Material & Innovation Deployment Leader

Company Description
At IKEA we see things a little differently. We believe that your values are more important than what your CV says. We offer positions that will challenge your skills and let you grow.
IKEA Supply
IKEA Supply has the responsibility to produce and supply IKEA stores with beautiful, functional and sustainable home furnishing solutions, affordable for the many people. We are constantly on the way, building a better IKEA where we lead the business and create growth in a simplified way, based on our culture, values and with customers, people and the environment in focus.
Category Area Electronics & Home Accessories is responsible for sourcing a variety of products that span from kitchen appliances, lighting solutions and connected products, to tableware and beautiful home decoration accessories such as candles and green plants for all IKEA stores globally. We are nearly 280 co-workers in 17 different locations. We are passionate about life at home, ambient & atmosphere, and technology applied to the home environment. We work closely with our suppliers across the world, and we are now looking for a Material and Innovation Deployment Leader to join our team!
Job Description
As a Material and Innovation Deployment Leader at Category Area Electronics and Home Accessories, you will have a strategic role for faster deployment of material & innovation deployment agenda across all businesses, within the 9 Categories of the Category Area, in line with approved Material Directions and the IKEA Sustainability Strategy People and Planet Positive. You will have the responsibility to deploy material and innovation projects and support business stakeholders, managers and leaders globally, across Category Area and Business units in strengthening and accelerating strategic material and innovation agenda. You will be part of a team of highly motivated and skilled Material & Innovation Deployment Leaders who will work closely with the categories, suppliers and home furniture businesses (HFBs) to drive change across the value chains.
More specifically, your role will include to:
Based on Material Directions, lead projects from the last phase in Develop New Solution process (DNS), Develop Business and Capabilities, until the material is deployed into products that are accessible to the many people
Act as a bridge between Material & Innovation, categories, and HFBs, facilitate the understanding and acceptance of new materials or technology, but also identifying challenges and ways to overcome them.
Support product development teams on how to place innovation into actual products (both NEWS and IMPROVES) taking Democratic design and applicability and/or limitation of innovation into account.
Identifies areas throughout the deployment process that require additional focus e.g., investments, capacity build up, competence training. Prepare and drive approval of necessary cases/improvements together with the Material & Innovation Manager.
Act as a sounding board for the Category Area and individual categories throughout the DNS process for matters concerning deployment and engagement in both category and business dimensions
Develop tactics to drive engagement and increase speed of material and innovation deployment for both specific material area and general deployment projects
Contribute to the development of best practice in material and innovation deployment
Act as a spokesperson for material & innovation projects and for the deployment process

The position requires domestic & international travelling and reports to Material & Innovation Manager, CA Electronics and Home Accessories.
Qualifications
We are looking for a creative, business-minded person who has a passion for creating positive change, making things happen, with a strong ability to lead and navigate in a complex and rapidly changing environments. We need a strong leader with the ability to lead, inspire and motivate others.
To be successful in this assignment, we wish that you:
Have deep knowledge of project management and project management tools and have proven record of leading successful projects from a holistic business perspective, acting with customer, supply chain and total IKEA in mind
Have proven record of high and successful performance in leading and developing business in the area of Purchasing/Supply chain, Product development, Business leadership or any other relevant role
Are able to combine working on both strategic and tactical/operational level and to break down complex assignment into logical steps
Have good understanding of key business planning processes like Category/Range business planning, Supplier development process (SDP), Purchasing development process (PDP), Sourcing assignment process or equivalent processes
Have very good knowledge of the value chain from raw material to finished goods, of supplier capabilities and material & production processes
Are strong in engaging and motivating people by supporting in building network, sharing experiences & knowledge and coaching others
Have strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build relationships with all levels of both internal stakeholders and external partners
Have capability to lead with clear and inspiring communication
Are passionate about the Category Area’s affordability and sustainability plan as displayed in the Material direction

Additional information
If you have any question regarding the position or the recruitment process, please reach out to People & Culture Recruiter Zuzana.vackova1@inter.ikea.com.
Do you want to join us? We look forward to receiving your application (CV and cover letter) in English. Last day for applying is September 19th, 2022.