Sr. Manager Innovation

Senior Manager, Innovation

Location: American Fork, UT or remote; must be willing to travel to UT at least 4x / yr

Type: Full-Time

About BUILT

At BUILT, we don’t just make protein bars, we’ve redefined them. We indulge the snacking senses in unexpected, better-for you ways. Our flagship BUILT Puff has 17g of protein and a light, marshmallow-y texture. You’ll see why so many people are loving our products and saying, “What the Puff!?” when they first try it.

Our culture is fast-paced, fun, and driven. We move quickly, think creatively, and celebrate wins as a team. Headquartered in American Fork, Utah, BUILT is a place where big ideas meet bold execution, and ambitious people can make a real impact.

If you want to be part of a company that’s changing the way people snack (and having a blast while doing it), BUILT is the place for you.

About The Role

We are looking for a Senior Manager, Innovation to lead the strategy, development, and commercialization of breakthrough products that shape the future of our brand and deliver meaningful value to consumers. This role leads a cross-functional innovation effort from whitespace exploration and concept development through commercialization and in-market performance.

You will identify emerging consumer needs, uncover new growth territories, study categories, design platforms, develop test-and-learn protocols, devise and deliver consumer testing protocols and results, and influence across the organization to bring transformative innovation to market.

This role blends strategic thinking, creative problem-solving, and operational excellence with a passion for food, nutrition, and a high-performance growth environment.

While this role reports to the Sr. Director of Brand, the successful candidate will collaborate extensively with Chief Commercial Officer and VP R&D and needs to demonstrate strong strategic, communication and business acumen.

Key Responsibilities

Consumer & Market Insight

• Mine consumer insights, trends, and competitive intelligence to uncover whitespace opportunities
• Leverage data (quant, qual, social listening, retail & DTC analytics) to fuel innovation strategy
  
  

Innovation Strategy & Pipeline Development

• Identify unmet consumer needs our brand can solve with products that fit our brand DNA
• Define near- and long-term innovation platforms rooted in consumer, category, and cultural insights
• Translate consumer and category insights into differentiated product concepts and scalable platforms
• Build and manage a robust innovation funnel that meets volume, revenue, and margin targets
• Generate consumer testing protocols / methodologies to validate concepts, fit with concept and size of prize
  
  

Cross-Functional Leadership & Commercialization

• Lead the full innovation process: insights → concepting → feasibility → formulation → packaging → launch
• Partner with R&D, Consumer Insights, Brand, Supply Chain, Sales, and Finance to deliver innovation on time & budget
• Collaborate with culinary and R&D teams to validate product direction through prototypes and sensory evaluations
• Guide consumer research, rapid testing, and iteration to validate product-market fit
  
  

Go-to-Market & Post-Launch

• Build go-to-market strategies and forecasts, and track and support customer sell-in
• Track post-launch performance and optimize product positioning, packaging, and messaging as needed
• Lead cross-functional post-mortems and embed learnings into future pipeline development
  
  

Qualifications

Required

• 7 years experience in classic CPG or challenger brand food marketing, with at least five in innovation specifically; candidates with no food and/or non-alc beverage experience will not be considered
• Proven success designing and launching new products, preferably including category extensions
• Strong foundation in brand strategy including packaging hierarchy, consumer insights, and portfolio management
• Deep experience partnering with R&D, supply chain, finance, and sales on commercialization
• Comfort in ambiguous, fast-moving environments; strong bias for action and learning
• Experience leading gated innovation processes
• Strong financial acumen, including volume/margin modeling and P&L implications
  
  

Preferred

• MBA or advanced degree in marketing, food science, business, or related field
• Experience with health, wellness, functional foods, or better-for-you categories
• Background in sensory testing, formulation collaboration, or culinary innovation
  
  

BUILT Bar is truly a standout among protein bars. With its exceptional nutritional profile and so many delicious flavors, BUILT Bar is the favorite protein bar of many discerning snackers, fitness trainers and fitness enthusiasts alike.