Sr Director Innovation at Henny Penny in Eaton, Ohio

Job Description:

Do you want to work for a global company that creates remarkable experiences through people, products, and food? If you want to be part of a rewarding People First culture that values relationships, trust, and taking the long view, then this is the place for you. Henny Penny was named the 2021 Dayton Business of the Year for many good reasons. Read on to learn more!


As Sr Director of Innovation, you will be responsible to oversee the enhancement of our company's innovative capabilities. In this role, you will actively identify key areas for innovative transformation, develop plans according to varying timelines, and manage these processes by aligning innovation goals with the company's broader business objectives. To ensure success as a Sr Director of Innovation, you should be detail-driven, strategic, motivated, and have a forward-leaning approach to business. In this role you will work very closely with Engineering, Product Strategy to define new products/technologies that provides long term competitiveness and growth to the organization. In this role you will be responsible for implementing Intelligent Connected Solutions and Fryer Automation strategy, GTM Plan and successful launch and execution across customers, technical service team and distributors. You will help organization to look at how we can develop differentiated offering that positions us as a thought leader in the industry. This role will also help support Front team in selling new digital enabled offerings.



What We Offer

• An opportunity to work for a company that is 100% employee-owned. As an employee-owner, you will be enrolled in our employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) program following one year of service. This is a qualified retirement plan that is separate from your 401k and consists only of Henny Penny shares that will be paid out when you retire (or when you leave the company, but we hope you'll stay)


• Annual company performance bonus in addition to base salary


• Flexibility to work from home 2 days per week


• Defined career paths so you'll always know what's next and what steps can get where you want to go


• Professional development opportunities including tuition reimbursement and unlimited free access to LinkedIn Learning courses


• A competitive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, 401(k) with company match, PTO, and paid holidays


• Onsite wellness clinic offering preventive care services such as wellness screenings, annual physicals, and related lab work at no cost to employee-owners


• Activities including department outings, holiday parties, and our annual company-wide Thanksgiving Dinner

What You'll Be Doing

• Meeting with stakeholders at different levels to identify areas of innovation and growth.


• Identifying innovation trends and business opportunities within the market.


• Leading a team to enhance the innovative potential of the business.


• Developing, strategizing, and planning new interventions that will drive innovation.


• Creating and overseeing a comprehensive long-term innovation strategy for the company.


• Leading Intelligent Connected solution team, defining the complete architecture and implementing the solution working with various cross functional teams.


• Leading Product Automation strategy, working with sales and product strategy to define strategy, GTM and execution plans


• Engaging with internal and external stakeholders to enhance innovative thinking around the company.


• Expanding on the organization's long-term innovative capabilities.


• Defining on yearly, medium-term, long-term, and future innovation goals.


• Presenting new ideas and approaches to high-level stakeholders.


• Reporting on and adapting innovative interventions within the company, as required.


• Develop Future state innovation roadmap based on the market and gaps analyzed.


• Other duties as assigned.

What We're Looking For

• A graduate degree in strategy, leadership, business, or management.


• 8-12 years' experience in IT, technology, business, marketing, or finance-related fields.


• 3-5 years' experience in a management position.


• An understanding of concepts such as RPA, blockchain, AI, machine learning, and cognitive computing.


• Adaptive thinking and a strong, critical mindset.


• Strong business acumen and presentation skills.


• Highly proficient at project planning, budgeting, and oversight.


• Forward-thinking and adaptable to dynamic situations.


• A solid understanding of innovation and how it should be applied in business.


• Excellent interpersonal, leadership, and communication skills.

About Us



We're known in our industry for making the best commercial food equipment in the world. Every day, millions of people eat in restaurants operating Henny Penny equipment. We're a behind-the-scenes engine in the world's most demanding kitchens, including long-term partners like McDonald's, Chick-fil-A, KFC, and Wendy's. We're 1,000+ employee-owners who thrive by living a People First mission: to support employees in becoming the best version of themselves both personally and professionally.


We recently completed the largest expansion in our history with the addition of 150,000 square feet on our Eaton campus. This expansion drives development of the world's most reliable, easy-to-use equipment with an innovative new space for global research and development. We have several collaborative spaces for our project teams, a dedicated electrical engineering lab for our hardware and software engineers, a full model shop for rapid prototyping, and a brand-new test lab that has 300 feet of hood space to test new equipment on our product roadmap. On top of that, we have a new state-of-the-art kitchen for our food science group to meet with our customers, understand what they need, and then dial in our equipment to help them make legendary menu items.


Henny Penny is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants are considered without regard to race, creed, color, religion, alienage or national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, physical or mental disability or handicap, sex or gender (including pregnancy, childbirth and pregnancy-related conditions), marital status, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender identity or expression (including transgender status), or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws. Apply Now