La Vie is on a mission to make plant based proteins tastier and cooler than animal ones.

In five years, we have built one of the most loved plant based brands in Europe. We operate in retail and foodservice across France and the UK as priority markets, and are present in 10 countries. Our portfolio spans meat analog products, plant based sandwiches, a delivery offer, and soon new categories beyond meat analog.

Innovation is at the core of our growth model.

We are looking for a gem to accelerate our short and mid term growth, while preparing the next chapters of La Vie. The Head of Innovation reports to the Chief Marketing Officer, with daily contacts with all the Comex members (CEO, R&D, Sales, Operations), manages two team members and one trainee, and works transversally with R&D and Operations teams, as well as external partners and suppliers. The scope is France, UK and Export Markets.

Purpose of the role

Accelerate business performance through a powerful and disciplined innovation pipeline, while stretching the brand to unlock its full long term potential across categories and consumption moments.

This role is both highly strategic and deeply operational. From defining where to win, to attending factory trials, you own innovation from design to delivery.

Pillars of the role

1. Define La Vie’s innovation strategy

● Identify where to win and how to win based on consumer insights, category dynamics, competitive landscape and foresight.

● Define the strategic moves within existing categories and beyond to unlock La Vie’s potential as the most entertaining and indulgent plant based brand.

● Build a clear and inspiring innovation roadmap aligned with financial and sustainability ambitions.

2. Build and lead a robust innovation pipeline

● Translate strategy into a concrete yearly pipeline across NPD, range extensions, renovation and category expansion.

● Develop strong business cases from topline to bottom line in close collaboration with Marketing and Sales teams.

● Prioritise initiatives with a sharp sense of impact, feasibility and return.

3. Ensure excellence of execution from design to delivery

● Lead cross functional collaboration with R&D, Operations, PMO and external partners.

● Drive projects on time, on quality and on budget, with high execution standards.

● Navigate complexity with agility and ownership. Remove obstacles and make things happen.

4. Lead and elevate the Innovation team

● Develop a high performing team combining strategic thinking and hands on execution.

● Raise the bar on concept quality, consumer centricity and business rigor.

● Embark senior stakeholders around a clear innovation vision.

● 8+ years of experience in FMCG innovation.

● Proven track record of leading innovation projects end to end, from insight to launch.

● Strong strategic and analytical skills. Comfortable with qualitative and quantitative research, and able to turn data into conviction and direction.

● Demonstrated ability to build and manage a high impact innovation pipeline with solid financial acumen.

● Experience working across Retail and Foodservice.

● Hands on, solution oriented and comfortable in fast moving environments.

● Strong leadership skills with the ability to align senior stakeholders and mobilise transversal teams.

● Passion for food, trends and culture.

● Creative thinker who can go beyond functional product attributes and build concepts that consumers love.

● High standards of execution and a sharp sense of business impact.

● Genuine interest in sustainability and positive impact.

If you want to shape the future of plant based food in Europe and build the next growth chapters of a bold, entertaining brand, we would love to hear from you.

Process You will have a first video call with someone from the HR team and a second interview with our CMO, Romain, followed by a business case. We will also ask you to share your references 😉

If all these steps go smoothly, we are happy to show you around in the office and present you to the rest of the team!

What makes La Vie unique?

🌱 Impact: We exist to put a happy end to animal-intensive farming. Waking up every day to save pigs and tons of CO2 is pretty cool.

🚀 Unique adventure: Our vision is to become by 2040 the largest pork brand on Earth… Without hurting a fly! We’ll achieve this vision and tackle all the challenges on the way in what will surely be your craziest professional experience.

💙 People-first: Everyone at La Vie is passionate, smart, and good-vibe. It’s pretty unique to feel you are only surrounded by people who truly care.

🌎 International environment: English-speaking and various nationalities.

👩🏻‍🔬 R&D + Innovation: expect to learn a lot and eat a lot of samples!
💡Opportunities to learn and Grow: training, learning lunch, regular Q&A sessions with our leadership, honest discussions about our company KPIs, monthly feedback sessions

♡ Values that brings us together : #Examplary #Ambition #Teamwork #Sunny

🤩 Trust: respect and transparency from everyone.

🥳 Weekly after-work drinks with the team

🏃 A healthy mind in a healthy body: Team Participation in sports events!

BENEFITS

A fair & competitive salary package Alan insurance 50% Navigo OR the equivalent in green mobility

Healthy snacks IT tools of your choice.

La Vie is an equal-opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.