Strategic Innovation Manager in Bristol

Digital & Data Solutions (D&DS) is building a mission-critical, domain-driven digital business to support the energy transition, combining trusted data, engineering-grade software, and digital twins to deliver decision-grade insights in high-complexity environments.

Within D&DS, the Strategy, Innovation & Partnerships (SIP) unit drives growth by connecting market insight, innovation execution, and ecosystem expansion through a build–buy–partner approach. As a Strategic Innovation Manager, you will play a key outward-facing role at the intersection of customers, markets, and innovation. You will actively secure and shape a pipeline of customer-anchored innovation opportunities, translate real-world signals into strategic opportunity spaces, and actively contribute to D&DS’s growth by identifying where to build internally and where to accelerate through partnerships or acquisitions.

You will work closely with customers, business lines, internal innovation labs, and leadership to ensure strategy remains dynamic, evidence-based, and tightly connected to execution. This is a highly dynamic role suited to individuals who thrive in ambiguity and convert insights into tangible business impact.

What you'll do:

• Identify, originate and advance customer opportunities and shape innovation: Build a pipeline of customer opportunities to run experiments and validate new solutions. Act as an innovation ambassador, developing a strong network of customers willing to experiment through long-term, trust-based relationships.
• Scan markets and identify opportunities: Continuously monitor industry trends, customer needs, and emerging technologies to define high-value opportunity spaces aligned with D&DS strategic priorities.
• Translate insight into strategy: Convert market and customer signals into actionable strategic inputs, supporting the continuous evolution of D&DS strategy.
• Drive a customer-anchored innovation pipeline: Work with internal innovation labs and business lines to ensure experiments are grounded in real use cases, with clear commercial intent and pathways to scale.
• Enable build–buy–partner decisions: Assess where D&DS should build internally versus accelerate through external solutions, contributing to a balanced and evidence-based growth approach.
• Scout and evaluate ecosystem opportunities: Identify and screen potential partners, technologies, and acquisition targets to support partnership and inorganic growth initiatives.

At DNV, you will join a purpose-driven organisation working at the forefront of the energy transition.

What we offer:

• The opportunity to influence strategic growth in a rapidly scaling global digital business.
• A high-exposure role with direct interaction with customers, partners, and senior leadership.
• Participation in building next-generation digital solutions combining data, AI, and domain expertise.
• A collaborative and international environment.
• Flexible working arrangements and a strong focus on work–life balance.

DNV is an Equal Opportunity Employer and gives consideration for employment to qualified applicants without regard to gender, religion, race, national or ethnic origin, cultural background, social group, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, age or political opinion.

Qualifications

We are looking for a commercially minded and outward-facing strategy and innovation professional.

Experience and background:

• Experience in business development, innovation, or strategy.
• Proven ability to engage customers and external stakeholders.
• Exposure to innovation processes, experimentation, or product development.
• Familiarity with partnership ecosystems or M&A screening.
• Established professional network within renewables, energy transition, or adjacent ecosystems is a strong advantage.

Skills & capabilities:

• Strong commercial acumen.
• Entrepreneurial, self-starting mindset.
• Strong market sensing and strategic thinking capabilities.
• Ability to identify and prioritize high-value opportunity spaces.
• Ability to influence stakeholders in a matrix organisation.

Security and compliance with statutory requirements in the countries in which we operate is essential for DNV. Background checks will be conducted on all final candidates as part of the offer process, in accordance with applicable country-specific laws and practices.