Innovation Manager

Internal Management & Management Support Applicants:

Automatic notification to your current manager will be initiated upon selection for interview. This applies to all current P or M level candidates.

Relocation Assistance Eligible:

Referral Payout Eligible:

Continue growing with our family. 

Our team members make it happen. If you want to continue to grow in a new role internally and see a position that looks right for you, we encourage you to apply!

Thanks for your commitment to Tyson Foods. 

Management Level:

Job Summary 

The Innovation Manager drives sustainable business growth by developing and executing a consumer-led innovation pipeline. The Innovation Manager identifies emerging opportunities, translates consumer and marketplace insights into actionable growth strategies, and leads cross-functional teams to bring differentiated products and experiences to market. 

Success requires a balance of strategic thinking and execution excellence. The ideal candidate thrives in a fast-paced corporate environment, builds trusted relationships, can influence despite not owning final decision, and turns insights into commercially successful innovation. 

This position sits full time onsite in Springdale, Arkansas.

Key Responsibilities 

Growth Strategy & Pipeline Development 

• Develop and manage a robust innovation pipeline aligned to brand, category, and business growth objectives. 
• Identify opportunities through consumer insights, trends, competitive intelligence, and analytics. 

• Build short- and long-term strategies that deliver sustainable revenue, profit, and share growth. 

• Prioritize opportunities based on consumer relevance, business impact, and feasibility. 

Consumer-Led Innovation 

• Champion the voice of the consumer throughout the innovation process. 

• Partner across Insights, Marketing, R&D, Sales, and various cross-functional teams to translate unmet needs into differentiated solutions. 

• Develop compelling value propositions and positioning that create a meaningful competitive advantage. 

• Lead concept development, validation, optimization, and commercialization. 

End-to-End Innovation Execution 

• Lead innovation initiatives from opportunity identification through launch and post-market evaluation. 

• Align cross-functional teams around clear objectives, milestones, and business outcomes. 

• Proactively manage risks, remove barriers, and drive decisions to maintain momentum. 

• Deliver initiatives on time, on budget, and with strong marketplace results. 

Leadership & Influence 

• Build trusted relationships across functions and organizational levels to accelerate alignment and decisions. 

• Influence stakeholders through insight-driven storytelling, business acumen, and collaboration. 

• Navigate competing priorities and complex business dynamics with confidence and balanced persistence. 

What Success Looks Like 

• Builds a pipeline that fuels future Enterprise growth. 

• Identifies opportunities before competitors.

• Turns consumer insights into action with winning innovation. 

• Creates alignment across diverse stakeholders. 

• Delivers measurable business impact through strategy and execution. 

Requirements:

Education: Bachelor's degree required; MBA preferred. 

Experience: Minimum of 3 years of experience in Innovation, Brand Marketing, Product Development, Consumer Insights, Strategy, or a related field. 

• Demonstrated success developing and commercializing innovation pipelines that drive growth. 
• Strong strategic thinking, analytical, problem-solving, and financial acumen, P&L exposure. 
• Proven ability to lead complex cross-functional initiatives and influence without direct authority. 
• Exceptional communication, relationship-building, and stakeholder management skills. 
• Ability to balance long-term strategic vision with near-term disciplined execution. 

Travel: 10-15%

Work Shift:

For Professional Management levels, internal applicants should either upload a resume to their application OR complete their application fully showing current and past work experience in the sections provided.

The successful candidate(s) must be willing and able to perform the physical requirements of the job with or without a reasonable accommodation.

Tyson is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, national origin, color, religion, age, genetics, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or veteran status.

We provide our team members and their families with paid time off; 401(k) plans; affordable health, life, dental, vision and prescription drug benefits; and more.

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