The Innovation and Corporate Agility Department is responsible for driving the strategy, systems and innovation culture that ensures the long-term sustainability of PPGPL’s business.

Position Identification

Job Summary

The Innovation and Corporate Agility Department is responsible for driving the strategy, systems and innovation culture that ensures the long-term sustainability of PPGPL’s business. Reporting to the Vice President – Innovation & Corporate Agility, The Innovation Business Partner’s primary objective is to drive innovation and support PPGPL’s strategic goals. This role requires a diverse set of skills, including strategic thinking to develop long-term innovation strategies that align with the PPGPL’s objectives and adapt to changing market conditions. 

The department has three main tasks:

• Market research into the global trends that are shaping the current and future environment that PPGPL will operate in to unearth threats and opportunities.
• Collecting and analyzing data from various departments across PPGPL, including Operations, Business and Market Development, Finance, and Talent and Culture Transformation, which involves using data analytics tools and techniques to develop insights. By interpreting the insights gained from this data, the incumbent can identify and address current and emerging risks, weaknesses, and inefficiencies within the business.
• Developing initiatives to shift the company towards a more innovative culture involves creating platforms for idea generation, execute projects in alignment with the GPMMF framework, providing training to build innovation skills, recognizing and rewarding innovative efforts, facilitating cross-functional collaboration, integrating new technologies, fostering a supportive environment for risk-taking, aligning initiatives with strategic goals, and monitoring the impact of these efforts to continuously refine the innovation process.

This role would be responsible for managing relationships with internal and external partners, working to generate new ideas for products, services, and business models that help PPGPL stay ahead of the competition. This would involve brainstorming sessions, ideation workshops, and other creative exercises. The role would work to develop and manage PPGPL’s innovation ecosystem, which could include partnerships with startups, accelerators, and other innovation-focused organizations and hackathons, and creating mentorship programs. The position is also required to provide related support to the group of companies, its subsidiaries and new business ventures as required.

Dimensions

The role focuses on driving innovation through data analytics, ideation, and strategic partnerships. It encompasses providing specialist advice, managing client relationships, facilitating workshops, collaborating on projects, conducting market analysis, and integrating new technologies. Success in this role is gauged by its ability to foster a culture of continuous improvement and effectively align external research with the company's strategic goals. The role's primary interactions are with PPGPL employees, especially department heads, and research teams, ensuring alignment with the organization's evolving needs. Performance measured by metrics such as the number of successful innovation projects, time-tomarket for new initiatives, and other metrics as assigned by management. The role reports to the Vice President Innovation & Corporate agility and has no direct reports and no financial authority.

Individual’s Safety Responsibility

It is the responsibility of each employee to protect oneself as well as fellow workers from injury. Work shall be conducted according to established safe practices and procedures. Please refer to PPGPL’s Safety Manual.

Nature & Scope

In the highly competitive midstream oil and gas industry, PPGPL operates within a performance-driven and collaborative environment where climate change and technological advancements are key drivers of change. This role is crucial for the company as it involves gathering data, performing analytics, and using insights to drive ideation activities, strategic partnerships, and the development of initiatives. Key functions include leading ideation sessions, implementing interventions, and maintaining a network of external consultants and colleagues. The workflow involves data gathering, performing analytics and gaining insights then using those insights to drive ideation activities, strategic partnerships and develop initiatives. The role also leads the implementation of the interventions and initiatives, including facilitating ideation sessions. The role interacts primarily with PPGPL employees, especially department heads, and collaborates closely with research teams. While the role self-manages daily, decisions with financial impacts or strategic parameters require authorization from the Vice President of Innovation and Corporate Agility. The role faces challenges such as managing scarce resources, tight deadlines, and balancing high corporate governance controls with an agile working approach. Despite these challenges, the role is pivotal in driving innovation and aligning external research with the organization's evolving needs.

Duties & Responsibilities

1. Oversee the process of transforming employees' ideas into valuable outcomes by guiding them through stages of ideation, development, testing, and implementation as per the GPMMF framework. This involves collecting and screening ideas, refining concepts, creating and testing prototypes, and finally, implementing and monitoring the solutions to ensure they create new value for the company.
2. Oversee the planning, execution, and completion of innovation projects, ensuring timely and budget-friendly delivery.
3. Conduct project economic evaluations starting from preliminary to final project economic value as required for each stage of the project approval process.  
4. Conduct market research to identify industry trends, technologies, market opportunities, and threats, and use market insights to inform innovation initiatives and deliver value adding business opportunities.
5. Develop and implement metrics to measure the effectiveness of innovation initiatives and monitor industry trends and competitors' activities; monitor and report on the progress of innovation initiatives to stakeholders and encourage a culture of continuous improvement.
6. Collaborate with Management to develop and implement innovation strategies aligned with company goals.
7. Foster a culture of innovation by engaging with internal and external stakeholders, and gather insights from employees, customers, and partners.
8. Develop and manage relationships with internal partner and external partners (industry experts, academic institutions, and other organizations) to identify and implement improvement opportunities.
9. Identify potential risks associated with innovation projects and develop mitigation strategies to address them.
10. Evaluate and integrate new technologies to enhance operational efficiency and effectiveness.
11. Participate in the creation and management of Innovation & Corporate Agility’s operating and capital budgets.
12. Provide specialist advice on policies and procedures, resolve queries and issues, and refer complex cases as needed.
13. Work with managers and teams to execute innovation projects aligned with strategic goals.
14. Provide training and support to employees to build their innovation capabilities and encourage continuous improvement; including leading brainstorming sessions and ideation workshops to generate innovative ideas and solutions.
15. Perform the role of Procurement & Disposal Advisory Committee (PDAC) Secretary as advised.
16. Leading and/or participating in committees and cross-functional teams in accordance with roles  and duties identified as per workplans and/or team charters.   
17. Provides support to PPGPL’s subsidiary business units on an as-needed basis as part of the shared services model between PPGPL and its subsidiary entities. 

Job Specifications

Minimum Acceptable Academic Qualifications

Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Business Management, or related field from an accredited tertiary institution.  

AND

Minimum Number of Years of Relevant Experience

8-10 years of experience in innovation management, business partnering, or stakeholder management, with strong understanding of key functions such as operations, sales, and support functions. Related experience in the Oil and Gas industry will be an asset.  

Specific Skills and Knowledge

• Ability to develop long-term innovation strategies that align with the company’s objectives and adapt to changing market conditions.
• Analytical skills to monitor industry trends and competitors' activities (leverage market intelligence within I&CA) to identify trends, opportunities, and potential disruptions.
• Understanding of the technical aspects of the oil and gas industry, including engineering, geology, and emerging technologies.
• Uses comprehensive knowledge and skills to work independently while providing guidance and training to others on planning, organizing, prioritizing, and overseeing activities to efficiently meet business objectives.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills to effectively engage with stakeholders, present ideas, and facilitate collaboration.
• Strong leadership skills to drive innovation initiatives and work effectively with cross-functional teams.
• Knowledge of innovation ecosystems, including partnerships with startups, accelerators, and other innovation-focused organizations.
• Strong understanding of metrics and the ability to develop and implement them to measure the effectiveness of innovation initiatives.
• Flexibility to adapt to new technologies, processes, and market dynamics.

Disclaimer

“The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this job. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of personnel so classified”