Lead, Innovation at Rainforest Alliance

Position summary:

At the Rainforest alliance we are looking for an Innovation Lead.  An innovator who seeks and develops ideas and handles innovation projects and an enabler who creates structures and processes so that innovation can happen at the Rainforest Alliance. A promoter, especially in the field of culture change, where they work to persuade and disseminate the necessary knowledge of innovation. 

The Innovation team at the Rainforest Alliance had 2 main responsibilities:

• Developing and testing new value propositions and business models to achieve large scale impact 3-5 years from now.
• Overseeing and supporting the organization-wide portfolio of new offerings

The Innovation Lead is responsible for leading exploration, ideation, concept development and prototyping of new value propositions and business models for the Rainforest Alliance.  The Innovation Lead paves the way, inspires people about our ideas, and gathers the right stakeholders and partners around our visions. Whilst an expert in innovation, the Innovation Lead acts as a generalist, working with many internal and external specialists, to strive for continuous business innovation within RA.

This position will have a particular focus on innovations that make RA’s work more relevant and attractive to companies: brands and retailers; building trust in the RA brand and explore new ways to engage consumers.

Responsibilities: 

 The Rainforest Alliance’s Core Values are Impact, Change, Collaboration, Openness and Trust and as such they form the basis of the behaviours we demonstrate;

• Lead exploration and ideation by searching for and nurturing opportunities for innovation, continuously scouting for interesting technologies, start-ups, and partnerships;
• Develop new partnerships and coalitions necessary to achieve innovative business models;
• Lead and direct different cross-functional programs and projects to develop, prototype, and test innovation concepts concurrently;
• Ensure that concepts are adopted and integrated by the business;
• Prioritize and drive ideas and concepts through the innovation funnel by managing stakeholders and preparing for stage/gate decisions;
• Contribute to, and influence strategic direction to enable innovation, using informal and formal communication;

 Qualifications: 

• BA or MA Degree in a relevant field, e.g. Innovation Management, Business and/or Service design, International development, Supply Chain Management or Economics;
• At least 10 years’ work experience in Business Innovation, preferably in an international context;
• Entrepreneurial mindset and proven track record in developing and launching new (lines of) business in an international setting;
• Good understanding of trends and innovation in environmental sustainability and social impact;
• Strategic and analytical thinker; balanced with hands-on doing mentality, ability to persist and deal with resistance;
• Strong organizational skills to manage multiple priorities in a time sensitive manner;
• Excellent interpersonal skills with ability to interact culturally, linguistically, and diplomatically with diverse internal and external individuals;
• Experience design thinking, prototyping and lean and agile ways of working;
• Proficient in English, both verbal and written. French and/or Spanish is a plus and;
• Willingness and ability to travel.