WE ARE SPEEDO

The world's leading swimwear brand, Speedo is passionate about life in and around the water. The brand's heritage of innovation derives from its leadership in competitive swimming, where more Olympic Gold Medals have been won in Speedo than any other brand.  Unmatched in performance, fit and feel, we are also America’s #1 goggle brand.

From the first splash, to every stroke, the genuine love and excitement we have working with the water is what creates exciting and meaningful relationships.

Speedo is not where we work, but is who we are.

It’s watching a baby in the pool for the first time or our athletes make history. What we do is sacred to us and our connection to the rest of water lovers around the world. Driven by the challenge, not the glory. At Speedo, it is never enough to be good at what you do; you have to love what you do.

Speedo is a part of the Pentland Brands Limited Family.

We are Pentland Brands, a global family business bringing some of the most loved active and footwear brands to millions of people around the world.

We own Speedo, Berghaus, Canterbury of New Zealand, Endura, Mitre, ellesse, SeaVees, Red or Dead and we’re the UK licensee for Kickers and have a joint venture partnership for Lacoste footwear. Our products are available in over 190 countries and are sold either directly by Group companies or are represented by licensees and distributors.

All our brands have their own unique identities and every one of them is powered by Pentland. We have more than 1,200 employees worldwide and we’re always on the lookout for talented, enthusiastic people to help shape our future.

We celebrate differences and give everyone the freedom to innovate and develop, be it through creative working environments or learning opportunities. Our brands are there in the moments that matter - being there for more people, in more of those moments, drives everything we do.

At Pentland, we’re guided by four principles, we use these to make sure we’re not only doing a great job, but we’re doing it in the right way:

• Success is a team game
• With clarity and courage
• Better as standard
• In good conscience

We believe in building brands for the world to love, generation after generation. Your potential is our potential and together we can build and grow brands that last.

KEY PURPOSE:   

Leading agile ‘squads’ of functional experts from the business, in projects dedicated to the delivery of ‘New Propositions and Innovation’ (NPI). You will lead the creation of new propositions for the brand from concept, to detailed insight/scoping, design, development and, in some cases, delivery in market.   

You will be engaging with consumers, insights providers, our own Pentland Innovation Hub and industry experts to hone new products and services that uniquely solve real consumer pain points for the Brand. You will lead teams through a Design Thinking approach to creating products and services, iteratively reducing uncertainty on this journey, by reshaping and refining solutions according to consumer and customer feedback. To succeed in this role, you must be comfortable with failure yet driven by success. 

As an inquisitive problem solver, you will use an entrepreneurial mindset to engage and lead your squads in delivering transformative solutions, that will set us apart as a leader in the our market. You will build and leverage a strong internal network across Pentland Brands, to ensure projects have the awareness, endorsement, and support to land successfully. As a vanguard of new ways of working, you’ll share learnings and help to embed a more entrepreneurial spirit across the organisation. 

You will work closely with the SVP and Brand Team to ensure new propositions are tied to the brand strategy and market plans and are a key lever in growing our consumer reach and brand equity. 

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES: 

•  Successful leadership of teams to deliver innovative propositions with pace, to varying degrees of scale and complexity, in line with the brands innovation pipeline and strategic plans
• Identify, onboard and lead agile squads to work cross-functionally, engaging and motivating the team in organising and delivering effectively against opportunities. 
• Own the business documents such as Business Cases, Project Briefs and the Innovation Blueprints that will be used to roadmap and govern progression of NPI opportunities. 
• Run consumer insights activities and events that will ensure the brand stays close to consumers and genuinely embeds consumer-first mindset in our ways of working Support the Brand Team by using proven innovation methodologies and existing research in the business, and beyond, to identify new opportunity areas. 
• Pioneer and establish ‘test and learn’ approach in teams, building collective learning through failure. 
• Be a leader in challenging the status quo; questioning established functional assumptions and norms when required. 
• Manage multiple initiatives and teams at any given time, along various stages of the proposition journey 
• Embody a vibrant and innovative culture leading to a cohesive team that support and challenge each other. 
• Build and leverage strong relationships with key stakeholders internally, externally and across industries, to ensure your team has a robust network that can be tapped into as needed to prove and deliver solutions. 

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE:

• Proven successful NPI experience
• Ability to work independent and within a team environment
• Strong leadership skills
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously
• Strong written and verbal and communication skills
• Excellent time management and organizational skills
• Proficient in Microsoft Suite, primarily Excel and PowerPoint
• Flexible/adaptable in a fast-paced environment