Manager, Innovation at Guitar Center

Job Summary: 

The Manager, Innovation supports the Director of Innovation in driving the development and execution of new product initiatives that fuel growth and strengthen the company’s competitive edge. This role plays a critical part in identifying emerging opportunities, translating consumer insights into actionable product concepts, and supporting the innovation pipeline from idea to market readiness. Working cross-functionally with teams in Sourcing, Merchandising, Marketing, and Consumer Insights, the Manager will help bring forward-thinking ideas to life while ensuring alignment with business objectives and customer needs. 

Responsibilities will include, but are not limited to: 

• Innovation Execution: Support the end-to-end development of new product concepts and initiatives, from ideation and concept validation through to early-stage development and handoff to execution teams.
• Consumer Insight Application: Use consumer data, trend research, and market analysis to identify unmet needs and guide product direction. Translate insights into compelling value propositions and concept briefs.
• Opportunity Assessment: Conduct initial market and competitive assessments to vet new product opportunities and inform prioritization decisions.
• Product Concepting: Develop early product concepts, specs, and creative briefs, incorporating new materials, designs, and technologies that align with brand positioning and consumer demand.
• UI/UX/ID Leadership: Support ideation and development teams with concepts, direction and design reviews for Industrial Design, User Interaction and User Interfaces, including hardware, display-based and app-based interfaces and operation. 
• Business Case Support: Assist in financial modeling for new concepts, including initial forecasting, cost estimates, and scenario planning to evaluate business impact.Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with Sourcing, Product Development, and Merchandising to ensure innovation concepts are feasible, scalable, and aligned with operational capabilities.
• Trend & Market Tracking: Continuously monitor cultural, market, and consumer trends to inform innovation roadmaps and identify whitespace opportunities. Translate competitive landscape and feature analysis into actionable insights
• Voice of the Customer: Advocate for customer needs throughout the development process, ensuring new products deliver meaningful and relevant value.
• Innovation Process Improvement: Support the enhancement of innovation frameworks, tools, and workflows that increase speed, clarity, and collaboration. Implement use of AI where feasible. Facilitate design-thinking workshops, user-testing to optimize opportunities. 
• Stakeholder Communication: Prepare presentations and materials to communicate innovation opportunities, project status, and insights to leadership and cross-functional partners.
• Team Collaboration: Mentor and guide junior team members or cross-functional contributors, fostering a culture of creativity, accountability, and collaboration.