Do you bring extensive experience in creating and driving consumer and sensory strategy in a FMCG or Pharmaceutical business? Do you want to participate and drive the user centricity transformation within our Specialized Nutrition (SN) category business? 

Then join us, as User Experience SN Early life and Specialized Pediatrics Director, within a dynamic team in the User Experience department of Danone Global Research & Innovation Center. 

Danone Global Research & Innovation Center located in the Utrecht Science Park in the Netherlands is a state-of-the-art Life Science innovation center for the development of new product concepts for Specialized Nutrition. We create formulas that provide clinically substantiated health benefits to vulnerable consumers – infants, toddlers, elderly and patients.  .

BUSINESS CONTEXT  

Our dynamic community, with more than 90 collaborators across the world, main mission is to the embody consumer voice to inspire and co-design awesome food experience that people will enjoy. We work in a multi-disciplinary business environment, to understand consumer’s behaviors and expectations and design Products and Packaging. We partner with leading edge scientists and agencies to build competitive advantage for Danone.  

The Director for Early life and Specialized Peads categories develops and drives the implementation of the UX strategy and priorities.  

Their main mission is to :  

1. Engage Marketing and R&I teams towards User Experience strategy to deliver category growth through superior products and meaningful claims/campaigns. 

2. Influence the R&I transformation towards user centricity by inspiring with user insights and competitive understanding to co-build superior innovations. 

3. Ensure awesome user experience in every product we launch; by uncovering sensory and user experience drivers. 

4. Empower the UX team towards the transformation with clear focus and prioritization. 

This role requires the individual to interface with multi-disciplinary teams and key capabilities in R&I, to be a real business partner to the SN marketing teams.  Given this, the applicant should bring experience in consumer and design research together with a passion for bringing the consumer voice into the business. They will have the ability to influence and lead the change with key business partners, as well as engaging their team towards transformation. Enabling Danone to be  both consumer and science led.  

This role is part of the Management Team of SN UX and report directly to SN UX Director. 

• Build a strong relationship with your business partners R&I, S&I, Marketing and external suppliers
  • Constructively influence key stakeholders to build a common strategy, integrate the user voice in projects, from insight hunting to the adequate validation process
  • Build and nurture collaborations with suppliers (Sensory & Consumer Agencies, Design Agencies, etc…) and consumers 
  • Actively work in partnership with global UX and strengthen the UX community locally : deploy the strategy, build & share best practices, develop the adequate skill set and right level of expertise. 
• Define, lead and deliver the sensory and consumer insights roadmap to inspire and impact business growth 
  • Contribute to the co-building of the UX Early life and Specialized Peads strategies in close collaboration with Research & Innovation (R&I) Innovation, Design and Development Centre (IDDC) and Marketing teams. 
  • Be the catalyst of a consumer centric organization and drive consumer empathy. Be the change agent to put the consumer at the heart of product & pack development to ensure outstanding and unique products experience in line with the positioning of our brands for greater market success 
•  Develop high performing team 
  • Lead and develop a team of 7 people, to ensure continuous people growth and performance. 

ABOUT YOU 

• At least 15 years with a strong expertise in sensory and consumer research (behavior, qualitative and quantitative) in FMCG or Pharma Company. 

• Business and results oriented, demonstrating high level of critical thinking and business relevance. 

• Solid experience of collaborative working (including cross-functional teams), with strong leadership (including complex matrix environment) and inter-personal skills for dealing with and influencing a variety of people, both profile, experiences and seniority level.  

• Curious, organized and able to drive conviction-based arguments and activities – challenging the status quo 

• Good communication skills and ability to inspire with impactful story telling/animation 

• Have a passion for bringing the voice of the users into product design and for superiority. 

• Team management and people development 

• Resilience and adaptation to change, often with conflicting priorities.