Innovation Manager

Are you passionate about turning customer challenges into innovative business opportunities?

We are looking for a customer-focused Innovation Manager to join our team and play a key role in driving customer-centric innovation. In this role, you will work at the intersection of our customers, technology, and business, leading engagements that uncover challenges, identify opportunities, and validate solutions that create value.

What will your key responsibilities be?

You will facilitate workshops, conduct customer discovery activities, coordinate cross-functional stakeholders, and translate insights into actionable long-term opportunities and business cases.

You will be part of the HempaVantage team with around 20 colleagues and report to Sr. Innovation Manager. HempaVantage sits within our Technology organisation, which was established in 2024 and brings together Procurement, R&D, Sustainability, and IPPT to accelerate innovation across Hempel.

This role is ideal for someone who combines strong project management capabilities with excellent facilitation skills, a structured mindset, and a passion for working closely with customers:

Customer Discovery & Opportunity Development

• Lead customer engagements from challenge exploration through solution validation.

• Conduct customer discovery activities, including site visits, stakeholder interviews, and workshops.

• Develop customer insights, problem statements, and opportunity areas aligned with customer challenges and strategic priorities.

• Identify and communicate regional customer needs, market opportunities, and relevant technologies across the HempaVantage team.

Workshop Facilitation & Co-Creation

• Prepare and facilitate customer workshops, co-creation sessions, and opportunity prioritisation activities.

• Develop engaging workshop materials and customer-facing content that support decision-making.

• Capture insights, feedback, and learnings, translating them into actionable opportunities and next steps.

Project Management & Stakeholder Coordination

• Coordinate internal SMEs, scientists, technologists, Key Account Managers, commercial stakeholders, and external partners.

• Drive opportunities through the HempaVantage process, ensuring alignment, momentum, and effective collaboration across stakeholders.

• Manage multiple initiatives simultaneously while maintaining a high level of structure, quality, and attention to detail.

Business Case Development & Solution Validation

• Build and validate business cases, including value potential, assumptions, risks, and supporting evidence.

• Support technology reviews, concept validation, and opportunity assessments.

• Prepare challenge reports, validation plans, pitch decks, recommendations, and customer-facing decision materials.

• Prepare handover material for the portfolio team to support successful transition into next-stage development.

Continuous Improvement & Knowledge Sharing

• Maintain clear documentation of opportunities, learnings, and project outcomes.

• Contribute to program reporting and continuous improvement of innovation methodologies, tools, and ways of working.

• Support the development of new customer offerings, capabilities, and best practices across the innovation ecosystem.

What Are We Looking for?

The successful candidate brings a combination of strong customer engagement, project management, and innovation skills.

• 2-5 years of experience within innovation, customer co-creation, product discovery, business development, consulting, project delivery, or similar customer-facing roles.

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Business, Engineering, Innovation Management, or a related field.

• Proven experience facilitating workshops, co-creation sessions, customer interviews, and stakeholder engagements.

• Strong project management skills, with the ability to coordinate cross-functional stakeholders and drive opportunities from discovery through validation.

• Experience in customer research, opportunity identification, concept development, and business case development.

• A structured and detail-oriented approach to planning, analysis, documentation, and execution.

• A collaborative team player with a strong "we before me" mindset.

• Strong communication, presentation, and storytelling skills, with the ability to translate complex insights into clear and compelling recommendations.

• Proficiency in PowerPoint, Excel, Teams, Miro, or similar collaboration tools. Experience with AI-enabled tools is an advantage.

• Fluent in English, both written and spoken

There will be some international travel activity in the role for app 1-2 months in total a year.

Sounds like a match?

Click the Apply for position button in the top right corner and submit your application and CV in English via our recruitment system. For questions, please reach out to Sr. Innovation Manager, Nicolai Hansen on [email protected]. Due to travelling the interviews will be conducted in September/October.

Application due

2026-08-29

Seniority Level

Associate

Job Functions

Administrative, Project Management, Training

Industry

Chemicals

At Hempel, you’re welcomed to a global community of +7000 colleagues around the world. A workplace built on shared trust, mutual respect and support for each other. 

We’re on a mission to double our impact. To succeed, we need bright minds and team players. Which is why, from day one, your input, ideas and initiative are not only welcomed, but expected. In return, you will enjoy great opportunities for development in a growing global company – and be part of the solution by contributing to our global impact. 

At Hempel, we are committed to everyone feeling safe, valued and treated equally, in an environment where each employee can bring their authentic selves to work.  We believe that inclusion is key to innovation and by bringing together the most diverse perspectives and talents,  we can achieve great things, together.