Innovation Director, Milk Based Beverages - Aarhus

Do you understand the ins and outs of the beverage industry? And would you like to impact innovation in Arla?

Then you should join us to set the direction for our Milk, MBB and powder categories, acting as decision-maker and key point of contact between our R&D functions, commercial and Supply Chain

Over the past three years, we’ve fundamentally changed the way we work with innovation — reshaping our organisation, strengthening cross-functional collaboration, and building a foundation for what comes next. Now, we’re ready to take the next step creating innovations that make a meaningful, positive difference in people’s lives. “You’ll be joining us at a pivotal moment, working closely with senior leaders to help define the future of your category — almost like leading your own organisation within the organisation,” says Innovation VP Sandra Irene Jørgensen.

About the job

As innovation director, you will be strategically and operationally innovation/R&D responsible for our Milk, MBB and powder categories. Therefore, you can look forward to working with Research & Discovery specialists across Innovation to ensure that a road map of both short and long-term activities are established and executed to deliver the strategy.

Moreover, you will work alongside senior leaders from supply chain and commercial functions, forming an executive team responsible for the short, mid and long-term agenda for the categories. Thus, constituting an equal-sided unit, you will pin-point areas that define the parameters for the strategy. These units are referred to as stronghold units and are fundamental in Arla’s strategy.

Dividing your time between the operational and strategic work within your category, your key tasks will be to

• Strong leadership towards +25 employees incl. three leaders


• Drive the long-term road maps for each area with your teams to ensure that we maintain a technical and product-related competitive advantage


• Drive strategic discussions with the decision-making leaders from supply chain and commercial functions


• Participate in the development of our Starbucks ready-to-drink business with our partner Starbucks and utilize innovations with new partners.

Who are you?

The key to success in this position will be your ability to balance short, mid and long-term agendas, not letting yourself get side-tracked by the here-and-now issues, nor losing sight of the future. You bring commercial acumen and a consumer centric approach to you way of thinking and driving agendas. Equally important is your aptitude for change management, as you will be instrumental in driving forward a new way of operating and working together within Innovation as well as your category.

In order to drive this, you

• Hold a master’s degree in e.g., food technology or innovation – it could also be that you have experience working with the categories, in the beverage industry or other FMCG’s


• Have exceptional communication skills enabling you to deliver clear-cut messages of technically difficult material to non-technical stakeholders and at all levels in the organisation


• Are curious by nature and driven by the desire to get to know and understand your category, its products and the technical know-how/science needed to stay competitive long-term


• Have a holistic and strategic approach to your tasks and the ability to tie specialists to your category by fostering a sense of unity across teams


• Bring an assertive nature enabling you to stand your ground and set a clear direction for your category’s innovation/R&D strategy


• Have solid stakeholder management skills

Application and contact

If you want to drive innovation and help shape the industry, then seize this exciting opportunity. We process applications on a continuous basis and close the job opening once the right candidate has been found.

For additional information, please call Senior TA Consultant, Dorthe Holm Jensen +4551482035.

Shape the Future of Dairy

Arla is a global leader in the dairy industry, committed to enabling good food choices that make life better, providing people with natural, sustainable nourishment, while taking care at every step to ensure Arla is a choice they can feel good about. If you are looking to shape the future with an ambitious global cooperative that truly cares about your growth, where everyone feels valued and empowered, and collaboration is the core of culture, Arla is a choice you can feel good about.

#LI-DOJEB

Ref. 106057