Manager, Innovation

Innovation Manager

Where Conviviality is at work. Pernod Ricard is a global premium spirits and wine company. We're the team behind leading brands such as ABSOLUT Vodka, Jameson Irish Whiskey, Malibu, Kahlua Liqueur, The Glenlivet Gin, and Skrewball whiskey, as well as many more superior wines and exquisite champagnes! Working at Pernod Ricard is all about igniting conviviality in all that we do. Derived from the French word, convivialite...it means human connection, authenticity, friendly, and jovial. Conviviality is energy and spirit with a splash of je ne sais quoi and is a core philosophy around how we live and work at Pernod Ricard.

Guided by our four core values : (1) grounded in the real; (2) fiercely authentic; (3) passion for challenge; and (4) connected beyond borders; we are team players, dream makers, trailblazers, movers and (cocktail) shakers. We have a passion for living life to the fullest, making new friends every day, and realizing our potential as people and as a business!

Job Summary

Are you passionate about bringing bold ideas to life and driving innovation that shapes the future of consumer experiences? As an Innovation Manager, you'll play a pivotal role in launching new products across the U.S. market ensuring they're market-ready, performance-optimized, and aligned with business priorities. This role offers the opportunity to collaborate across global and national teams, manage cross-functional workstreams, and contribute meaningfully to how innovation fuels growth. Join us in transforming creativity into scaled commercial success.

Who Will Love This Job

This role is perfect for a strategic thinker with a portfolio lens-someone who sees the bigger picture and understands how each initiative ladders up to broader business goals. You thrive in fast-paced environments and excel at connecting the dots across teams to drive impact. You're highly organized, collaborative, and passionate about operational & executional excellence. You bring a strong commercial mindset, an enterprise-wide perspective, and know how to turn insights into action that moves the business forward. If you're energized by aligning cross-functional efforts, influencing stakeholders, and seeing your work come to life in the market, this role is for you.

What You'll Do

Execution Excellence & Commercial Readiness - Partner with the Innovation Director and Brand teams to align on commercial priorities for new product launches across all channels (e.g., liquor, grocery, mass, convenience). - Support Brand and Market Performance teams to position Year 2 innovations for sustained growth. - Lead coordination and timely delivery of sales tools, programming assets, and communication materials to ensure executional readiness. - Manage the U.S. sales sample process for innovation sell-in, including logistics and timing in collaboration with Global Innovation and Brand teams. - Drive asset availability and content organization across internal platforms (e.g., Content Cloud, Teams, SharePoint). - Integrate innovation into annual planning cycles and key programming timeframes to ensure sufficient focus and share-of-mind.

KPI & Performance Management - Monitor innovation performance across key milestones (90 / 180 / 365 days), ensuring visibility and alignment across brand and commercial teams. - Support forecast benchmarking and commercial KPI development (e.g., distribution, depletions) in partnership with Market Performance and Innovation Director. - Collaborate with Marketing and Commercial Excellence teams to optimize post-launch programming and drive impact. - Serve as the innovation lead for NielsenIQ data management, ensuring accurate item coding and performance tracking.

Cross-Functional Innovation Alignment - Champion innovation visibility across teams, serving as the connective link between Brand, Sales, and Field / Trade Marketing. - Represent the innovation portfolio in cross-functional forums, providing actionable feedback on launch performance and execution gaps. - Support forecasting frameworks for innovation business cases and ensure milestone delivery throughout the Stage Gate Governance process. - Participate in S&OP product review calls to ensure alignment between Supply / Operations, Global Innovation, and U.S. Brand teams.

Communication & Stakeholder Engagement - Co-develop national selling materials and launch execution playbooks with Brand teams to support consistent and compelling sell-in. - Maintain internal communication cadence to share updates on innovation pipeline, asset availability, programming changes, and product specifications. - Contribute to internal executive meetings to ensure innovation visibility and strategic alignment across stakeholders.

What's in It for Me?

Being part of an inclusive and diverse company where professional development and internal career mobility is front-and-center to our talent strategy. This means your career at Pernod Ricard has many possibilities. You'll be part of a culture that celebrates the rich diversity of our people across the globe and be part of our long-standing commitment to making exceptional products, giving back to our communities, and honoring our responsibility to preserve the environment.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, or related field (MBA a plus).- Minimum 5+ years of experience in commercial, trade marketing, sales planning, or innovation execution.- Experience with product launch planning, retail activation, and performance tracking.- Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint), digital collaboration tools (Teams, SharePoint), PowerBI, and Nielsen systems- Experience with stage-gate frameworks, commercialization processes, and KPI ownership.- Experience in Bev-Alc or CPG industries.

When you join Pernod Ricard, you'll experience a workplace that is rich in heritage, driven by our iconic brands and a long-standing commitment to sustainability, safety, and giving back to the people and communities where we work. We know that happiness at work starts with that feeling of belonging you get from an inclusive culture where being uniquely you is celebrated. Our values are lived, they drive our behaviors, and it's what brings our culture to life. Our work philosophy celebrates the magic of human connection with the flexibility needed to provide one's most meaningful contribution. We offer a flexible work policy, with most of our positions offering a hybrid option with flexibility to work remotely 2 days a week. As a global employer, we understand that not everyone's working hours are the same, and we empower our employees to work the hours that make the most sense for them and their team's schedules. We offer employees great benefits and perks to toast to a life filled with support. Check out PRUSABenefits.com for details.

Pernod Ricard USA is an Equal Opportunity Employer. It employs qualified individuals based solely on ability, training, and experience, and does not and will not, discriminate for or against any employee or applicant for employment or promotion based upon actual or perceived race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, national origin, citizenship, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, military service or any other classification protected by law. Offers will be subject to United States local terms. Pernod Ricard USA is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, Pernod Ricard USA will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations for the hiring process. To request reasonable accommodation during the application process, contact us at PR_NA_TalentAcquisition@pernod-ricard.com.