Head of Product Innovation
Pubblicato il 05-08-2026 - Intermedia Selection in Italia
Head of Product Innovation
For the Global Marketing team of a client company, we are currently looking for a Head of Product Innovation
The role
We are looking for a Head of Innovation that will own the journey from early signal to launch — spotting where the market is heading and shaping the propositions that respond to it. It is a hybrid insight-and-development role.
You will work alongside the Head of Marketing Strategy for market-research support and the automation team, whose role here is specifically to build and calibrate our trends-collection and data tools. You will also partner with category management and trading to bring new products into the offer.
Key Responsibilities
From insight to new products (core of the role)
- Translate consumer, cultural and market signals into clearly defined new product concepts and propositions, in collaboration with the Head of Marketing Strategy.
- Own product R&D; end to end — opportunity framing, proposition, positioning and development brief — focused on new products, not the existing catalogue.
- Identify white spaces and unmet needs and turn them into a prioritised R&D; pipeline.
- Take accountability for new products reaching the market.
Building new products into the offer
- Work with category management and trading to land new products in the offer.
- Define how and where new concepts enter the market.
- Track post-launch performance and feed it back into the next development cycle.
Trend and consumer intelligence (the input)
- Monitor social platforms (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and emerging channels), digital ecosystems, subcultures and lifestyle shifts.
- Identify early signals across leisure, wellness, travel and experiences.
- Combine qualitative cultural insight with data, drawing on the automation team's trends-collection and data tools.
Taking new products to market (cross-functional)
- Partner with the go-to-market (GTM) team to bring new products to market.
- Work closely with the marketing communications team on how new products are positioned and launched.
- Collaborate with the Head of Marketing Strategy to anchor R&D; direction in strategy and market research.
- Create the outputs that make this work land — product briefs, frameworks and playbooks.
Skills & Experience
- 8–10 years in product R&D;, consumer insights or new product development.
- A proven track record taking new products from concept to market.
- The ability to move fluently between insight discovery and new product definition.
- A strong understanding of social platforms, digital culture.
- Great knowledge of sourcing trends which shape future lifestyle products.
- Experience collaborating with communication and brand teams to launch new products.
- A commercial mindset, anchored in market data.
- Experience in r&d; / innovation teams of retail, lifestyle, travel or consumer brands.
Location: Milano
Compensation & Benefits: Gross Salary 80-90k+ MBO
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