Initiatives and Challenges Program Support Officer at Skills Outside School Foundation

Job Description

The Initiatives and Challenges Program Support Officer manages the innovative process of the organization.

(S)He will be tasked with identifying innovative potentialities and bringing them to fruition in order to best benefit the overall goals of the organization.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Brainstorms with the creative team to discover alternative solutions and approaches to old problems.
• Plans effective new ideas and innovative strategies for product development, marketing, branding, or business opportunities.
• Recognizes promising ideas and introduces them into the organization's plans and discards ideas that are ineffective, costly, or beyond the organization's mission or abilities to develop.
• Strategizes with the team to transform general ideas into workable solutions.
• Analyzes existing practices to isolate areas ripe for improvement or enhancement.
• Encourages creative thinking in the team and nurtures innovative thinking across all areas of the organization.
• Follows target audience responses to new ideas, tracks and analyzes the success of new products or services, and responds to the target audience's questions.
• Monitors research and development of other organizations to spot trends in innovation and supplement research findings in the organization's industry.
• Allocates resources to maintain the organization's existing agenda while accounting for new projects.
• Tests the progress of innovation and adjusts the pace or direction of new projects in accordance.
• Keeps all new projects in line with the company's mission and maintains consistency with the organization's message and brand.

Requirements

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree is preferred but not required.
• Background in marketing, research, and development, product development, or strategy is recommended.
• Proven experience in the industry or working in a leadership role in a similar industry.
• Portfolio of past work.
• Minimum of 2 
• years' experience.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Must possess an inquisitive and creative mind.
• Must be independent and self-directed but able to work and lead a team of creative individuals.
• Superior research and analytical skills to track and predict trends.
• Must be able to work creatively within a budget and use innovation to find ways of more managing resources.
• Strong business knowledge, understanding of a variety of business practices, and familiarity with the company's industry.
• Must be able to collaborate with executives, creative teams, research and development, and project management teams.
• Must have excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to persuasively sell ideas.
• Must be willing to take calculated risks and manage expectations.