Senior Innovation Manager

Roche•Pleasanton, CA

1d•$119,600 - $222,000•Onsite

About The Position

At Roche, we foster a culture where individuality is embraced, and personal expression, open dialogue, and genuine connections are encouraged. We value, accept, and respect everyone for who they are, enabling personal and professional growth. Our mission is to prevent, stop, and cure diseases and ensure universal access to healthcare for present and future generations. Join Roche, where every voice matters. A healthier future is our driving force for innovation. We continuously advance science to ensure everyone has access to the healthcare they need, today and for generations to come. Our goal is to create a world where people have more time with their loved ones. This is the essence of Roche. Roche Diagnostics Solutions (RDS) is a leader in the In-Vitro Diagnostics market. Within this ecosystem, Research & Early Development is responsible for early research activities and plays a crucial role in rapidly delivering innovation in discovery and addressing specific customer needs. To remain competitive, dedicated innovation management is paramount. Success as an Innovation Manager requires the ability to thrive in ambiguity, designing research processes to accelerate discovery while aligning with long-term business strategy. Beyond technical oversight, the role demands strategic diplomacy. An Innovation Manager must excel as a research ambassador, translating complex scientific impact into value propositions for diverse stakeholders.

Requirements

Trained as a scientist (biologist, biochemist, chemist, physicist or a similar degree), ideally with a doctorate and at least 1 year of experience in the life science industry OR a Masters with at least 3-5 years experience in the life science industry.
Possess profound Project Management skills, centered around communication and connection (methodologies, tools, mindsets).
Quickly understand complex tasks and translate them into something easy to execute. Operationalizing processes and handling complex ecosystems is something that excites you.
Highly skilled networker with high emotional intelligence, a neutral process-focused mindset and the ability to establish strong and trusting relationships across many management levels.
Flexible, creative, self-motivated and result oriented, learning new things (content, technologies, processes, methods, etc.) is your second nature. You enjoy working within a multi-cultural and geographically diverse team with many interfaces.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills and very good knowledge of English (spoken and written).

Nice To Haves

Experience managing DANCE (dynamic, ambiguous, non-linear, complex and emergent) projects especially in the research space preferred.
Certification as PMP (project management professional) and/or in Agile methodology (such as Scrum master, SAFe or Agile PMP (PMI-ACP)

Responsibilities

Supports enterprise research in creating, funneling and harvesting cutting-edge innovation ideas, acts as a neutral thought partner to practice the idea acceptability
Hosts innovation challenges addressing shared problem statements of global RDS Research
Sparks and cultivates a cross-divisional innovation mindset, acts as change agent to coach the organization on the global research strategy and vision and advocate for the customer and the business role in innovation
Uses independent evaluation, selection, and substantial adaptation and modification of standard project management and communication techniques, procedures and criteria to navigate the complex flexible dynamic nature of research and early development projects
Actively builds and cultivates connections into the scientific network and maintains expert knowledge of industry trends, competition, and emerging innovations, contributes to strategic innovation roadmapping for early research
Organizes and facilitates interdisciplinary workshops applying innovative and agile methodologies to achieve workshop outcomes in creative and effective ways, in order to contribute to problem discovery and challenge-driven ideation
Plans, manages and monitors research operations to support the activities, processes, communication and digital infrastructure of research and early development and its innovation framework
Collaborates cross-functionally with experts within Research & Development (R&D), CDMA (Clinical Development and Medical Affairs), Partnering and beyond
Monitors and optimizes processes in order to increase quality and efficiency standards, promotes and participates in the professional development of best practices and process principles to manage risks, to achieve objectives in creative and effective ways and to increase quality and efficiency standards
Coaches and trains other members of the team on the subject matter expertise, develops new skills and provides ongoing, constructive feedback on performance and progress toward goals and expectations on team and individual level
Contribute to events in the RDS Enterprise Research space, publications and conferences as needed