Senior Director, Industry Strategy (Innovation)

About the role

Zappi is looking for a senior product innovation, consumer insights, and innovation development expert with deep experience in CPG or QSR to help strengthen our authority, differentiation, and commercial success in the product innovation space. This person will serve as both a trusted expert, educator, and industry advocate externally and a strategic, cross-functional SME and connective layer internally.

Responsibilities

The role is designed for someone who has helped major brands identify opportunities, develop stronger concepts, reduce risk, and translate consumer insight into stronger product decisions. They should be credible with senior Insights, Innovation, R&D, Marketing, Brand, Commercial, and Strategy leaders, and able to connect methodological rigor with a modern, scalable approach to innovation research.

• Serve as an industry expert and bring deep expertise in CPG or QSR innovation ecosystems.
• Act as a senior subject matter expert on concept testing, innovation development, optimization, pricing, pack testing, validation, and commercialization workflows.
• Understand how large enterprise innovation organizations operate, including process, politics, decision-making, and organizational pressures.
• Stay ahead of emerging trends in AI, synthetic respondents, agile innovation, and connected learning systems.
• Function as a trusted internal advisor across the organization and help drive cross-functional GTM readiness.
• Work closely with Sales, Customer, Product, Product Marketing, Marketing, and Research Science teams on strategic narratives and customer engagements.
• Develop a visible external voice in the innovation and insights space and create thought leadership on AI and synthetic research, modern innovation systems, iterative concept development, connected learning, and balancing speed, rigor, and risk.
• Speak at conferences, webinars, customer events, and industry forums and engage with analysts, strategic customers, and industry communities.
• Influence product and strategy by translating customer realities into actionable product and GTM recommendations and partnering closely with Product, Research Science, and Commercialization teams.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in CPG or QSR innovation, consumer insights, innovation consulting, research strategy, product development, or commercialization.
• Deep expertise in innovation development and consumer research methodologies, including concept testing, validation, optimization, and commercialization workflows.
• Experience working with enterprise innovation organizations and senior stakeholders across Insights, Innovation, R&D, Marketing, Brand, Commercial, or Strategy teams.
• Strong understanding of how CPG or QSR teams make innovation decisions, manage risk, and bring new products to market.
• Ability to translate complex innovation methodologies into clear commercial narratives, sales guidance, executive-level storytelling, and customer-facing POVs.
• Exceptional communication, presentation, and storytelling skills, with comfort representing a company externally as a senior industry expert.

Benefits

• Three company-paid mental health days of rest per year.
• Generous PTO policy - Minimum of 20 days of paid time off per year, plus national holidays.
• Private medical healthcare cover.
• Group risk, life & disability contributions.
• Flexible working arrangements, including remote.
• Thoughtfully designed offices to support both individual work and collaboration.
• Wellbeing benefits such as free yoga and access to trained therapists / counsellors.
• Enhanced parental leave policies.
• Free lunch in the office Tuesday-Thursday.
• Tax efficient pension contributions via salary sacrifice scheme.
• Salary sacrifice cycle to work scheme.
• Salary sacrifice nursery scheme.
• Tailored personal development through training allowances, coaching, mentorship and career frameworks.

Pay

Compensation: $190,000 - $200,000 / year