Innovation Lab Leader

About the Role

The Innovation Lab Leader role is a highimpact leadership role responsible for designing launching and leading the People functions Innovation Laba strategic incubator for pioneering ideas that advance people priorities. Initially focused on AI use cases in HR the lab will bring teams together to brainstorm ideate articulate prototype incubate and evaluate innovation ideas before transitioning them to other teams for .

This role requires a visionary yet handson leader who can establish and facilitate a structured highimpact innovation pipelinecurating and refining ideas that deliver measurable business value. The ideal candidate brings expertise in innovation strategy and transformation fluency in digital and AI trends and a proven ability to mobilize crossfunctional teams in a complex matrixed enterprise.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and lead the Innovation Lab defining its vision governance and operating model to align with the People functions strategic priorities.

• Develop success metrics to track the labs impact ensuring transparency and accountability in outcomes from idea generation to .

• Develop a robust selection process for lab participants ensuring a mix of perspectives skills and experiences.

• Curate and run structured ideation sessions workshops and incubators ensuring diverse participation and creative problemsolving.

• Establish and maintain a pipeline of highimpact ideas balancing desirability feasibility and viability while driving tangible business outcomes.

• Facilitate the endtoend innovation process from idea generation to refinement and prioritization ensuring the strongest ideas are vetted and handed off for .

• Foster strong internal and external partnerships to accelerate idea refinement and implementation.

• Continuously iterate on lab methodologies based on stakeholder feedback evolving best practices and business needs.

• Craft compelling business cases that articulate the value and viability of labgenerated ideas gaining executive sponsorship and buyin.

• Facilitate executive briefings stakeholder engagement sessions and leadership forums to drive visibility and credibility for the labs work.

The Ideal Candidate

You are a strategic facilitator and orchestrator of innovationa leader who thrives in ambiguity translates vision into action and builds highperforming collaborative environments. You have deep experience leading innovation and transformation initiatives ensuring the right ideas move forward and deliver measurable impact.

Key Qualifications & Experience

• 7 years of experience in innovation strategy digital transformation HR or a related field.

• Strong AI fluencynot as a technologist but as a strategic thinker who understands its applications in HR.

• Proven ability to build and scale new teams or initiatives particularly in large matrixed organizations.

• Exceptional facilitation and collaboration skills with experience leading brainstorming ideation and prioritization sessions.

• Strong business acumen with the ability to craft persuasive business cases and influence senior leaders.

• Experience in HR or a strong ability to assess HRrelevant innovation opportunities.

• Background in humancentered design agile innovation or structured problemsolving methodologies preferred.

Leadership Attributes

• Visionary & Pragmatic You inspire bold thinking while ensuring and impact.

• Influential & Persuasive You build trust and drive change without direct authority.

• Master Facilitator You create dynamic engaging ideation environments that surface the best ideas.

• Pipeline Owner & Orchestrator You maintain a steady flow of highquality prioritized ideas for .

• Agile & Adaptive You navigate ambiguity and pivot when needed.

• DataDriven & ResultsOriented You quantify success and drive accountability.

#LIHybrid

Northwestern Mutual pays on a geographicspecific salary structure and placement in the salary range for this position will be determined by a number of factors including the skills education training credentials and experience of the candidate; the scope complexity as well as the cost of labor in the market; and other conditions of employment. At Northwestern Mutual it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their role and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. Please note that the salary range listed in the posting is the standard pay structure. Positions in certain locations (such as California) may provide an increase on the standard pay structure based on the location. Please click here for additional information relating to locationbased pay structures.

Job Posting End Date:

The timeline for this job posting may be shortened or extended based on organizational needs

We are an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race color religion gender identity or expression sexual orientation national origin disability age or status as a protected veteran or any other characteristic protected by law.

If you work or would be working in California Colorado New York City Washington or outside of a Corporate location please click here for information pertaining to compensation and benefits.