Innovation Projects Lead

Location: Ōtāhuhu, Auckland

Function: Marketing

Type of Contract: Full-time Permanent

As DB’s Innovation Projects Lead, you’ll play a vital role in driving and managing the end-to-end innovation process. You'll champion the commercialisation of new products through the Heineken Innovation Process, ensuring a consistent approach to NPD across the business. This includes chairing cross-functional project meetings, coordinating key stakeholders, and leading select innovation or marketing projects where needed. You’ll also take ownership of gate documentation and project timelines, and act as the go-to person for onboarding new team members to the innovation process.

Key Accountabilities:

- Champion the Heineken Innovation Process across all gate stages, ensuring consistency, compliance, and high-quality documentation to support successful NPD delivery.
- Coordinate and chair cross-functional project meetings, manage timelines, gate documentation, and ensure projects are delivered on time and in full.
- Provide executional and administrative support across innovation and marketing initiatives, contributing to both NPD and general marketing project work.
- Maintain global and local innovation trackers, measure innovation performance, and ensure adherence to process standards and audit requirements.
- Act as the key liaison across brand, supply chain, procurement, and commercial teams, and educate stakeholders on innovation process requirements.
- Support onboarding of new team members and drive continuous improvement by maintaining benchmarks and templates for effective project evaluation.

What you will bring with you:

- Proven experience in project coordination and administration, ideally within a fast-paced environment.
- Strong grasp of process management and confident leading communication across project teams.
- Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to engage effectively with both internal and external stakeholders.
- Familiarity with ERP systems and how they support project workflows.
- A keen eye for detail and a track record of delivering high-quality, accurate work.

This is more than just a job — it’s an opportunity to be part of a team at the forefront of innovation. You’ll be immersed in exciting projects with the chance to shape the future of our portfolio. Plus, with real growth potential into brand marketing, this is just the beginning of your journey at DB

When you join DB Breweries, you join the global HEINEKEN whānau, where everyone is encouraged to be themselves, contribute their ideas, learn, and grow as part of one of the largest beer and cider brewing companies in the world spanning 70 countries.

We believe diverse views make great brews, and the vibe in our team is very much reflected in our four values: PASSION for consumers and customers, CARE for people and planet, ENJOYMENT of life, and COURAGE to dream and pioneer. We offer a great range of employee benefits and positive culture which includes:

- Free health, life and income protection insurances.
- 5% employer contribution to your Kiwisaver.
- Free monthly allowance of beer, RTDs, cider or zero alcohol beverages.
- Up to 50% employee discount at Star Hospitality venues (Kapura and Joylab restaurants and bars).
- ‘Enjoyment of Life' leave (an extra day each year to do something you enjoy).
- A range of other benefits including generous parental leave provisions, free confidential counselling support, digital wills, feminine hygiene products, retail discounts and more.
- Free learning and wellbeing tools and leadership development programmes.
- As a member of Mind The Gap, we’re committed to addressing gender pay gaps and we’ve also supported the Pacific Pay Gap Inquiry.
- Flexible work arrangements for roles that can be performed remotely including work-from-home up to two days each week.
- Free parking.