Product Innovation Lead

Summary

Do you want your work to matter? Do you have serious business chops and want to use them to make a difference not just make a buck? Are you just looking for a change, or are you looking for the chance to changes millions of lives for the better, including yours? If the answer is yes, read on.

Living Goods’ is entering a period of exciting expansion. To support our vision to dramatically increase access to life-changing products, Living Goods is seeking a Product Innovation Lead to drive LG’s product strategy and develop innovative products that make money and make a difference in the lives of our customers and our agents. The ideal candidate will bring a blended background of exceptional private and social sector experience. We are particularly looking for candidates with product development and sourcing experience in consumer-packaged goods, and ideally if that experience has focused on emerging markets.

About Living Goods

We believe that the poor are not helpless victims; they are resilient entrepreneurs and value conscious consumers.  We empower the poor through our networks of ‘Avon-like’ micro-entrepreneurs who go door-to-door teaching families how to improve their health and wealth while selling affordable, high-impact products like simple treatments for malaria and diarrhea, fortified foods, water filters, clean cookstoves, and solar lights. Living Goods seeks nothing less than a disruptive reinvention of distribution in the developing world, through networks of franchised micro-entrepreneurs who leverage Living Goods’ brand, buying power and mobile marketing tools to deliver vital products at accessible prices to the people who need them most. By combining the best practices from the worlds of micro-enterprise, franchising and public health, Living Goods is creating a fully sustainable system to improve the health, wealth, and productivity of the world’s poor.

Living Goods has been featured in The New York Times, TIME Magazine, The Economist, and The Huffington Post. Check out these articles and more on our press page.

Responsibilities

• Strategy: Oversee product and merchandising strategy with the goal of improving sales and profits while maximizing human impacts.
• Product Development: Work with suppliers and manufacturers to design and develop new products that meet our business and impact goals.
• Research and Analysis: Analyze sales and social impact results, conduct guerilla consumer research and scour the marketplace for new product ideas.
• Sourcing and Inventory Management: In collaboration with our country teams manage sourcing, purchasing, inventory planning and delivery logistics to achieve low cost of goods, minimize stock outs and maximize inventory turns.

This position is ideally based in San Francisco but we can accommodate telecommuting for the right candidate. Requires travel 10-30% of the year.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 5-7 years of experience in one or more of the following: consumer product design, development, sourcing, and retail merchandising.
• Background in any of the following product categories: packaged foods, personal care, home care, or nutrition. Preference for candidates with experience in developing and selling products in emerging markets.
• Strong project management experience.
• Solid number cruncher and excel master.
• Experience working with culturally diverse teams in developing countries, preferably in Sub Saharan Africa.
• Willingness to travel regionally and internationally up to 30% of time.
• BA required; Masters degree in a relevant field preferred.

Life at Living Goods

Living Goods seeks nothing less than a disruptive reinvention of high-impact product distribution in the developing world. We think big but we operate small and nimble. At Living Goods you will have the chance to work with an extraordinary team of changemakers to conceive and test innovative ideas every day. If you work well in a dynamic, highly collaborative culture, if you set high standards for yourself and your colleagues, if you know how to fail fast and learn fast, and if you meet challenges with calm determination and a sense of humor, you will fit right in at Living Goods. See our guiding principles.

Compensation

A competitive salary and benefits package commensurate with experience including health, vacation, 401k, and bonus opportunity.  The opportunity to be your best while making lives better for others.

Contact

To apply,  please submit a single file with resume/CV and cover letter to jobs@livinggoods.org. Kindly include: 

• How you heard about this position
• Current and desired salary
• Optional – Links to any online content that helps us know you better: LinkedIn, Twitter, Blogs, or relevant work samples.

Please type “Product Innovation Lead – [insert last name]” in the subject line.