Sr. Director, Ideation and Consumer Design CHC

Alfasigma is a privately held global healthcare company founded over 75 years ago in Italy, where it remains headquartered today in Bologna and Milan. The Group operates in over 100 markets spanning Europe, North and South America, Asia, and Africa. 

Over three years ago, we embarked on a transformative journey to become a truly global innovative healthcare company with a leading focus in Gastrointestinal (GI) health. We have experienced remarkable growth, nearly doubling our revenues, expanding geographically, and integrating several key acquisitions. We have also evolved our portfolio, expanded into rare and specialty segments, and strengthened our pipeline and people capabilities. 

But our journey is far from complete! In fact, this is just the beginning of a bold new chapter in Alfasigma's history. We are committed to advancing innovation and leveraging our deep expertise to provide better health and a better quality of life for patients and consumers worldwide, and expand our reach across diverse markets. 

To strengthen our team, we are currently looking for a Senior Director, Ideation and Design CHC

Purpose of the Job

The role leads the development and delivery of early-stage consumer-centric innovation for the CHC portfolio. It is responsible for ideating, designing, and validating new consumer propositions, experiences, and product concepts that address unmet needs and strengthen brand value. As a newly created global role, it will establish and embed a structured ideation capability across the organization—championing consumer obsession, enabling repeatable design practices, and building a high-value innovation pipeline that contributes to growth and profitability.

Principal Accountabilities

Build and Embed a New Global Ideation & Consumer Design Capability

• Establish the operating model, processes, and tools for a global ideation and consumer design function with a key interface into the global R&D organisation and an agile innovation process.
• Drive awareness, adoption, and cultural shift toward consumer-centric innovation across CHC.
• Establish a culture of design thinking, sprinting, and rapid iteration tools across the global strategy and R&D teams to rapidly build innovation value and cadence.
• Bring outside-in next practice to Alfasignma and be build our innovation brand externally as a partner of choice.

Generate High-Value Innovation Opportunities

• Lead structured ideation to identify whitespace, unmet consumer needs/tensions, and early innovation opportunities.
• Feed the global innovation pipeline with consumer- and brand-centric concepts that have clear market and commercial value across our strategic markets.
• Partner with Category, R&D, Insights, and Marketing to align ideation with brand strategy and design minimum viable propositions with maximum technical feasibility.

Design and Develop Consumer Propositions & Experiences

• Translate consumer insights into compelling value propositions, early product concepts, and holistic consumer experiences.
• Develop repeatable brand assets and design frameworks that strengthen brand consistency and differentiation.
• Ensure all consumer experience design remain true to brand equity and purpose while addressing unmet or underserved needs.

Lead Early Validation & Rapid Concept Testing

• Define and execute validation methodologies: rapid prototyping, qualitative/quantitative testing, and in-context feedback loops in partnership with CHC R&D
• Partner with Consumer Insights and external research agencies to test desirability, usability, and proposition strength.
• Use data-driven evaluation to recommend go/no-go decisions for pipeline progression.

Drive Design-to-Value, Sustainability and Cost Optimization

• Champion design-to-value approaches to optimize product design, packaging, cost, and user experience and environmental impact.
• Collaborate with Technical, R&D, Operations, and Category teams to ensure concepts can be delivered efficiently and competitively.
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Cross-Functional Leadership & Storytelling

• Collaborate closely with CHC R&D, Marketing, Insights, Commercial, and regional teams to integrate early concepts into category plans and roadmaps.
• Communicate innovation opportunities and early-stage concepts through compelling storytelling that inspires stakeholders and secures alignment.
• Promote a culture of consumer obsession and innovation excellence across the Alfasigma organization.

Example KPIs

• Pipeline value
• Validation of early-stage concepts
• Innovation sales contribution (through progression of validated ideas)
• Design-to-value / COGS improvements
• Pipeline progression and cadence

Qualifications 

Work Experience

• Minimum of 12 years in Consumer Health Care, FMCG, or design-driven consumer industries.
• Proven experience in innovation, early-stage concept development, consumer design, or ideation leadership.
• Strong track record of turning insights into commercially successful concepts.
• Experience establishing new capabilities, frameworks, or ways of working in global or matrixed environments.
• Strong understanding of consumer insights, design thinking, rapid prototyping, and early validation approaches.

Education

• Master’s degree in Design, Marketing, Innovation, Behavioral Science, Business or any other related field.
• Additional certifications in Design Thinking or Human-Centered Design (HCD) is a plus.

Competencies & Major Skills

• Deep consumer empathy and ability to translate insights into actionable concepts
• Skilled facilitator familiar with innovation frameworks (design thinking, sprint methodology, etc.)
• Strong creative judgment combined with commercial acumen
• Excellent communicator and storyteller who can inspire teams and influence senior stakeholders
• Ability to work in ambiguity, build structure where none exists, and drive alignment
• Leadership experience managing small, high-performing teams
• Fluent in English. Other languages are a plus
• Smart approach and excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office Package and key tools

Why Join Alfasigma? 

• At Alfasigma, we foster a culture where the courage to innovate is key to our success. We offer a competitive salary, comprehensive benefits, and extensive opportunities for professional growth and development. 
• Our commitment to people and patients is at the heart of everything we do. We value diversity and welcome individuals with unique perspectives and experiences. We believe that open-mindedness, collaboration, and a shared passion for innovation are essential to achieving meaningful progress. 

Join Alfasigma and become part of a forward-thinking team dedicated to shaping the future of the pharmaceutical industry.