Job Title: Organization Change Management (OCM) & Communications Lead – Innovation Transformation
Work Location: Bridgewater, NJ, 08807 (Hybrid)
Duration : 6 months 26 days
Position Summary
The Organization Change Management (OCM) & Communications Lead – Innovation Transformation is responsible for leading the people, culture, and communications aspects of strategic innovation and transformation initiatives across the enterprise. This role partners closely with Innovation, Product, Technology, R&D, Strategy, and Business leaders to drive adoption of new operating models, innovation capabilities, ways of working, and organizational structures that accelerate growth and business value.
The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in organizational change management, strategic communications, stakeholder engagement, and innovation transformation. They possess a proven track record of helping organizations evolve from traditional operating models toward more agile, customer-centric, data-driven, and innovation-focused cultures.
This role serves as a trusted advisor to executive leadership and transformation teams, ensuring employees understand, embrace, and successfully adopt changes that enable innovation, experimentation, and continuous improvement.
Key Responsibilities
Innovation Transformation Change Leadership
- Lead organizational change management strategies supporting enterprise innovation, business transformation, and growth initiatives.
- Partner with Innovation, Strategy, Product, Technology, and Business leaders to design and implement change strategies that enable new innovation capabilities and operating models.
- Support transformations involving innovation portfolio management, product-centric operating models, agile ways of working, design thinking, customer-centered innovation, digital transformation, and emerging technology adoption.
- Conduct organizational readiness assessments and change impact analyses related to innovation function redesigns, governance changes, process improvements, and capability-building initiatives.
- Develop and execute adoption strategies that help employees transition to new innovation frameworks, methodologies, tools, and behaviors.
- Identify and address organizational barriers that inhibit innovation, collaboration, experimentation, and change adoption.
- Support the evolution of organizational culture toward greater agility, innovation, learning, and customer focus.
Strategic Communications & Innovation Storytelling
- Develop comprehensive communication strategies that articulate the vision, purpose, value, and progress of innovation transformation initiatives.
- Create compelling narratives that connect innovation investments and transformation efforts to organizational strategy and business outcomes.
- Translate complex innovation concepts, operating model changes, and strategic initiatives into clear, engaging, and actionable communications for diverse audiences.
- Develop executive messaging, leadership presentations, town halls, intranet content, videos, newsletters, FAQs, success stories, and employee engagement campaigns.
- Build communication plans that drive awareness, understanding, commitment, and sustained adoption throughout transformation journeys.
- Establish communication frameworks that highlight innovation achievements, lessons learned, employee contributions, and measurable business impact.
- Ensure consistent messaging across innovation, business, technology, and leadership stakeholders.
Stakeholder Engagement & Executive Advisory
- Partner with executive sponsors and senior leaders to align stakeholders around transformation objectives and desired outcomes.
- Develop stakeholder engagement strategies for innovation leaders, product teams, R&D organizations, business units, and enterprise support functions.
- Coach executives and leaders on change leadership, communication effectiveness, and stakeholder engagement practices.
- Build and manage networks of change champions, innovation ambassadors, and transformation advocates.
- Facilitate leadership workshops, innovation forums, stakeholder sessions, and alignment meetings.
- Assess stakeholder sentiment and resistance risks, developing targeted mitigation strategies as needed.
Culture Change & Innovation Adoption
- Design and implement initiatives that foster a culture of innovation, experimentation, collaboration, and continuous learning.
- Support organizational shifts toward agile, product-centric, customer-focused, and cross-functional ways of working.
- Develop strategies that reinforce desired mindsets and behaviors, including experimentation, rapid learning, customer empathy, and data-driven decision making.
- Create recognition and reinforcement programs that celebrate innovation successes and encourage adoption of new practices.
- Partner with HR and leadership teams to align talent, performance, capability-building, and culture initiatives with transformation goals.
Change Impact Assessment & Readiness
- Conduct detailed change impact assessments across people, processes, technology, governance, and organizational structures.
- Evaluate organizational readiness and develop interventions to address adoption gaps and change risks.
- Develop role-based readiness and transition plans for leaders, managers, and employees.
- Assess workforce implications associated with innovation strategy implementation and organizational redesign efforts.
- Develop risk mitigation and resistance management plans for complex transformation programs.
Learning, Enablement & Capability Building
- Partner with learning and development teams to identify capability requirements related to innovation and transformation initiatives.
- Support the development of learning strategies, training programs, workshops, toolkits, and job aids.
- Enable employees and leaders to adopt new innovation methodologies, tools, frameworks, and ways of working.
- Measure learning effectiveness and readiness outcomes to ensure successful adoption.
Measurement & Transformation Effectiveness
- Establish change management and communications metrics that measure awareness, engagement, readiness, adoption, and business outcomes.
- Monitor organizational health indicators, stakeholder sentiment, and transformation progress.
- Develop executive dashboards and reporting that provide insights into change effectiveness and organizational readiness.
- Analyze qualitative and quantitative feedback to continuously improve transformation strategies and interventions.
- Capture lessons learned and institutionalize best practices across innovation initiatives.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in business, Communications, Organizational Development, Human Resources, Psychology, Innovation Management, or a related field.
- 10+ years of experience leading organizational change management and strategic communications initiatives.
- Demonstrated experience supporting large-scale innovation transformations, digital transformations, operating model redesigns, or enterprise change initiatives.
- Experience partnering with Innovation, Product Management, R&D, Technology, Strategy, or Transformation organizations.
- Strong knowledge of change management methodologies, including Prosci ADKAR, Kotter, organizational design principles, and adoption frameworks.
- Proven ability to develop executive-level communications and strategic narratives for complex transformation programs.
- Experience influencing senior leaders and navigating highly matrixed environments.
- Exceptional communication, facilitation, stakeholder management, and consulting skills.
Preferred Qualifications
- Prosci Change Management Certification or equivalent certification.
- Experience supporting innovation centers of excellence, innovation labs, venture incubation programs, product transformations, or enterprise innovation portfolios.
- Knowledge of design thinking, lean startup, agile methodologies, human-centered design, and product operating models.
- Experience with organizational culture transformation initiatives.
- Master’s degree in organizational development, Business Administration, Communications, Innovation, or a related field.
- Desired Experience in Innovation Function Transformation
Candidates should demonstrate experience in one or more of the following areas:
- Transforming centralized or decentralized Innovation organizations.
- Establishing innovation operating models, governance structures, and portfolio management processes.
- Driving adoption of design thinking, agile, lean startup, or product management practices.
- Supporting digital innovation, AI, automation, emerging technology, and future-of-work initiatives.
- Leading communications and engagement strategies during innovation function restructures or capability-building efforts.
- Building cultures that encourage experimentation, collaboration, customer-centricity, and continuous learning.
- Supporting mergers, acquisitions, or organizational integrations involving innovation teams and capabilities.
- Driving enterprise-wide innovation awareness and engagement campaigns.
Key Competencies
- Innovation Mindset
- Strategic Communications
- Executive Influence
- Organizational Change Leadership
- Stakeholder Engagement
- Transformation Program Leadership
- Storytelling and Narrative Development
- Culture Change Management
- Agile and Product Mindset Enablement
- Facilitation and Workshop Leadership
- Data-Driven Decision Making
- Collaboration and Relationship Building
Success Measures
- Successful adoption of innovation operating models, tools, and methodologies.
- Increased stakeholder engagement and sponsorship effectiveness.
- Improved organizational readiness and change adoption metrics.
- Positive employee sentiment regarding transformation initiatives.
- Demonstrated culture shifts toward innovation, agility, and collaboration.
- Achievement of innovation transformation objectives and business outcomes.
- Increased awareness, participation, and engagement across innovation programs.
Pay: $80.00 - $85.00 per hour
Benefits:
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Westchester, IL 60154
