Senior Director II, Innovation and Chief of Staff

The Senior Director II, Innovation and Chief of Staff, is a strategic partner and operational leader for the NAOU Marketing President, driving the innovation agenda and ensuring seamless execution of critical initiatives. This role combines high-level support, project management, and innovation leadership-overseeing the development, integration, and scaling of breakthrough ideas, and ensuring innovations enter and progress through the process pipeline in partnership with MarTech Operations Planning & Innovation.

What You Will Do for Us

Strategic Leadership & Chief of Staff Responsibilities

• Serve as the strategic right hand to the President/CMO, providing high-level support, coordination, and execution across the organization's most critical initiatives.

• Manage meetings, logistics, and calendar for the President/CMO, including internal/external meetings, leadership sessions, business reviews, and engagement events.

• Provide project management oversight for CMO-led initiatives & special projects, establishing clear goals, tracking progress, identifying risks, and ensuring timely delivery of outcomes.

• Support annual business planning, resource allocation, and budget tracking for the President/CMO's office.

• Represent the President/CMO as appropriate in meetings and communications, maintaining strong relationships with internal and external partners.

• Define and lead the NAOU Innovation Strategy, aligning with brand, category, and commercial goals.

• Lead innovation forum The Leap Lab to shape a multi-year pipeline of billion-dollar ideas.

• Translate consumer foresight and market trends into strategic bets across categories, driving future-back planning and anticipatory innovation.

• Build and manage a transversal innovation portfolio, consolidating bets across categories (e.g., wellness, sustainability).

• Collaborate with MarTech Planning & Innovation lead on evolving the innovation process, evolving it into a more agile, iterative, tech enabled model that enables speed and scalability.

• Leverage AI-powered data platforms for predictive foresight and whitespace identification.

• Ensure innovation is grounded in consumer co-creation, early-stage testing, and iterative refinement.

• Lead cross-functional collaboration across R&D, Supply Chain, Commercial, Finance, and Franchise teams.

• Accelerate external engagement with startups, academia, and tech partners to bring new claims, formats, and technologies into the system.

• Establish clear KPIs for innovation success, including pipeline health, launch velocity, and commercial impact.

• Report regularly to the President/CMO and NAOU leadership on innovation progress, risks, and opportunities.

• Contribute to enterprise-wide innovation scaling.

• Directly manage a team of four: Executive Assistant, Innovation Brand Director, Innovation Insights Sr Manager, Innovation Research & Development Director.

• Foster a culture of bold experimentation, outside-in thinking, and ownership mindset.

• Champion AI literacy and tech-enabled ways of working across the innovation function.

• Bachelor's degree required; MBA or advanced degree preferred.

• 10+ years of experience in brand management, innovation, strategy, or executive operations within CPG or beverage industry.

• Proven track record of launching step-change innovations and building scalable platforms.

• Experience leading cross-functional teams and influencing senior stakeholders.

• Advanced program and project management skills, including synthesizing multiple initiatives and establishing management routines.

• Exceptional organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills.

• Experience preparing executive-level presentations and briefing materials.

• Ability to manage multiple priorities, work under pressure, and maintain confidentiality.

• Demonstrated ability to manage ambiguity and drive clarity in a dynamic environment.

• High degree of professionalism, discretion, and executive presence.