VP of Innovation Execution

Vice President of Innovation Execution  

Who We Are: 

GEODIS specializes in unlocking business value in a complex world, ensuring seamless movement of goods worldwide. As a global third-party logistics provider (3PL), we power A Better Way to Deliver for the world's top brands and manufacturers. Fuel your career with GEODIS and discover endless growth opportunities. 

Your role on the team: (job description) 

• This role owns four things end to end:  

• The innovation process. Intake through concept, validation, development, and deployment.  

• Includes running the intake funnel and the standard a submission must meet to enter, setting stage criteria and gate decisions, and sequencing the active workload against capacity. 

• The resources and methods behind it. Funding mechanics, tooling, experiment design standards, coaching, and capability build across the business. 

• The measurement of results. What gets tracked, how value is verified after deployment, and what gets reported to leadership. 

• The improvement of the system itself. Finding where the process leaks value and fixing it. 

• Run the innovation process end to end. Own the flow from intake to deployment. Run the intake funnel, set the bar a submission must clear, and give submitters a clear answer either way. Set stage criteria, chair the gates, and hold the decision rights on advance, pivot, hold, and kill.  

• Sequence the active workload against capacity and say no to what the portfolio cannot carry. 

• Operate the portfolio. Hold portfolio balance against the ambition levels set by Strategy. Allocate stage-gated funding, manage the mix across core, adjacent, and transformational work, and report portfolio health rather than project status. Resist the gravity that pulls innovation budgets toward safe, near-term work. 

• Build the innovation capability. Own the methods, tooling, training, and coaching that let teams outside Innovation run credible innovation work. Capability is measured by what the business can do without the Innovation team present 

•  Measure and report value. Build the measurement system. Report leading indicators (throughput, stage conversion, cycle time, kill rate) and lagging indicators (realized value against hypothesis at 6, 12, and 24 months).  

• Publish honestly. A portfolio with no failures is not innovating. 

• Execute partnerships and manage IP. Scope, structure, and manage external collaborations with startups, vendors, and academic partners under the approach set by Strategy. Identify and protect IP as it is created, not retroactively. 

• Improve the system. Assess how the function is working, find where the process leaks value, and fix it. The operating model is itself subject to iteration. 

• Build and lead the team. Define the roles the function needs, make the case for them, hire, and lead. The team stays small and senior; growth is justified by throughput, not activity. Until those roles exist, the VP carries the work. Will be responsible for all or some of the following supervisory duties including: hiring; firing; training; coaching; performance evaluation; disciplinary action; grievances; compensation planning; scheduling and directing work; goal setting; approving  timecards and/or time off requests; etc. 

• Escalation to the Innovation leadership forum: changes to portfolio ambition mix, funding beyond the approved envelope, and termination of initiatives with active external partner commitments. 

• Enforce the validation discipline. Every concept enters with an explicit value hypothesis and the evidence required to falsify it. Own the experiment standard, the evidence thresholds, and the pilot protocols. Cost per validated learning is a governing metric. 

• Own the transition to operations. Define and run the handoff that moves a deployed solution into the owning business unit, with Operational Excellence taking the continuous improvement path 

Other Duties 

• As required and assigned 
• Supports GEODIS’ programs for Safety, Health, Environment, Quality , Ethics, Compliance, CSR and Sustainability 

What you need: (requirements) 

• 12+ years in progressively senior roles spanning innovation management, corporate strategy, product/portfolio management, or a comparable operating discipline 

• Demonstrated experience building a process, function, or governance system from the ground up (not just operating an existing one) 

• Experience running a stage-gate or similar structured process for moving concepts from intake through validation to deployment 

• Experience managing a portfolio of initiatives under uncertainty — funding, advancing, and killing work based on evidence — rather than single-project delivery 

• Experience partnering with senior/executive stakeholders, including presenting portfolio performance and value realization to leadership 

• Experience structuring and managing external partnerships (startups, vendors, academic institutions), including IP considerations 

• Experience operating in a peer-governance model (shared accountability with another senior leader, no reporting relationship) 

• Supply chain, logistics, or transportation industry experience preferred 

• Bachelor's degree required; MBA or other advanced degree preferred 

What you gain from joining our team: (benefits) 

• Access wages early with the Rain financial wellness app. 

• Free telemedical access to doctors and therapists through FirstStop Health available first day of employment! 

• Health, dental, and vision insurance after 30 days of employment 

• 401k match 

• Paid maternity and paternity leave 

• Access to career development, employee resource groups, and mentorship programs 

• Employee discounts 

• Access to employee perks like fitness class discounts and free access to a relaxation and meditation app 

• Free financial wellness programs 

• Daycare discount program 

• Opportunities to volunteer and give back to your community 

• + more!  

Join our Team! 

• Visit our website at workatGEODIS.com and chat with our virtual recruiter, Sophie, to fast-track your way to an interview. 

OR 

• Text DELIVER to 88300 to Apply1