Director, Innovation Fundamentals, Process & Transformation (Finance)

What makes this a great opportunity?

** This role can sit in New York City or London, with a preference for New York City **

Suntory Global Spirits is the world's third largest premium spirits company with annual revenues of $5 billion and a clear 2030 ambition to become the world's most admired and fastest growing premium spirits company. Suntory Global Spirits is in the midst of an exciting business and culture transformation across a number of fundamental dimensions:

• Evolution to become brand led, balanced with commercial and market excellence
• Commitment to further premiumize the portfolio
• Global business, process and ways of working Integration from a more disparate multi- country approach
• Focus on building a Gemba-centric, inclusive culture
• Strong commitment to accelerate its sustainability, including environmental, responsibility and diversity, equity and inclusion, efforts across the organization

As a world leader in premium spirits, Suntory Global Spirits inspires human connections. Consumers from all corners of the globe call for the company's brands, including the iconic Jim Beam and Maker's Mark Bourbon brands, Suntory Whisky Kakubin, as well as world renowned premium brands including Knob Creek, Basil Hayden's and Legent Bourbon; Yamazaki, Hakushu, Hibiki and Toki Japanese Whisky; Teacher's, Laphroaig and Bowmore Scotch Whisky; Canadian Club Whisky; Hornitos and Sauza Tequila; EFFEN, Haku and Pinnacle Vodka; and Sipsmith and Roku Gin.

Suntory Global Spirits was created in 2014 by combining the world leader in bourbon and the pioneer in Japanese whisky to form a new company with a deep heritage, passion for quality, innovative spirit and vision of Growing for Good. Headquartered in New York, Suntory Global Spirits is a subsidiary of Suntory Holdings Limited of Japan. Our culture is anchored deeply in a set of core values, including our East-Meets-West Culture, Yatte Minahare spirit, Giving Back to Society, Delighting Consumers, responsibly and Embracing Diversity & Inclusion.

Role Overview
This role will lead the global agenda on emerging, global innovation for Suntory Global Spirits, acting as the catalyst for transformation and competitive advantage, highlighting opportunities and delivering future revenue growth by providing consumer and customer centric ideas, technologies and solutions that can breakthrough and differentiate from the competition to propel BSI in a rapidly changing landscape.

Role Responsibilities

Responsibilities

• Be a change agent in shifting & transforming innovation approach & capabilities at SGS, to create fewer, bigger and better innovations
• Responsible for standardizing key innovation practice and approach, including partners for SGS on innovation, in partnership with cross-functional teams
• Own the identification of and creation of key trends and platforms for innovation, providing tools and support that can be utilized as the organiation as a whole.
• Deliver integration of innovation process throughout business practice and any training required, including providing key financial metrics and sizing guidance
• Drives oversight of internal PMR and Seed to Sip process
• Analyze and highlight any gaps within the BSI portfolio and planned innovation agenda to deliver ideas and concepts that can help drive growth
• Develops strong PDCA to ensure learning from both success and failures and scaling what's working and stopping what's not working

SUCCESS CRITERIA:

• SOLID DELIVERABLES - Deliver innovation transformation and processes enterprise wide
• AGILE- enable rapid iteration for new processes and improvements in our innovation systems
• OUTSIDE FOCUSED - leverages external benchmarks to drive SGS improvements
• FUTURE FORWARD THINKER- requires you to be in-tune with market and consumer trends to be in a position to create and put in place strategic actions today that you know will be important for delivering commercial value in the future
• STRONG LEADERSHIP & COLLABORATIVE STYLE - highly collaborative breaking down any silos and encouraging more enterprise wide thinking and approaches to garner the best ideas and solutions for the business, whilst being ready to constructively challenge and take the tough decisions when necessary
• INNOVATIVE THINKER - actively exploring and experimenting with new approaches, ideas, technologies and partnerships to deliver on rapid growth ideas
• FAST-FAIL MENTALITY- encourage a culture that embraces a mentality of fast-failure and rapid experimentation
• EMBRACE A CULTURE OF CONTINUOUS LEARNING & IMPROVEMENT - extract key learnings to share within the organization and iterate approaches as needed

Major Interfaces

• Innovation leaders within the organization esp within Brand House and SRC
• Global R&D leadership and PMO teams
• Supply Chain & Finance leadership
• Market MDs and Regional Presidents
• Brand House MDs
• Senior Leaders within the Commercial Sales Regions (Suntory SSP Commercial, Asia Pacific, International and North America) and Brand Houses

Qualifications

Qualifications

• +8 years' experience in marketing or innovation
• Broad skillset with good judgment and a mature, practical, strategic and commercial mindset
• Curiosity for learning, with a consumer and customer centric approach
• An entrepreneurial self-starter who deals confidently with the unknown
• Inclusive leader who influences and collaborates across teams, multicultural environments, and the organization
• Enterprise wide thinking and approach

Travel

• Up to 20% travel (TBC)

Salary Range - The salary range for this role, based in Chicago, is $170,000 to $190,000 along with an annual bonus, 401K match, profit sharing, and medical and wellness benefits. The salary range is commensurate ,with the candidate's location, experience, and skillset.

Nearest Major Market: Manhattan
Nearest Secondary Market: New York City