Director Innovation Jobs in Illinois (NOW HIRING)

American Egg Board’s mission is to increase demand for eggs and egg products through research, education and promotion.

The American Egg Board (AEB) was created by an Act of Congress in 1976 at the request of America’s egg farmers, who desired to pool resources for national category-level egg marketing.

Home to The Incredible Egg and Egg Nutrition Center, AEB is dedicated to increasing demand for all U.S. eggs and egg products. For more than 40 years, America’s egg farmers have supported this mission by funding the AEB. The AEB is 100 percent farmer-funded, and those funds directly support the research, education and promotion necessary to market eggs.

The Director, Innovation will lead innovation and growth strategy, front-end innovation, and customer innovation for the American Egg Board. Reporting to the Vice President, Global Business Development & Innovation, this role will identify emerging consumer, culinary, ingredient, and foodservice opportunities and develop and bring new products to market that increase egg demand across retail, foodservice, and CPG channels. Additionally, this role will also lead the evolution and management of the Eggcelerator Lab® — AEB’s innovation platform designed to accelerate collaboration with startups, entrepreneurs, food companies, and strategic partners across the global food ecosystem. This is a highly strategic role designed for a strong innovation leader from the CPG, food ingredient, or foodservice ecosystem who thrives at the driving scale impact.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

Innovation and Growth Strategy

• Lead front-end, insight-driven innovation growth strategy across retail, foodservice, ingredient, and emerging channels.
• Lead development of category growth strategies focused on expanding egg usage occasions, formats, and applications.
• Translate macro consumer, culinary, nutrition, and technology trends into actionable innovation opportunities.
• Manage AEB’s front-end stage gate process to ensure budget and resources are directed to highest impact initiatives.

Customer Innovation and Eggcelerator Lab Leadership

• Partner closely with retail, quick-serve restaurants, and food companies to build impactful innovation pipelines that feature new egg-forward products.
• Lead customer ideation and rapid prototyping to unlock new opportunities and engage customers with the Eggcelerator Lab.
• Build & nurture relationships across startups, food companies, and strategic partners to enable commercial pathways for new AEB-discovered breakthrough technologies.
• Collaborate with the cross-functional teams including Business Development, Culinary and R&D, and Insights, to effectively manage projects and customer relationships.
• Establish methods for measuring the impact and results of the Eggcelerator Lab.

Program Governance and Industry Leadership

• Develop relationships with board members and key industry stakeholders to build alignment around innovation plans and programs.
• Collaborate with other AEB functions (e.g. nutrition, sustainability, marketing, etc.) to build a culture of innovation across the organization and identify new areas and ideas to further explore.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY

• Culinary Innovation Chef

QUALIFICATIONS

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed are representative of the knowledge, skills, and ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

In addition, the following qualification will be needed:

• Bachelor’s or equivalent degree in marketing or related field; a master’s or advanced degree is preferred.
• 8–12+ years of experience in innovation strategy, front-end innovation, growth strategy, or white space development.
• Experience within CPG, food & beverage, foodservice, and/or ingredient manufacturer preferred.
• Proven track record leading breakthrough and/or disruptive innovation thinking.
• Strong business acumen and demonstrated success in developing sound business plans that deliver results.
• Self-starter, with an entrepreneurial spirit, who is results-driven and sets high expectations for self and team.
• Exhibits a natural curiosity to learn and demonstrated ability to translate those learnings into actionable insights.
• Ability to present sound business recommendations and secure buy-in from executive leadership teams.
• Strong analytical skills, able to evaluate challenges from multiple perspectives, translate data and information into actionable insights to solve complex problems.
• Comfortable in a fast-paced environment, managing a robust and diverse set of projects simultaneously.
• Positive and professional demeanor with self-starter attitude that shows initiative and the ability to build rapport with internal and external parties.
• Strong organizational and time management skills, close attention to detail, and the ability to manage and prioritize multiple projects simultaneously and independently; Willingness to wear "many hats" and adapt as organizational priorities change.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including strong verbal and written communication skills and the ability to work well independently and with others at all levels of the organization, including comfort with public speaking/presentation.
• Discretion and trustworthiness to handle sensitive or confidential information.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite and business applications.
• Passion to be part of an iconic and energetic organization!

WORK ENVIRONMENT

This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk, hear, and see. The employee is frequently required to sit, stand, walk, use hands to handle, and reach with hands and arms. The employee will occasionally lift, push, or move over 30 pounds.

TRAVEL

This position requires approximately 40% travel, occasionally outside the local area and overnight.

REASONING ABILITY

Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral or diagram form. Ability to deal with problems involving several variables in standardized situations.

OTHER DUTIES

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

WHY JOIN US:

• Competitive Compensation: $180,000-$190,000.
• Comprehensive Benefits: Medical, dental, vision, 401k with employer contribution, profit sharing, and health and wellness reimbursement program.
• Paid Time Off & Holidays: Vacation, Sick, Mental Health Days, and 12 company paid holidays.

AEB is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, or veteran status.

Application Process: If you are unable to apply online due to a disability, please contact aebhiring@aeb.org.