United Kingdom · Innovation · Director/VP (16-20 years)

Director, Innovation & Intrapreneurship

Here is the whole job, in plain words. What it is, what you decide, how you're judged, how people get here and where they go next. Then the part no course gives you: twelve AI tutors who learn your work.

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Experience bandDirector/VP (16-20 years)
Reports toVP, Strategic Innovation or Chief Product Officer
UK framework levelUsually a director, accountable for a division and its numbers

Also advertised as Head of Innovation (Divisional) · VP of New Ventures · Innovation Portfolio Lead

Built on 43,079 real UK job descriptions we analysed · grounded in qualifications employers recognise

Two short quizzes about you

1From this job to a course

The qualifications matched to this job

Focus Awards Level 4 NVQ Diploma in Customer Service (RQF) Focus Awards Limited · Level 4 · covers 2 of 6 standards

OCNLR Level 4 Certificate in Business Administration OCN London · Level 4 · covers 1 of 6 standards

Matched from the standards this job is measured against: a suggestion, not an official ruling.

The units you would start with

Encourage innovation Focus Awards Level 4 NVQ Diploma in Customer Service (RQF)

Contribute to Innovation in a Business Environment OCNLR Level 4 Certificate in Business Administration

The future skills this job leans on

AI Fluency working with AI as a thinking partner

AI Governance Fluency using AI responsibly

Automation Fluency building AI into how work runs

Change Fluency taking people through change

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Your Plan Illustration

Built for Director, Innovation & Intrapreneurship

2 units that map to this job, from the qualifications that cover it.

Encourage innovation Focus Awards Limited · covers 2 of 6 standards Level 4
Contribute to Innovation in a Business Environment OCN London · covers 1 of 6 standards Level 4

These are the real units behind this job, in the order they rank for it. Nothing here is marked done, because this plan has not been started by anyone yet. Yours would fill in as you go.

2AI and this work

Will AI change your work as a Director, Innovation & Intrapreneurship?

Nobody can say exactly how. Here is what this job is being asked for next, and where to start.

The new skills this role is being asked for

AI-Driven Innovation Strategy
Ecosystem & Platform Strategy

Why each one is rising

The future skills this job leans on

AI Fluencyworking with AI as a thinking partner
AI Governance Fluencyusing AI responsibly
Automation Fluencybuilding AI into how work runs
Change Fluencytaking people through change

We'll only ever tell you what we can actually back up. No hype, no scare tactics.

What happens when you start

Next, a free account. We build your Director, Innovation & Intrapreneurship plan as you set up, starting with a Future Fluency module on using AI in your job. No card.

Your first Future Fluency module is free. After that, your AI tutor is £70 a month.

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3What this role really is

Director, Innovation & Intrapreneurship shapes new ventures within a business, turning ideas into working revenue streams.

4What you'd actually use

The tools this job runs on, and how well you'd need to know each one.

Miro Expert

Driving enterprise adoption and template standardisation for virtual collaboration. Integrating Miro into the broader innovation workflow (e.g., with Notion, Jira) to ensure seamless information flow across large programmes.

Figma Advanced

Overseeing the prototyping strategy for the business unit, ensuring consistency and efficiency across various innovation projects. Making strategic decisions on design system architecture and its impact on speed to market.

Dovetail Expert

Architecting the enterprise-wide research repository for your business unit. Establishing best practices for data governance, insight sharing, and preventing 'research debt' across all innovation teams.

UserTesting.com Advanced

Managing the platform budget and licenses for the business unit. Developing a programmatic approach to continuous user feedback, ensuring it's integrated into the entire innovation lifecycle.

Notion Expert

Developing the information architecture for the entire innovation portfolio within your business unit. Ensuring cross-functional visibility and robust knowledge management for all new ventures.

Typeform Intermediate

Overseeing the integration of survey data with other business intelligence tools (e.g., product analytics) to create a holistic view of user behaviour and market trends, informing strategic decisions.

Jira Advanced

Influencing the definition of 'Done' to include user validation metrics and commercial viability for innovation projects. Ensuring a smooth, well-understood handoff from the innovation pipeline to the core product delivery engine.

5What you get to decide, and how that grows

Power in a job isn't your title. It's what you're allowed to decide. Here's how it grows as you move up.

The choice	Coming in	Where you are now	The step above
Innovation Strategy Definition	N/A	N/A	N/A
Budget Allocation (Innovation Programmes)	N/A	N/A	N/A
Team Hiring & Structure	N/A	N/A	N/A
Go/No-Go for New Ventures (Post-Pilot)	N/A	N/A	N/A
External Partnerships & Vendor Selection	N/A	N/A	N/A

6How you'll be judged

The scoreboard, and what is not on it. The hard targets, how often each is actually looked at, and the quiet signals that never reach a dashboard.

Innovation Pipeline Value

The estimated potential annual recurring revenue (ARR) or profit contribution from new products/services currently in your innovation pipeline.

Target · Generate a pipeline with >£10M in new ARR potential annually.

Q2 pipeline review shows 3 new concepts with a combined estimated ARR of £12.5M, validated by initial market testing and business cases.

New Revenue from Innovation

The actual revenue generated by products or services launched from your innovation programmes within the last 36 months, specifically for your business unit.

Target · Ensure 20% of the business unit's annual revenue comes from new offerings (launched in the past 3 years).

In 2024, £4.5M of the business unit's £22M revenue came from offerings launched since 2021, hitting a 20.4% contribution.

Internal Venture Success Rate

The percentage of internally incubated ventures that successfully achieve product-market fit and secure follow-on internal funding (equivalent to Series A).

Target · Successfully launch and secure follow-on funding for at least one internal venture per year.

In 2023, 'Project Nova' secured £2M in internal Series A funding after demonstrating strong early customer adoption and positive unit economics.

Innovation Maturity Score

Improvement in the business unit's innovation capabilities and culture, as measured by an external framework (e.g., Doblin Innovation Maturity Model).

Target · Increase the business unit's innovation maturity score by at least one level annually (e.g., from Level 2 to Level 3).

Our 2024 assessment showed an increase from 'Ad-hoc Innovation' (Level 2) to 'Systematic Experimentation' (Level 3) due to improved processes and dedicated funding.

Strategic Alignment & Influence

How effectively you align innovation efforts with the broader business unit strategy and influence senior leadership decisions regarding future growth areas.

You're regularly invited to strategic planning sessions, your insights shape the business unit's annual objectives, and you successfully secure significant budget and resource commitments for new initiatives. Business Unit Heads actively seek your input on market shifts.

Team Leadership & Development

The ability to build, mentor, and inspire a high-performing innovation team, fostering a culture of experimentation, resilience, and continuous learning.

Your direct reports consistently hit their performance targets and show clear career progression. Your team is seen as a destination for top talent, with high engagement scores and low voluntary turnover. They feel empowered to take calculated risks.

Cross-functional Collaboration

How well you build bridges and get other departments (Product, Engineering, Sales, Marketing) on board with new innovation initiatives, ensuring smooth handoffs and adoption.

Product and Engineering teams are actively involved from early concept stages, not just at handoff. Sales teams are excited about new offerings and proactively provide market feedback. You're seen as a trusted partner, not just 'the innovation person'.

7Would you like it

Both sides. What people enjoy, and what grinds them down.

What people enjoy

Building the Future

You're energised by the idea of creating something entirely new that solves a significant customer problem or opens up a new market. You love seeing an idea go from a scribble on a whiteboard to a revenue-generating product.

Spending late nights refining a business case for a completely new service, knowing it could redefine our offering in 2-3 years.

Leading & Developing Talent

You get a real kick out of mentoring your team, seeing them grow, and empowering them to deliver groundbreaking work. You enjoy shaping an innovation culture.

Spending time coaching a Lead Strategist through a tricky stakeholder negotiation, then celebrating their success.

Driving Commercial Impact

You're driven by the challenge of translating creative ideas into tangible business results—new revenue, market share, or significant cost savings. You love seeing your team's work hit the P&L.

Presenting quarterly to the business unit head on how your team's new ventures are performing against their financial targets.

What frustrates people

Being asked to 'innovate' on a fixed budget with no room for real experimentation, or with a solution already decided.
The constant battle to secure dedicated resources (people, budget, time) for innovation, rather than having it treated as a 'nice-to-have' add-on.
Watching promising ventures get stuck in 'pilot purgatory' – never quite getting the full backing to scale.
Navigating the politics of senior stakeholders who are emotionally attached to their own ideas, even when data suggests otherwise.
The pressure to show immediate, short-term ROI for long-term strategic bets.

What this role does not give you

A predictable, linear path with clear-cut problems and solutions.
A role where you're constantly hands-on with the design work; your focus is on strategy and leadership.
An environment free from internal politics or resistance to change.
A guarantee that every innovation project you champion will make it to market and succeed.

8Who you work with

Your impact here is huge—it's about driving the future growth and relevance of an entire business unit. You're accountable for identifying, incubating, and scaling new revenue-generating ventures. Get it right, and you'll redefine our market position. Get it wrong, and we'll be playing catch-up for years.

Inside the business

Business Unit Heads (e.g., Head of Retail Banking, Head of Enterprise Software)
CFO and Finance Leadership (for budget allocation and ROI discussions)
Product & Engineering VPs (for integration into core roadmaps)
Sales & Marketing Directors (for go-to-market strategy and adoption)
Legal & Compliance (for navigating new ventures)

Outside the business

Strategic Partners (e.g., FinTechs, AI startups)
Key Clients (for co-creation and early adoption programmes)
Industry Analysts & Thought Leaders
Potential Investors (for internal ventures)

9What you need before you start

Not a wish list. The things you would be expected to already have.

Proven track record of leading significant innovation programmes or new venture launches within a large organisation.
Demonstrable experience managing and developing a team of 10+ innovation or product professionals.
Strong commercial acumen, including experience building and defending business cases for multi-million-pound investments.
Expertise in at least two core design thinking methodologies (e.g., JTBD, Service Blueprinting, Rapid Experimentation) and how to apply them strategically.
Experience presenting strategic recommendations and securing buy-in from C-suite executives and board members.

10What to practise next

Where the job is going, and what to do about it starting this week.

Advanced Data Analytics & AI/ML Literacy

As data becomes the lifeblood of innovation, you'll need to understand not just what the data says, but how it's collected, analysed, and how AI/ML models are built and deployed. This allows you to set higher standards for data-driven decision-making and identify opportunities for AI-powered products.

Data Governance & Ethics · Machine Learning Model Lifecycle · Experimentation Design & A/B Testing at Scale · Data Visualisation for Executive Decision-Making

This quarter: Review the data governance policies for our business unit and identify areas for improvement in the context of innovation.
Next quarter: Attend a workshop or online course on the 'Business of AI' to deepen your understanding of ML applications.
Month 6: Challenge your team to implement more rigorous A/B testing frameworks for their key experiments, and review the results personally.
Month 9: Work with our Data Science team to identify 2-3 new data sources that could fuel future innovation within your business unit.

Quick win: Ask your Lead Strategists to present their key insights using only visualisations, challenging them to simplify complex data for executive consumption.

11Staying current once you are in

What people here do to keep up

Regularly attending and speaking at industry conferences on innovation, product development, or your specific business unit's sector.
Participating in executive education programmes focused on strategic leadership, corporate venturing, or digital transformation.
Mentoring rising talent within the organisation, both within and outside your direct team.
Engaging with external innovation ecosystems, including startups, VCs, and academic institutions, to stay abreast of emerging trends.

12The rising capability

The rising capability

Zavmo analysis

What's rising in its place

This is where the work is heading, and the higher pay with it. Get fluent here and the shift stops being a threat and starts being your edge.

AI-Driven Innovation Strategy

AI is fundamentally changing how we identify opportunities, understand users, and build new products. As a Director, you won't be prompting directly, but you'll need to set the strategic direction for how your team uses AI to accelerate their work and how AI itself becomes a core component of our new offerings.

Generative AI for Opportunity Scouting
Ethical AI & Responsible Innovation
AI-Powered Experimentation & Validation
AI-as-a-Service Business Models

Ecosystem & Platform Strategy

Few innovations succeed in isolation. The future of growth often lies in building or participating in broader ecosystems and platforms. As a Director, you'll need to think beyond individual products and consider how our new ventures fit into a larger network of partners, developers, and customers.

Platform Business Models
Strategic Partnering & Alliances
API Economy & Integration
Community Building for Innovation

13What you’ll use

What you’ll use

Skills this role draws on

Technical

Journey Mapping & Service Blueprinting
Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) Framework
Qualitative Research Synthesis (at scale)
Rapid Prototyping & Assumption Testing (Portfolio Level)
Strategic Workshop Facilitation
Lean Canvas & Business Model Validation

14The pathway

The pathway

How you actually get there, here

How you become one varies far more by country than what one does. This is the UK route. Most people take one of these ways in; the right one depends on where you're starting from.

1
Principal Innovation Strategist (L5)
3-5 years
Skills to master
- Mastering portfolio management, influencing at the SVP level, building robust business cases, and leading complex, ambiguous strategic initiatives.
You're ready to move on when
- Successfully launched 2-3 significant new ventures that have generated measurable revenue.
- Consistently received top feedback for strategic influence and problem-solving from senior leadership.
- Demonstrated ability to mentor and develop Lead Strategists (L4) effectively.
2
Head of Product Innovation (within a large Product Org)
5-7 years
Skills to master
- Deep expertise in product lifecycle management, scaling new products, managing significant product P&L, and leading large product teams.
You're ready to move on when
- Owned the end-to-end strategy and delivery of a major new product line.
- Managed a product P&L of over £5M annually.
- Successfully integrated innovation methodologies into a traditional product development cycle.
3
Management Consultant (Innovation/Strategy focus)
7-10 years (typically coming in at Principal/Partner level)
Skills to master
- Client relationship management, strategic problem-solving for diverse industries, driving large-scale organisational change, and building compelling executive-level recommendations.
You're ready to move on when
- Led multiple innovation strategy engagements for FTSE 100 clients.
- Demonstrated ability to influence C-suite decision-making in complex environments.
- Built and managed consulting teams on large projects.

15Where this role leads

The long view: This role can lead to Chief Innovation Officer, Chief Product Officer, or starting a business as founder and CEO.

The ten Future Fluencies

Zavmo analysis

The credential is what you can do today. These are what keep you valuable.

A qualification proves you can do the job as it's defined today. These ten are what decide whether you're still the obvious person for it in five years. They're the capabilities employers are now writing into senior roles faster than people are learning them. Zavmo weaves them through whatever you study, so you come out with both: the credential and the fluency.

The highlighted ones are the Fluencies your role leans on hardest, from how Director, Innovation & Intrapreneurship is actually changing.

How you would learn this

One to one, on the work you already do

A tutor sets the task against your own job and marks the reasoning, at your pace. There is no cohort to fall behind.

A lesson from Encourage innovation, worked against Director, Innovation & Intrapreneurship.

Encourage innovation Level 4

Applied to your work in Director, Innovation & Intrapreneurship

This unit aims to enable learners to identify opportunities for innovation within an organisation, generate and test innovative ideas, and implement improvements effectively. Learners will be able to monitor the impact of implemented innovations.

How the thinking builds

1 Remember
2 Understand
3 Apply
4 Analyse
5 Evaluate
6 Create

An illustration of a Zavmo lesson, built from this role’s own route. The unit, its objective and every criterion above are the awarding body’s own words, not an example.

It is £70 a month, billed monthly. Your free first module is Future Fluency, and you can cancel any time.

Start my plan, free

See Your Progress Grow Illustration

Director, Innovation & Intrapreneurship

Journey Mapping & Service Blueprinting
Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) Framework
Qualitative Research Synthesis (at scale)
Rapid Prototyping & Assumption Testing (Portfolio Level)
Strategic Workshop Facilitation
Lean Canvas & Business Model Validation

This is your Mind Palace on learn.zavmo.ai. Every skill above comes from this role's own record, not an example borrowed from another job. A node lights up when you evidence it, and what you build stays yours between jobs. That is the part a course cannot do.

16The detail, folded away

Everything else the record holds

The career branches in full, how AI is already showing up in the day-to-day, and the questions people ask about this job. Here when you want them, out of the way while you decide.

Where it leads next, rung by rung

Where it leads

The career path, and where it branches

Director, Innovation & Intrapreneurship is a start, not a ceiling. Each step below asks for new skills and hands back more autonomy.

VP, Strategic Innovation (L7)
3-5 years

Enterprise-wide scope, 3-5 year vision, P&L £10M+, board governance.
- Global market scanning and foresight for long-term strategic planning.
- Developing and managing a portfolio of external venture investments.
- Establishing and leading innovation partnerships at a global scale.
- Driving thought leadership and external positioning for the entire organisation.

Working with AI on the job

Working with AI

Where AI is starting to help

As a Director, your time is precious. You're constantly juggling strategic oversight, team leadership, stakeholder management, and commercial accountability. Imagine having an intelligent assistant that handles the grunt work, freeing you up to focus on what truly matters: driving breakthrough innovation and shaping the future of our business unit.

AI isn't just for individual contributors anymore. It's a game-changer for leaders like you, helping to streamline strategic analysis, accelerate team output, and even identify new market opportunities. We're building an internal AI Productivity Hub specifically designed to help our innovation leaders work smarter, not harder.

AI-Driven Market & Trend Analysis

Feed large datasets of market reports, competitor analyses, and emerging trend articles into AI. Get synthesised summaries, identify strategic white spaces, and spot potential disruptions much faster than manual research. This means quicker, more informed decisions on where to focus your team's efforts.

Automated Strategic Report Generation

Imagine drafting your quarterly board report or a new venture business case in a fraction of the time. AI can take your team's research, financial projections, and key insights, then structure and draft compelling narratives, freeing you to refine the strategic message and focus on the 'why'.

Accelerated Idea & Opportunity Scouting

Use advanced generative AI to explore thousands of potential innovation ideas based on identified customer needs, technological advancements, and market gaps. It's like having an army of brainstormers constantly looking for the next big thing, giving your team a massive head start.

Enhanced Stakeholder Communication & Alignment

AI can help you craft tailored communication plans, anticipate stakeholder questions, and even draft initial responses. This ensures your strategic messages land effectively, reducing friction and accelerating buy-in for your innovation programmes across the business unit.

Common questions

How do you become a Director, Innovation & Intrapreneurship?

Common routes in include Principal Innovation Strategist (3-5 years), Head of Product Innovation (within a large Product Org) (5-7 years) and Management Consultant (Innovation/Strategy focus) (7-10 years (typically coming in at Principal/Partner level)). Times vary with prior experience.

Where can a Director, Innovation & Intrapreneurship progress to?

This role can lead on to VP, Strategic Innovation (3-5 years), depending on the skills you build.

What new skills matter most for a Director, Innovation & Intrapreneurship?

Increasingly, AI-Driven Innovation Strategy and Ecosystem & Platform Strategy. These are the skills our record of this role lists as growing.

You're not behind. You're right on time. The shift is only just beginning. Your role won't look the same in two years. Be the one who leads the change, not the one it happens to. Start my plan, free What happens next: a free account, then we build your plan as you set up. No card. Build your plan, see your roadmap and meet the twelve tutors matched to you. All free. When you're ready to start learning, it's £70 a month, billed monthly. Cancel any time and billing stops.

Director, Innovation & Intrapreneurship

Where should we send it?

Two short quizzes about you

Will AI change your work as a Director, Innovation & Intrapreneurship?

What's rising in its place

AI-Driven Innovation Strategy

Ecosystem & Platform Strategy

Skills this role draws on

Technical

How you actually get there, here

Principal Innovation Strategist (L5)

Head of Product Innovation (within a large Product Org)

Management Consultant (Innovation/Strategy focus)

The credential is what you can do today. These are what keep you valuable.

Roles this leads to

One to one, on the work you already do

Everything else the record holds

The career path, and where it branches

VP, Strategic Innovation (L7)

Where AI is starting to help

AI-Driven Market & Trend Analysis

Automated Strategic Report Generation

Accelerated Idea & Opportunity Scouting

Enhanced Stakeholder Communication & Alignment

Common questions

Want a read on where you stand?