Innovation Consultant

You’re not the person who will settle for just any role. Neither are we. Because we’re out to create Better Care for a Better World, and that takes a certain kind of person and teams who care about making a difference. Here, you’ll bring your professional expertise, talent, and drive to building and managing our portfolio of iconic, ground-breaking brands. In this role, you’ll help us deliver better care for billions of people around the world. It starts with YOU.

This role offers a unique opportunity to shape the future of procurement innovation and contribute to the company’s long-term business growth. If you are passionate about driving change and fostering innovation, we encourage you to apply

**In this role, you will**:

- Develop strategic frameworks and collaborate with buyers to embed innovation into category strategies and scorecards for balanced impact.
- Partner with cross-functional teams (e.g., R&D, Marketing, Sustainability) to identify and prioritize innovation initiatives across multiple categories.
- Support the development, negotiation and execution of early-stage agreements to protect intellectual property, strategic interests and value-driven partnerships.
- Scout and monitor technologies, industry and market trends, and emerging suppliers aligned with strategic business needs to inform pipeline development.
- Act as innovation champion within Procurement, influencing stakeholders to take calculated risks, drive experimentation and continuous improvement.
- Utilize digital and analytical tools (e.g., Power BI, SAP, Coupa) to drive data-driven decision-making and procurement innovation strategies.
- Support manager in the execution of open innovation programs and processes

**About Us**

Huggies®. Kleenex®. Cottonelle®. Scott®. Kotex®. Poise®. Depend®. Kimberly-Clark Professional®. You already know our legendary brands—and so does the rest of the world. In fact, millions of people use Kimberly-Clark products every day. We know these amazing Kimberly-Clark products wouldn’t exist without talented professionals, like you.

At Kimberly-Clark, you’ll be part of the best team committed to driving innovation, growth and impact. We’re founded on more than 150 years of market leadership, and we’re always looking for new and better ways to perform - so there’s your open door of opportunity. It’s all here for you at Kimberly-Clark.

**Led by Purpose. Driven by You.**

**About You**

You perform at the highest level possible, and you appreciate a performance culture fueled by authentic caring. You want to be part of a company actively dedicated to sustainability, inclusion, wellbeing, and career development.

You love what you do, especially when the work you do makes a difference. At Kimberly-Clark, we’re constantly exploring new ideas on how, when, and where we can best achieve results. When you join our team, you’ll experience Flex That Works: flexible (hybrid) work arrangements that empower you to have purposeful time in the office and partner with your leader to make flexibility work for both you and the business.

In one of our professional roles, you’ll focus on winning with consumers and the market, while putting safety, mutual respect, and human dignity at the center.

**To succeed in this role, you will need the following qualifications**:

- Bachelor’s degree in business, supply chain, engineering, marketing or related field
- 8+ years of relevant experience in Procurement, R&D or Marketing
- Demonstrated experience in cross-functional strategy development and execution
- Comfortable navigating ambiguity and driving clarity in complex or evolving business situations
- Change management & agility to navigate ambiguity and drive clarity in complex or evolving business situations
- Strong verbal and written communication skills
- Proven influencing and stakeholder engagement skills across cultures and levels
- Expertise in supplier development & relationship management to foster collaboration
- Negotiation & contract management expertise, particularly in developmental or early-stage agreements
- Knowledge of supplier innovation scouting, early-stage sourcing processes, and intellectual property considerations
- Ability to conduct cost-benefit analyses for new procurement strategies, innovation investments and supplier partnerships
- Advanced working knowledge of Excel, PowerPoint and SAP

**Preferred Qualifications**:

- Advanced degree in related field
- Global experience in Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) or similar industry
- Familiarity with data visualization and financial modeling to calculate revenue impact and margin growth, ensuring innovation initiatives align with business objectives.
- Exposure to external innovation scouting, open innovation platforms, or innovation accelerators/incubators
- Prior experience with upstream or innovation-related Procurement, new product development and pilot contracting processes

Global locations outside North America will be considered.

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