Digital Innovation Lead

The Digital Innovation Lead must be an experienced and visionary leading a multidisciplinary team focused on driving digitalization activities, developing proof-of-concepts, and identifying viable initiatives for full-scale implementation. The profile must have a strategic mindset, exceptional leadership skills, and a proven track record of successfully managing diverse teams in a dynamic and innovative environment.

Key Accountabilities

The main responsibilities of the Digital Innovation Lead:

• Strategic Leadership:
  • Develop digitalization projects..
  • Lead the creation of proof-of-concept projects to test and validate innovative ideas.
  • Visionary and inspirational communication abilities
• Team Management:
  • Manage and lead temporary teams of digital subject matter experts, and business experts.
  • Foster a collaborative, innovative and inclusive culture, ensuring effective communication and knowledge sharing.
• Project Identification:
  • Work closely with stakeholders to identify potential digital projects based on business needs and emerging technologies.
  • Evaluate and prioritize project proposals, providing insights into feasibility, impact, and resource requirements.
• Innovation and Technology Trends:
  • Stay abreast of industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices to inform decision-making.
  • Promote a culture of innovation, encouraging team members to explore and apply new technologies.
• Collaboration:
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate digital solutions with business processes.
  • Build strong relationships with key stakeholders, fostering a culture of partnership and shared success.

To be successful in this role, the Digital Innovation Lead must have a strong technical background, as well as excellent leadership, communication, and collaboration skills.

Networking/Key relationships

Executive Leadership Team:

• Build strong relationships with members of the executive leadership team.
• Collaborate with other department heads to ensure cross-functional cooperation and integration of digitalization efforts.

IT Department:

• Foster a collaborative environment within the IT department to ensure seamless coordination between different teams (e.g., development, infrastructure, security) for successful digitalization POCs.
• Work closely with IT professionals to understand technical capabilities and constraints, ensuring that digitalization proposals are technically feasible.

Innovation and Research Teams:

• Establish connections with research and innovation teams to stay abreast of emerging technologies and industry trends.
• Collaborate with innovation teams to develop and test POC activities.

External Partners and Vendors:

• Cultivate relationships with external partners, startups, and vendors to explore potential collaborations and technologies that can enhance digitalization efforts.
• Negotiate and manage partnerships with external vendors for tools, platforms, and services that support the digitalization activities.

Stakeholders and End Users:

• Engage with key stakeholders and end-users to understand their needs and expectations regarding digitalization initiatives.
• Foster a user-centric approach by involving end-users in the design and feedback processes of digital solutions.

Regulatory Bodies and Compliance Teams:

• Stay informed about relevant industry regulations and compliance requirements related to digitalization.
• Work closely with compliance teams to ensure that digital initiatives adhere to legal and regulatory standards.

Professional Organizations and Conferences:

• Attend relevant industry conferences, seminars, and networking events to stay connected with industry peers.
• Join professional organizations related to digitalization, innovation, and IT management to share insights and best practices.
  • Minimum 5 years of managerial experience, working with or within innovative, digital environments is a preferable requirement.

By establishing and nurturing these relationships, the Digital Innovation Lead can create a network that supports the successful implementation of digitalization strategies and fosters a culture of innovation within the organization.

Minimum Knowledge & Experience required for the position:

• A minimum of 5 years of experience in digital ecosystems working with concepts and solutions combined with well-developed analytical skills.
• Minimum 5 years of solution design experience and preferable also systems integration experience.
• It is a must that the candidate has a curious, fearless, and exploratory mindset. Preferable already displayed in a corporate setting.
• The profile must be driven by a ‘continuous improvements’ mindset and a drive to see digital solutions to processes that can be improved.
• The candidate must be comfortable communicating with and to executives and executive teams.

Skills & Capabilities:

Strategic Vision:

• Ability to develop and communicate a clear digitalization proposal aligned with the specific business objectives.
• Visionary thinking to anticipate technological trends and emerging technologies that can drive innovation and digitalitzacion.

Leadership Skills:

• Proven ability to lead and inspire a multidisciplinary team, fostering a collaborative and innovative work environment (KAIZEN and LT2D)
• Strong decision-making skills and the ability to guide the team through complex challenges in limited time for POCs.

Project Management:

• Experience in managing end-to-end digitalization projects from concept to full-scale implementation.
• Proficient in project management methodologies to ensure POCs are delivered on time.

Innovation Management:

• Track record of successfully driving and implementing innovation within an organization.
• Ability to create a culture of innovation, encouraging experimentation and continuous improvement.

Technical Proficiency:

• Solid understanding of emerging technologies such as AI, machine learning, IoT, and blockchain.
• Familiarity with IT infrastructure, software development, and data management.

Collaboration and Communication:

• Excellent communication skills to convey complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams and external partners.

Analytical and Problem-Solving Skills:

• Strong analytical skills to assess the feasibility and impact of digitalization initiatives.
• Proven ability to solve complex problems and make data-driven decisions.

Adaptability:

• Ability to thrive in a dynamic and fast-paced environment, adapting to changes in technology and business conditions.
• Openness to experimentation and a willingness to learn and apply new concepts.

Results-Oriented:

• Demonstrated track record of achieving measurable results and key performance indicators.
• Focus on delivering outcomes.

Risk Management:

• Ability to assess and mitigate risks associated with digitalization POCs.
• Understanding of cybersecurity risks and strategies to address them.

Stakeholder Management:

• Skill in building and managing relationships with key stakeholders, both internal and external.
• Ability to understand and prioritize the needs of different stakeholders.

Regulatory Awareness:

• Understanding of relevant industry regulations and compliance requirements related to digitalization.
• Experience ensuring that digital initiatives adhere to legal and regulatory standards.

Travel requirements:

60% of time