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Innovation Manager, Americas
Crocs
Niwot, CO, United States
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We are looking for an Innovation Manager to be a part of our Global Innovation team. In this role, you will work on innovation projects within the Product Creation Team, as well as with Supply Chain, E-commerce, Marketing, Sales and Merchandising. With global team members in Italy and China who oversee activities all over Europe and Asia, you will be responsible for all innovation activities in the Americas. This role is a great opportunity for you to help influence the future of Croc’s products and processes and serve as a subject matter expert in the organization.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Manage complex and innovative projects across different functions and Business Units.
• Proactively research new technologies, processes and materials to drive innovation.
• Act as the cross-functional/cross-BU/Category Business Champion/Go-to person for a specific innovation project, in particular with PLM, US Design and US Development teams.
• Take ownership for the entire development process for assigned innovative and technical products, with an emphasis on quality product development and timely completion of all tasks in accordance with the applicable product creation calendar in Centric 8 (PLM system).
• Establish strong collaborative relationships with our research and testing team to realize new functional concepts and produce prototypes, evaluate testing results, and drive towards platforms that are ready for hand off to brand product teams.
• Agile develop (startup approach) specific projects, with design thinking methodologies.
• Engage and integrate startups into corporate by creating bridges between the outside company and the corporate departments.
• Travel to global industry events to gain insight into the latest innovations in the market.
QUALIFICATIONS:
• Bachelor’s Degree
• Minimum 4+ years of progressive work experience in footwear industry or in the plastics or plastics related industry, specializing in innovation or product development, PLM, material development, manufacturing or mold engineering.
• Knowledge of plastics forming processes (injection, compression molding, etc.) and tooling, in the footwear industry or parallel businesses.
• Knowledge in several areas of the product creation process (footwear construction, technology, manufacturing, material construction, sourcing etc.).
• Strong IT skills ( MS office, PDM/PLM, CAD, Illustrator, Photoshop).
• Travel, domestic and international as required by business needs.
• Ability to work independently under minimal guidance on several projects simultaneously while adhering to a specified deadline.
• Ability to cope with change, make decisions and act comfortably with risk and uncertainty.
• Ability to anticipate problems and timely develop solutions.
• Advanced skill at problem solving and continual innovation.
• Entreprereurial spirit.
• Adaptation to learn.