Innovation Manager

Job Description

Job Title: Innovation Manager

Function: Marketing & Innovation                 

Reports to: Marketing Director, OFE

Location: Dublin

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Ornua is a leading dairy co-operative which sells premium dairy products globally on behalf of its Member Co-operatives, Ireland’s dairy processors and, in turn, Irish dairy farmers. 

Ornua has revenues of €3.4 billion and is supported by a global team of approximately 2,800 employees. The Group operates as a commercial organisation across 10 business units, including 12 production facilities located in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Africa. 

The commercial organisation is responsible for the marketing and sales of Ornua’s consumer brands including Ireland’s most successful food export: Kerrygold. Consumer markets are served by production facilities in Ireland, Germany and the UK and by in-market Sales & Marketing Teams in Asia, Germany, Ireland, MEA, Poland, Spain, rest of Europe and North and Latin America. 

It also manages the procurement of Irish and non-Irish dairy products, the sale of dairy ingredients to food manufacturing and foodservice customers globally, and the implementation of de-risking and trading strategies to manage market volatility. These activities are supported by production facilities and in-market teams in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Africa. 

The Role

We are seeking a strategic, commercially minded Innovation Manager to lead the development of new products, propositions, and growth pipelines for Ornua Foods Europe (Ireland & prioritised European markets, including Greece, Netherlands, Spain & Poland). This role will shape future category growth by identifying consumer-led opportunities, building business cases, and driving projects from concept through to launch.

The successful candidate will bring together cross-functional partners including Central Innovation & R&D, Supply Chain, Finance, Insights, Category Development and local commercial teams to ensure successful execution of innovation that champions Irish dairy excellence and delivers business impact.

Key Areas of Responsibilities

Innovation Strategy & Pipeline Development

• Lead development of the 3–5 year innovation pipeline aligned to brand strategy, category growth priorities, sustainability commitments, and commercial objectives.
• Monitor consumer, culinary, cultural and dairy industry trends to identify unmet needs, whitespace, and competitive threats.
• Work alongside Central Front End Innovation Team to build pipeline from Concept generation and consumer problem framing to prioritisation workshops and funnel management.

Insight-Led Proposition Development

• Translate insights (quantitative, qualitative, behavioural, and retailer data) into actionable innovation concepts.
• Work with CMK & external partners to validate ideas through iterative concept testing, sensory evaluation, product trials, and market sizing.

Project Leadership

• Serve as project lead alongside PMO team on key innovation projects from brief to launch, ensuring alignment between Central Marketing, R&D (Product & Packaging development, manufacturing & supply chain feasibility) regulatory compliance & commercial activation.
• Create and manage critical paths, Innovation gate governance, and cross-functional documentation.

Commercial & Financial Ownership

• Build robust business cases, including pricing models, channel strategy, P&L forecasts, and margin modelling.
• Partner with commercial and category teams to ensure strong retailer propositions and execution plans for Ireland and regional markets.

Brand Growth & Portfolio Management

• Manage strategy for renovation, value-added line extensions, and packaging upgrades to improve product relevance, cost optimisation and sustainability outcomes.
• Ensure product lineup supports brand positioning, reduces duplication and strengthens portfolio architecture across multiple markets.

Launch Excellence

• Collaborate with brand teams to shape go-to-market plans, messaging, claims strategy, sensory positioning and post-launch tracking.
• Monitor performance and drive iteration or scale-up based on learnings.

Key Skills / Attributes

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business or a related discipline; post-graduate qualification.
• 6–10 years’ experience in FMCG innovation, NPD or portfolio management, ideally within food or chilled categories.
• Proven end-to-end experience delivering innovation from consumer insight through to launch within a structured stage-gate process.
• Strong commercial understanding of innovation viability, with the ability to partner effectively with finance and commercial teams on business cases and decision-making.
• Ability to translate consumer, shopper and market insight into clear, differentiated product propositions.
• Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional projects across R&D, supply chain, packaging, regulatory, finance and commercial teams, with strong influencing and communication skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capability, comfortable working with market, financial and performance data.
• Experience working across multiple markets and adapting innovation propositions to different customer and channel dynamics.
• Genuine passion for food, culinary culture and premium product quality, with a strong interest in how food trends translate into scalable innovation.

Ornua Core Competencies

• Customer Focus: Advocates for the customer, balances customer and business needs, and spots opportunities for growth.
• Forward-Looking: Helps others to accept change, implements change, and looks ahead to anticipate change.
• Curious: Open to asking questions and willing to learn and continuously improve.
• Working Together: Encourages co-operation in own team and supports cross-functional working.

Closing date: 27th January 2026