requirements: 10%.