Director, Product Innovation

Position Overview

As Director of Product Innovation, you'll help chart the course Green Mountain Energy is on to accelerate a clean energy future. You'll keep the wind at our back by providing strategic counsel and fast-paced plans to maximize opportunities for our customers in areas such as in smart energy, distributed generation and energy efficiency.

Candidates should have a passion for renewable energy and be hungry in the pursuit of new products and services that maximize value for our residential and small business customers. You'll work as part of a cross-functional team including marketing, branding, operations, research, and IT as well as collaborate with senior leadership on strategic directions. If you're on an unrelenting quest to drive a sustainable future and have the skills to make it happen, we want to meet you.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of product management professionals to achieve both corporate and personal goals.
• Develop product and concepts to expand Green Mountain's reach within and beyond competitive electricity markets.
• Leverage a stage-gate development process to bring products from idea to launch.
• Define a product development roadmap and enroll cross functional leaders and team members.
• Develop business cases supporting new products and enhancements.
• Engage and enroll cross-functional teams and prioritize overall company efforts behind initiatives that offer the highest rate of return.
• Collaborate with research teams to understand consumer needs and insights that inform new products and service evolutions.
• Work closely with IT and operations to scope and deliver new products and services seamlessly from idea to launch.
• Partner with branding and marketing teams providing them the product expertise and tools to effectively market and enroll consumers.
• Maintain subject matter expertise in both product development disciplines as well specific products and services.
• Maintain keen awareness of emerging smart energy, distributed generation, and energy efficiency markets including vendors, products & services, standards, conferences, competitive threats & opportunities. Keep the organization properly informed as the market emerges.
• Represent Green Mountain at key conferences and events.
• Evangelize the development and future of renewable energy, distributed generation, smart meter technologies and energy efficiency both internally and externally.
• Measure and monitor products & services ensuring they meets consumer needs, achieve the committed business case metrics, and are implemented flawlessly to drive incremental sales and improve customer satisfaction and loyalty,
• Track customer, competitor, and company (products, operations, web, call center, risk, etc.) trends to anticipate future new product, service, and business model opportunities.
• Deliver business results in terms of revenue and customer count.

Qualifications

Skills and Abilities:

• Proven record of success in leading development of new products on an "end to end" (i.e., concept to activation) basis in highly competitive markets. This includes responsibility for each of the following: Up-front research / consumer insights, concept and product development, volume and profit forecasting, and most importantly successful commercialization (test-marketing and market expansion / optimization). 
• Has significant experience using a stage-gate or comparable process.
• Experience with Agile or other Product Development methodologies a plus.
• Acute business acumen to see the "big picture" & communicate effectively with senior leadership up to C-level.
• Creative and innovative mindset with the capacity to identify and unlock hidden value.
• Proven success as an agent of change - record of engaging and enrolling cross-functional experts, external agencies, and partners on transformational new ideas that disrupt status quo. Ability to lead a team in an environment of uncertainty. Project sponsorship and organizational skills including the capability to bring multiple functions together across the organization without direct reporting relationships.
• Excellent oral, written, and presentation communication skills at all levels.
• Ability to develop recommendations/action plans and manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Exceptional conceptual thinking skills, creativity that is supported by a process-oriented analytical and technical skill set.
• Contracting and contract management experience.
• Familiarity with IT systems and operating processes required to ensure execution consumer facing products.
• Ability to meet deadlines and prioritize both routine and unpredictable work activities and identify exceptions and recommend solutions to leadership.
• Excellent problem solving skills and ability to use good judgment to make recommendations and decisions.
• Ability to adapt to rapidly changing priorities, collaborative approach to issues and problems, and ability to work effectively both independently and with teams.
• Familiarity with retail electricity business, energy market models (specifically renewable energy), and tariffs a plus.
• Familiarity with Smart Grid/Smart energy, distributed generation, and energy efficiency industry including Time of Use, Demand Response, and Energy Management practices and standards a plus. National technology standards regarding Advanced Metering Implementation, Zigbee Wireless Communications, and other standards also beneficial.

Education: 

• Bachelor's Degree in Economics, Finance, Information Technology, Engineering, Marketing, or Business related field required

Experience:

• Ten plus years of progressive experience in consumer or small business product development. 
• Retail energy or retail marketing with a software or technology focus a plus.
• We are seeking candidates with a stable work history that demonstrate our core traits of innovation, partnership, commitment, tenacity and accountability.

To Apply

• Please click below: "Apply Now Online!" if you think you have what it takes to be a Director, Product Innovation.
• For immediate consideration, please type: "job code GMEC0414-139R" inot the subject field.
• Please submit the document in PC compatible Word or rich text file.