Innovation Strategy Manager

Job Summary

The Innovation Strategy Manager leads the innovation agenda supporting a future-ready, efficient, and donor-focused plasma network. This role defines strategic innovation priorities, manages high-impact projects, and drives cross-functional experimentation that contributes to the transformation of the donor and plasma value chain.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the Plasma Innovation Hub, defining the strategic innovation roadmap and ensuring alignment with enterprise priorities and the Business Development & Plasma Affairs transformation agenda.
• Govern the end-to-end innovation portfolio, ensuring initiatives deliver measurable value, scalability, and alignment with long-term business goals.
• Identify emerging trends, technologies, and market opportunities that advance plasma procurement efficiency, donor experience, and operational excellence.
• Act as the senior thought partner on innovation strategy, experimentation models, and future-state design.
• Direct the Discover, Define, Develop, and Test phases of innovation projects with executive-level rigor.
• Lead user research, donor insights analysis, stakeholder engagement, and market exploration to define opportunity spaces and strategic problem statements.
• Establish KPI frameworks, performance measurement systems, and governance processes that ensure transparency, quality, and business alignment.
• Translate insights into strategic recommendations and scale-up strategies for decision by the Business Development & Plasma Affairs department and leadership teams.
• Lead and mentor the Innovation Manager, defining priorities, capability development, and governance discipline for the Innovation Hub.
• Build and nurture a culture of experimentation, agility, and continuous improvement within Plasma Procurement.
• Represent the Innovation vertical with credibility and executive presence in internal forums, steering committees, and leadership reviews.
• Lead advanced market research, donor journey analysis, and competitive assessment to inform innovation and service development.
• Partner with Donor Care, Marketing, and Operations to identify needs, pain points, experience gaps, and new service offerings that strengthen donor loyalty and retention.
• Ensure donor-centric methodologies (Service Design, Design Thinking, Journey Mapping) are embedded across innovation initiatives.
• Conduct thorough market research to understand customer needs, preferences, and pain points.
• Analyze competitive landscapes and identify opportunities for differentiation.
• Provide foresight and strategic perspective on industry shifts, regulatory changes, and technology trends affecting the plasma landscape.
• Develop business cases, financial models, and strategic briefs to inform executive decision-making.
• Serve as a senior advisor on innovation-related governance, funding models, and organizational capability building.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Innovation, Business, Engineering, Life Sciences, or related field. Master’s degree or MBA preferred.
• 8+ years of experience in innovation, strategy, and project management roles.
• Experience in healthcare, pharmaceuticals, or life sciences is a plus.
• Familiarity with regulated environments and stakeholder alignment is preferred.
• Strong knowledge of customer-centric methodologies (Design Thinking, Service Design, Customer Journey Mapping, etc.) and innovation strategy frameworks.
• Excellent facilitation, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Comfortable navigating complexity, ambiguity, and working in cross-functional environments.
• Experience working in complex, regulated industries (e.g., pharma, healthcare, biotech) is a plus.
• Excellent problem-solving, analytical, and financial modeling skills.
• Strong leadership, stakeholder engagement, and communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to balance creativity with execution, and strategy with operational reality.
• English proficiency: other languages (Spanish, German, etc.) are a plus.