Head of Inno Strategy & Project Mgt

Head Of Inno Strategy & Project Mgt

Henkel Mentor, OH

At Henkel, you'll be part of an organization that's shaping the future through innovation, sustainability and collaboration. With our trusted brands like Persil®, 'all®, Loctite®, Snuggle®, and Schwarzkopf® and our cutting-edge technologies, you'll have countless opportunities to explore new paths and grow. This position is with our Adhesive Technologies business unit – where we empower our people to transform industries and provide our customers with a competitive advantage through adhesives, sealants and functional coatings.

Dare to learn new skills, advance in your career and make an impact at Henkel.

What You´ll Do

• The Head of Innovation Strategy leads the development and execution of the innovation agenda for the Consumer and Construction Adhesives business across the Americas. This is a senior leadership role that bridges strategy and execution — defining the multi-year innovation roadmap, managing a cross-functional team, and ensuring that new product and packaging initiatives translate into commercial impact. The Head works closely with Marketing, R&D, Product Development, and commercial leadership to align the innovation pipeline with market trends, customer needs, and business priorities.
• Define and own the Americas innovation strategy for Consumer and Construction Adhesives, encompassing product, packaging, and process innovation.
• Lead portfolio prioritization, ensuring a balanced pipeline of short-term wins and long-term breakthrough projects.
• Develop and manage the Stage-Gate (or alike processes) in collaboration with R&D and Product Development heads, ensuring disciplined project advancement.
• Build and lead a high-performing team including the Innovation Project Manager
• Partner with Marketing and Sales to translate consumer insights, market trends, and competitive intelligence into actionable innovation opportunities.
• Manage the innovation budget, resource allocation, and KPI tracking across the portfolio.
• Drive go-to-market readiness for new product launches, coordinating with supply chain, regulatory, and commercial teams.
• Foster a culture of innovation, experimentation, and continuous learning within the team and across the organization.

What Makes You A Good Fit

• Bachelor's degree in Chemistry, or a related field; MBA or advanced degree preferred.
• 8+ years of experience in innovation, product management, or R&D within the adhesives, coatings, sealants, construction chemicals, or adjacent specialty chemicals sectors.
• Proven track record of leading cross-functional innovation teams and delivering products from concept to commercialization.
• Strong command of Stage-Gate like processes and agile innovation methodologies.
• Experience working in a matrix organization across multiple geographies.
• Excellent stakeholder management, communication, and executive presentation skills.
• Fluency in English; Spanish proficiency is a plus.

Some Benefits Of Joining Henkel

• Health Insurance: affordable plans for medical, dental, vision and wellbeing starting on day 1
• Work-Life Balance: Paid time off including sick, vacation, holiday and volunteer time, flexible & hybrid work policies (depending on role), and vacation buy / sell program
• Financial: 401k matching, employee share plan with voluntary investment and Henkel matching shares, annual performance bonus, service awards and student loan reimbursement
• Family Support: 12-week gender neutral parental leave (up to 20 weeks for parents giving birth), fertility support, adoption & surrogacy reimbursement, discounted child and elderly care, and scholarships
• Career Growth: diverse national and international growth opportunities, access to thousands of skills development courses, and tuition reimbursement

The salary for this role is $150,000.00-$170,000.00. This is the range that we in good faith anticipate relying on when setting wages for this position. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range and this range. This salary range may also be modified in the future. Henkel does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firms or employment agencies. Unsolicited referrals and resumes are considered Henkel property and therefore, Henkel will not pay a fee for any placement resulting from the receipt of an unsolicited referral. Henkel is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, genetic information, and other legally protected categories.