Director, Innovation & Commercialization Operations

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Director, Innovation & Commercialization Operations based in the United States. The Director, Innovation & Commercialization Operations will lead the governance and operational execution of an expanding product innovation portfolio. This role owns the evolution and day-to-day operation of an enterprise Stage Gate framework, helping products progress from concept through development, manufacturing readiness, and market launch. You will establish clear decision criteria, accountability, and approval processes while ensuring cross-functional teams work toward integrated plans and realistic milestones. Partnering with Product Development leadership and stakeholders across the business, you will balance speed, quality, risk, and commercial priorities. The position combines strategic governance leadership with hands-on execution, process improvement, and executive-level decision support. This is an opportunity to shape how a high-growth consumer health business brings new products, formats, and channels to market. Accountabilities - Stage Gate Governance & Decision Discipline - Design, operate, and continuously improve the enterprise Stage Gate governance framework in partnership with the executive owner. - Establish gate criteria, required evidence, decision rights, and escalation pathways. - Lead effective gate reviews focused on readiness and decisions rather than routine status reporting. - Document approvals, conditions, accountable owners, and formal gate closure. - Maintain concise decision records covering supporting evidence, approvals, open and resolved decisions, exceptions, and ownership; ensure conditional approvals are followed through to completion. - Define which decisions become locked at each gate and establish controls for material changes after approval.

- Apply proportionate gate requirements to product variants, new flavors, packaging sizes, and claims changes according to risk and complexity. - Identify decisions requiring executive intervention, present options and trade-offs, and recommend appropriate next steps. - Cross-Functional Planning & Execution - Integrate new product development plans across Product Development, Packaging, Procurement, Supply Chain, Quality, Regulatory, Finance, Marketing, Retail, Direct-to-Consumer (DTC), and International teams. - Establish critical-path plans, realistic functional lead times, dependencies, and clear handoffs. - Ensure relevant functions are engaged early, before downstream commitments are made. - Maintain integrated launch baselines and forecasts, making the timing, scope, resource, and risk implications of upstream delays clear to decision-makers. - Provide visibility into project status, timelines, risks, competing resource requirements, and launch-readiness decisions. - Partner with product and functional owners to resolve gaps while preserving their technical and commercial decision-making authority. - Commercialization Readiness - Coordinate requirements across formulation and claims decisions, packaging specifications and qualification, artwork and labeling, sourcing, master data, production, and channel launch activities. - Define readiness expectations for manufacturing, inventory, retailer execution, and DTC launches. - Ensure deviations from established readiness requirements are evaluated, documented, and explicitly approved. - Identify and communicate the schedule, cost, and execution implications of proposed late-stage changes. - Process Excellence & Adoption - Build on existing Stage Gate redesign work, including streamlined tasks, improved sequencing, and redesigned gate meetings, and operationalize improvements across active launches.