Innovation Principal (E6021)

IEEE•Piscataway, NJ

About The Position

The Innovation Principal will lead the day-to-day operations of IEEE’s Office of Innovation, translating strategic business visions into tangible outcomes. This dynamic role oversees the execution of innovation programs, the development of internal tools, and the seamless delivery of high-impact initiatives. Acting as the operational anchor of the innovation portfolio, the Principal will manage execution details, align cross-functional stakeholders, and serve as the go-to expert for innovation tools and processes. A central responsibility will be advancing IEEE’s internal GenAI capabilities—crafting synthetic personas, generating innovation prompts to fuel ideation across the innovation funnel, and overseeing the QMarkets innovation portal. The Principal will also play a pivotal role in designing and facilitating workshops that spark momentum, surface insights, and strengthen IEEE’s innovation culture. Success in this role requires a strong consulting background and deep expertise in design thinking.

Requirements

7–10 years of experience in consulting, strategy execution, innovation management, or related roles. Req
Prior consulting experience required, with demonstrated ability to deliver structured problem solving, stakeholder alignment, and measurable results. Req
Hands-on experience with design thinking or similar human-centered innovation methodologies; workshop facilitation expertise strongly preferred. Req
Proven experience managing day-to-day execution of cross-functional projects and programs. Req
Familiarity with digital innovation platforms (e.g., QMarkets, Spigit, Brightidea, etc.) or enterprise collaboration tools. Req
Understanding of generative AI technologies, prompt engineering, and persona design strongly preferred. Req
Strong organizational skills with ability to manage multiple concurrent initiatives. Req
Excellent communication and facilitation skills to engage both technical and non-technical stakeholders. Req

Nice To Haves

Master's or other advanced degree Pref

Responsibilities

Manage daily operations of the Office of Innovation, ensuring initiatives progress against defined milestones and deliverables.
Support the Director of Innovation in executing on the innovation strategy and managing the broader portfolio.
Translate high-level strategy into actionable project plans, coordinating activities across multiple teams.
Serve as the operational “nerve center” for innovation projects, escalating risks and clearing blockers.
Build and maintain synthetic personas to simulate diverse member, customer, and stakeholder perspectives for use in innovation design.
Develop a library of innovation prompts and GenAI-driven methods that increase ideation volume and quality across the funnel.
Apply GenAI internally to accelerate problem framing, solution exploration, and opportunity mapping for innovation projects.
Continuously refine AI-enabled tools to ensure they deliver value and align with IEEE’s ethical and professional standards.
Own the ongoing management of the QMarkets innovation portal.
Define workflows for idea submission, evaluation, and selection to ensure transparency and consistency.
Drive adoption and engagement across IEEE members, volunteers, and staff.
Monitor portal analytics and continuously improve processes for greater participation and impact.
Support design, facilitation, and documentation of innovation workshops (e.g., ideation sessions, problem-framing workshops, prototyping sprints).
Apply structured methods such as design thinking, futures thinking, and systems mapping to guide participants through innovation processes.
Capture insights and translate outcomes into actionable next steps for the innovation portfolio.
Lead workstreams within innovation initiatives, coordinating subject matter experts and project teams.
Provide consulting-style problem solving, business analysis, and structured recommendations.
Document learnings, playbooks, and frameworks to scale innovation practices across IEEE.
Track and report on initiative-level KPIs, adoption rates, and outcomes for GenAI toolkit outputs and QMarkets.
Provide regular updates to the Director of Innovation, including risks, lessons learned, and recommendations.