Innovation Specialist - Cold
Permanent, Full-Time
Mississauga, ON, Hybrid (3 days/week)

As the Innovation Specialist , you will be the functional expert guiding brand, technical, and supply chain project leads effectively through the innovation process to bring new products to market.

Responsibilities:Innovation Process Governance and Continuous Improvements (50%)Co-champion executional excellence and adherence to KDP's New Stage Gate/New Product Introduction (NPI) 2.0 commercialization process.Identify and implement continuous improvement opportunities for the NPI process to help drive efficiency and effectiveness.Drive continuous improvement initiatives across cross-functional teams and ensure adherence across teams.Onboard new members of KDP cross-functional teams to ensure understanding of the NPI process, and drive a quarterly training program.Manage regular updates to the innovation project tracker for gate status, follow-ups from gate meetings, and timing for next gate and financials.Report progress on gate progression for all innovation projects based on key milestone dates.Plan the annual calendar of NPI meetings and a workback schedule for key deliverables to present gate documents at those meetings.Align with the Innovation Director on the agenda for NPI meetings and determine which projects are presented live versus via MS Teams approvals.Oversee access and maintenance of the NPI SharePoint site to maintain firewalls, update users accordingly, and archive outdated files.Gather documents for pre-read and coordinate with presentation owners to ensure adherence to the NPI process/agenda.Chair the NPI committee, send out pre-read/MS Teams approvals, record outcomes, and share approvals or outcomes with project leads.Developing the Innovation Pipeline (50%)Collaborate with the Innovation Manager on projects moving from ideation, concept testing, development, to production.Manage assigned projects from start to finish with cross-functional teams in both the US and Canada.Actively participate in Innovation cross-functional meetings, Canadian SC OPS, and US IMO/SC meetings for the assigned portfolio to provide project updates and follow up with other departments as needed to track project progress against the targeted launch date.Work closely with Supply Chain, Production, Demand Planning, and Finance to achieve key project milestones.Engage with the US team to investigate opportunities to lift and adapt innovations for the Canadian market.Coordinate with the Consumer Insights team to develop and execute concept testing to validate potential new products.Prepare new product development requests and brief R&D to begin formula creation.Provide updates for innovations as part of monthly brand reviews.Support post-mortem analysis and partner with cross-functional teams to ensure KPI progress is tracked, with results shared with the leadership team.Support the Innovation Manager by analyzing consumer, category, and sales trends for whitespace opportunity mapping and innovation roadmap development.QualificationsBachelor’s degree in marketing.Minimum 4-6 years of experience, preferably in the food, beverage, or consumer packaged goods industries.Strong project management skills; comfortable multitasking between different projects.Self-motivated, results-oriented, with the ability to lead new projects in a fast-paced environment.Strong collaborative skills to build stakeholder trust across multiple levels and teams.Strong analytical skills, with the ability to map consumer, category, and market data to identify innovation opportunities.CompetenciesProficiency in MS Project; Project management certification is an asset.Knowledge of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.).Proficiency in Nielsen (Consumption, Panel, BASES).

Keurig Dr Pepper Canada is a leading multi-national beverage company, with offices all over the world and across Canada.  From coast to coast, Keurig Dr Pepper Canada offers a beverage for everyone, for every occasion and for all Canadians. Because of the global and national scope of the role we are recruiting for above, as well as the cross functional needs required of this role, we have determined that French & English language (written and spoken) are required. We have further evaluated that the English knowledge already required from other employees is insufficient for the performance of the duties requiring the knowledge of English and that the number of positions for which we require such knowledge is the smallest possible to ensure the effective accomplishment of our mission.

Company Overview

Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ : KDP) est une entreprise de boissons moderne ayant une vision audacieuse qui vise à offrir croissance et opportunité.  Nous opérons avec un modèle d'affaires différencié et un portefeuille de marques de classe mondiale, alimentés par une équipe talentueuse, engagée et ancrée dans nos valeurs. Chez KDP, nous travaillons avec de grandes et passionnantes marques de boissons ainsi que le système d'infusion de café une tasse à la fois no 1 en Amérique du Nord, et nous prenons plaisir à le faire! 
  
Ensemble, nous avons créé une entreprise chef de file dans le domaine des boissons en Amérique du Nord, qui offre des boissons chaudes et froides à grande échelle. Quel que soit votre domaine d'expertise, chez KDP, vous pouvez faire partie d'une équipe fière de ses marques, de ses partenariats, de son innovation et de sa croissance. Aimeriez-vous vous joindre à nous? 
  
Nous nous efforçons d'être un employeur de choix, en offrant une culture et des opportunités qui permettent à nos quelque 28 000 employés de grandir et de se développer. Nous offrons de solides avantages sociaux qui appuient votre santé et votre mieux-être, et qui assurent votre bien-être personnel et financier. Nous offrons aussi à nos employés des programmes conçus pour vous permettre d'améliorer votre croissance et votre développement professionnels, et ce, tout en nous assurant que vous vous sentez valorisés, inspirés et appréciés au travail. 
 
******** 
Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ: KDP) is a leading beverage company in North America, with a portfolio of more than 125 owned, licensed and partners brands and powerful distribution capabilities to provide a beverage for every need, anytime, anywhere. We operate with a differentiated business model and world-class brand portfolio, powered by a talented and engaged team that is anchored in our values. We work with big, exciting beverage brands and the #1 single-serve coffee brewing system in North America at KDP, and we have fun doing it! 
 
Together, we have built a leading beverage company in North America offering hot and cold beverages together at scale. Whatever your area of expertise, at KDP you can be a part of a team that’s proud of its brands, partnerships, innovation, and growth. Will you join us? 
 
We strive to be an employer of choice, providing a culture and opportunities that empower our team of ~28,000 employees to grow and develop.  We offer robust benefits to support your health and wellness as well as your personal and financial well-being. We also provide employee programs designed to enhance your professional growth and development, while ensuring you feel valued, inspired and appreciated at work.
 
Keurig Dr Pepper is an equal opportunity employer and affirmatively seeks diversity in its workforce. Keurig Dr Pepper recruits qualified applicants and advances in employment its employees without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, disability or association with a person with a disability, medical condition, genetic information, ethnic or national origin, marital status, veteran status, or any other status protected by law.