Vice President, Innovation

About the Role:

The VP of Innovation will be responsible for leading Kinder’s innovation team and driving our pipeline across new products, categories, and emerging packaging formats. This leader will play a critical role in shaping the future growth of the company by identifying new opportunities for flavor innovation and driving the development of capabilities required to successfully bring them to market.

This role owns development of the strategic innovation portfolio, including the evaluation, prioritization, and advancement of opportunities through the pipeline, building the roadmap for new platforms and categories, and leading the Innovation team to ensure early‑stage concepts best meet consumer needs and have strong technical and commercial pathways to scale. The VP of Innovation will work closely with cross‑functional partners including Strategy, Consumer Insights, Culinary, R&D, Commercialization, Operations, and Creative (among others) to translate emerging ideas into viable opportunities and ensure strong alignment from concept through commercialization.

This role is also responsible for upholding a high bar for innovation, ensuring new platforms meet Kinder’s high quality standards and deliver exceptional consumer experiences.

Once a platform is technically stable and commercially validated, this role will be responsible for ensuring it is effectively transitioned to the Brand team for long‑term ownership and continued growth. Success in this role requires both strategic thinking and operational leadership – balancing big‑picture innovation strategy with the practical realities of product development, capability building, and commercialization in a fast‑moving entrepreneurial environment.

• Drive the innovation pipeline, including long‑term opportunity identification, portfolio strategy, and near‑ and mid‑term prioritization of innovation initiatives.
• Guide the Innovation team in identifying consumer, culinary, and market trends to define whitespace opportunities, product platforms, flavor formats, and adjacent categories that can drive future growth for Kinder’s.
• Translate consumer insights and market signals into clear innovation strategies and priority platforms supported by our ability to achieve strong differentiation and exceptional consumer flavor experiences.
• Develop innovation roadmaps that thoughtfully sequence development based on strategic fit, technical capabilities, category growth opportunities, consumer expectations, and retailer needs.
• Build “Kinder’s friendly” processes and best practices that allow Kinder’s to consistently generate, evaluate, prioritize, and scale new ideas.

• Work with cross‑functional partners to identify technical, operational, and organizational capabilities required to successfully enter and scale new platforms
• Ensure cross‑functional engagement in the development of new platforms and categories, defining work to be done, outlining success criteria, and ensuring the right internal partners are involved.
• Quickly identify and elevate key risks or roadblocks to maintain quality with speed and ensure successful commercialization.
• Oversee the Innovation Team’s role as interim Brand Managers for new platforms and categories, driving concepts from early development through launch and stabilization before transition to Brand.
• Facilitate strong collaboration between Innovation and Brand to ensure successful transfer of ownership when platforms are ready for transition.
• Guide collaboration between Innovation and technical partners to ensure clear articulation of flavor targets, product claims, and refinements for new concept development informed by consumer insights.

• Drive the Innovation team to identify opportunities where packaging, format, or product configuration could unlock new usage occasions or enhance consumer experience.

• Partner with cross‑functional partners (e.g., Strategy, Sales, R&D) to ensure innovation priorities are aligned with consumer brand permission, operational capabilities, and commercial goals.
• Work closely with…