New

Innovation Manager

Spectraforce Technologies
United States, California, Pleasanton
Apr 02, 2026
Job Title :Innovation Manager Location:Pleasanton CA Duration:12 Months Your Activities: Supports enterprise research in creating, funneling and harvesting cutting-edge innovation ideas, acts as a neutral thought partner to practice the idea acceptability with in an unbiased way and assists projects teams with the initial idea assessment, prioritization and early maturation Hosts innovation challenges addressing shared problem statements of global RDS Research Sparks and cultivates a cross-divisional innovation mindset, acts as change agent to coach the organization on the global research strategy and vision and advocate for the customer and the business role in innovation Uses independent evaluation, selection, and substantial adaptation and modification of standard project management and communication techniques, procedures and criteria to navigate the complex flexible dynamic nature of research and early development projects Actively builds and cultivates connections into the scientific network and maintains expert knowledge of industry trends, competition, and emerging innovations, contributes to strategic innovation roadmapping for early research Organizes and facilitates interdisciplinary workshops applying innovative and agile methodologies to achieve workshop outcomes in creative and effective ways, in order to contribute to problem discovery and challenge-driven ideation Plans, manages and monitors research operations to support the activities, processes, communication and digital infrastructure of research and early development and its innovation framework Collaborates cross-functionally with experts within Research & Development (R&D), CDMA (Clinical Development and Medical Affairs), Partnering and beyond Monitors and optimizes processes in order to increase quality and efficiency standards, promotes and participates in the professional development of best practices and process principles to manage risks, to achieve objectives in creative and effective ways and to increase quality and efficiency standards Coaches and trains other members of the team on the subject matter expertise, develops new skills and provides ongoing, constructive feedback on performance and progress toward goals and expectations on team and individual level Contribute to events in the RDS Enterprise Research space, publications and conferences as needed Your skills: You are trained as a scientist (biologist, biochemist, chemist, physicist or a similar degree), ideally with a doctorate and at least 1 year of experience in the life science industry OR a Masters with at least 3-5 years experience in the life science industry. Other role-relevant fields of education (innovation management, communications, project management) may be considered. You possess profound Project Management skills, centered around communication and connection (methodologies, tools, mindsets). Experience managing DANCE (dynamic, ambiguous, non-linear, complex and emergent) projects especially in the research space preferred. A certification as PMP (project management professional) and/or in Agile methodology (such as Scrum master, SAFe or Agile PMP (PMI-ACP) is a plus. You quickly understand complex tasks and translate them into something easy to execute. Operationalizing processes and handling complex ecosystems is something that excites you. You are a highly skilled networker with high emotional intelligence, a neutral process-focused mindset and the ability to establish strong and trusting relationships across many management levels. You are flexible, creative, self-motivated and result oriented, learning new things (content, technologies, processes, methods, etc.) is your second nature. You enjoy working within a multi-cultural and geographically diverse team with many interfaces. You possess excellent written and verbal communication skills and very good knowledge of English (spoken and written).