Innovation Marketing Manager

Eastman•Kingsport, TN

6d•Onsite

About The Position

The Innovation Marketing Manager helps build Eastman's next generation of growth by translating market shifts, unmet customer needs, and technology capabilities into scalable business opportunities. This role operates at the front end of innovation, identifying and evaluating new growth opportunities, developing business cases, and advancing the most promising concepts through the company's innovation and Stage-Gate processes. The successful candidate combines strategic marketing expertise, customer insight, commercial judgment, and cross-functional leadership. Working closely with technical, business, commercial, sustainability, manufacturing, and other functional teams, this individual will help determine where Eastman should invest, how new offerings can create differentiated value, and what is required to bring those opportunities to market.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, Engineering, Science, or a related discipline.
Five or more years of relevant experience in strategic marketing, business development, product management, innovation, commercial leadership, or a related field.
Customer-facing, commercial, or business development experience.
Experience leading cross-functional initiatives and influencing stakeholders without direct authority.
Experience conducting market research, customer discovery, and voice-of-customer activities.
Experience developing value propositions, opportunity assessments, business cases, and commercial recommendations.
Strong analytical, communication, facilitation, and presentation skills.
Demonstrated ability to convert incomplete information into clear recommendations and operate effectively in ambiguous, rapidly evolving environments.

Nice To Haves

Applicable industry experience is preferred.
MBA or advanced degree.
Experience with innovation management, front-end innovation, Stage-Gate, or similar business development processes.
Experience advancing new products, services, technologies, applications, or business opportunities from early discovery through commercialization.
Experience with market segmentation, targeting, portfolio management, market mapping, and strategic planning.
Experience developing financial models and assessing the commercial viability of new opportunities.
Experience in B2B, specialty materials, chemicals, advanced manufacturing, or another technology-driven environment.

Responsibilities

Identify emerging growth opportunities by analyzing market trends, customer needs, technology developments, and industry dynamics.
Evaluate and prioritize a portfolio of ideas, recommending which opportunities should be advanced, refined, pivoted, or discontinued.
Apply structured innovation methods and frameworks to assess strategic fit, market attractiveness, customer value, differentiation, commercial potential, and risk.
Conduct customer discovery and voice-of-customer research to uncover unmet needs and validate market opportunities.
Design and execute primary and secondary market research to address critical knowledge gaps.
Perform market, competitive, regulatory, industry, value-chain, and trend assessments to identify opportunities and challenges.
Develop compelling value propositions that clearly articulate customer benefits and competitive differentiation relative to alternative solutions.
Build fact-based business cases by evaluating market size, adoption potential, revenue potential, economics, key assumptions, risks, and competitive dynamics.
Identify critical assumptions, potential barriers, and risks early, and develop plans to validate or mitigate them.
Develop preliminary market entry, commercialization, and activation strategies for selected opportunities.
Lead the marketing workstream for growth opportunities from early discovery through concept development and advancement within Eastman's innovation and Stage-Gate processes.
Use structured market and business evaluation frameworks, including Eastman's EBME approach, to support high-quality strategic choices.
Collaborate with technical, commercial, sustainability, manufacturing, business, and other functional partners to develop opportunity strategies and commercialization plans.
Provide clear recommendations based on customer, market, competitive, and business insights.
Build strong relationships with customers, external partners, and internal stakeholders to foster a market-centric approach to innovation.
Communicate complex ideas and recommendations through clear, compelling presentations and business cases.
Facilitate alignment and gain stakeholder commitment at key decision points throughout the front-end innovation and Stage-Gate processes.
Influence across functions without direct authority and constructively challenge assumptions to improve decisions.