At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead innovation and strategic partnerships to drive business growth and transformation.
- Company: Join Haleon, a purpose-driven consumer health company with a trusted brand portfolio.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, inclusive culture, and opportunities for professional development.
- Other info: Be part of a dynamic team focused on meaningful health solutions.
- Why this job: Shape the future of health by driving impactful innovations and partnerships.
- Qualifications: Experience in innovation, strategy, and partnerships; strong commercial acumen required.
The predicted salary is between 80000 - 100000 £ per year.
Welcome to Haleon. We’re a purpose-driven, world-class consumer company putting everyday health in the hands of millions. In just three years since our launch, we’ve grown, evolved and are now entering an exciting new chapter – one filled with bold ambitions and enormous opportunity. Our trusted portfolio of brands – including Sensodyne®, Panadol®, Advil®, Voltaren®, Theraflu®, Otrivin®, and Centrum® – lead in resilient and growing categories. What sets us apart is our unique blend of deep human understanding and trusted science.
Now it’s time to fully realise the full potential of our business and our people. We do this through our Win as One strategy. It puts our purpose – to deliver better everyday health with humanity – at the heart of everything we do. It unites us, inspires us, and challenges us to be better every day, driven by our agile, performance-focused culture.
About the role: The Head of Innovation & Strategic Partnerships is a senior leadership role within Digital & Technology (D&T), accountable for driving enterprise-level innovation and building value-led strategic partnerships that accelerate Haleon’s business strategy. Reporting into the Head of Strategy, Architecture & Capability, the role sits at the intersection of strategy, architecture and execution, ensuring that innovation and external partnerships are intentionally aligned to enterprise priorities, architecture roadmaps and measurable business outcomes. The role moves D&T away from fragmented experimentation and transactional supplier engagement towards a disciplined innovation model, underpinned by a small number of strategic partners, co-investment, shared accountability and clear value realisation — in line with the evolving Strategy, Architecture & Capability operating model.
Role purpose: To accelerate Haleon’s strategy by identifying, shaping and scaling high-value innovation opportunities, and by establishing strategic technology partnerships that provide access to market insight, emerging capabilities, specialist delivery capacity and co-investment — all aligned to enterprise architecture and business outcomes.
Key accountabilities: The Head of Innovation & Strategic Partnerships is accountable for:
- Enterprise innovation strategy aligned to D&T and business priorities
- Definition and operation of a disciplined innovation model
- Establishment and governance of a small portfolio of strategic partners
- Alignment of innovation and partnerships to architecture roadmaps
- Value realisation, benefits tracking and outcome-based engagement
- Executive-level advisory to D&T and business leadership on innovation and partnership choices
Key responsibilities:
- Enterprise Innovation Strategy & Operating Model: Define and maintain a clear enterprise innovation strategy, aligned to Haleon’s business strategy and D&T roadmap. Shift innovation from ad-hoc experimentation to a disciplined, repeatable model that moves ideas from discovery → pilot → scale. Ensure innovation activity is focused on strategic value pools such as growth, productivity, resilience, compliance and AI-enabled transformation. Establish governance that balances exploration with control, reducing duplication and innovation drift.
- Strategic Partnership Strategy & Portfolio: Define and execute Haleon’s strategic partnership strategy for technology and digital innovation. Rationalise the third-party landscape towards a small number of strategic partners that form the backbone of Haleon’s core capability. Move partner relationships from transactional, consumption-led models to value-led partnerships with joint accountability for outcomes.
- Partner Selection, Relationship Management & Governance: Lead identification, evaluation and selection of strategic partners aligned to enterprise architecture direction, priority value pools and initiatives, capability gaps and acceleration needs. Establish clear partnership governance, including executive sponsorship, joint roadmaps and investment plans, defined success metrics and value tracking. Ensure partnerships are reviewed, evolved or exited based on performance and relevance.
- Co-Investment & Value Realisation: Shape co-investment models with strategic partners to reduce risk and accelerate delivery of priority initiatives. Ensure innovation and partnership investments have clear hypotheses and use cases, explicit success measures, and agreed routes to scale. Track benefits realisation and ensure outcomes are visible to senior leadership.
- Alignment with Strategy, Architecture & Domain Roadmaps: Work closely with domain architects, platform owners, and portfolio & delivery leadership to ensure innovation efforts and partner engagements are architecturally coherent, aligned to the Haleon D&T strategy and target state, and focused on simplification and reuse, not fragmentation.
- Executive Advisory & Thought Leadership: Act as a trusted advisor to senior D&T and business leaders on emerging technology trends, strategic partnership opportunities, and build vs. buy vs. partner decisions. Provide clear perspectives on trade-offs, risks and opportunities to inform executive decision-making.
- Emerging Technology & Market Insight: Maintain a forward-looking view of emerging technologies, delivery models and partner ecosystems. Bring external insight and thought leadership into Haleon to inform strategy reviews, architecture evolution, and investment prioritisation.
- Innovation Culture & Ways of Working: Help build a culture where innovation is intentional, business-led, and measurable. Enable teams to engage with partners effectively while retaining enterprise standards and controls. Promote learning, reuse and community across innovation initiatives.
What good looks like: Innovation activity is focused on strategic priorities, not side experiments. A small number of strategic partners deliver disproportionate value. Co-investment reduces risk and accelerates outcomes. Innovation initiatives scale into core platforms and capabilities. Leadership has clear visibility of value delivered from partnerships. The enterprise architecture remains coherent despite rapid innovation.
Qualifications & experience:
- Essential: Significant experience in innovation, strategy, partnerships or consulting roles; proven track record working with strategic technology partners; strong commercial acumen and ability to structure value-led engagements; experience operating at executive level, influencing senior stakeholders; ability to connect technology innovation to measurable business outcomes.
- Preferred: Experience in Digital, Technology or transformation leadership roles; familiarity with EA-led operating models and portfolio governance; experience working with global technology partners and ecosystems; exposure to AI, data and platform innovation initiatives.
Skills & Capabilities: Strategic thinking and commercial judgement; strong stakeholder and executive influencing skills; ability to operate across ambiguity and emerging domains; structured approach to innovation and value realisation; strong communication and storytelling capability for senior audiences.
Equal Opportunities: Haleon are committed to mobilising our purpose in a way that represents the diverse consumers and communities who rely on our brands every day. It guides us in creating an inclusive culture, where different backgrounds and views are valued and respected – all in support of understanding and best serving the needs of our consumers and unleashing the full potential of our people.
Adjustment or Accommodations Request: If you require a reasonable adjustment or accommodation or other assistance to apply for a job at Haleon at any stage of the application process, please let your recruiter know by providing them with a description of specific adjustments you are requesting. We’ll provide all reasonable adjustments to support you throughout the recruitment process and treat all information you provide us in confidence.
Head of Strategic Innovation & Partnerships employer: Gsk
At Haleon, we pride ourselves on being a purpose-driven employer that champions everyday health through innovation and strategic partnerships. Our agile, performance-focused culture fosters collaboration and empowers employees to drive meaningful change, while our commitment to diversity and inclusion ensures that every voice is valued. With ample opportunities for professional growth and a supportive environment, Haleon is the ideal place for those looking to make a significant impact in the consumer health sector.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Head of Strategic Innovation & Partnerships
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to your connections in the industry, attend relevant events, and don’t be shy about asking for introductions. The more people you know, the better your chances of landing that dream role.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for interviews by researching Haleon’s values and recent innovations. Show us how your experience aligns with our mission to deliver better everyday health. Tailor your responses to highlight your strategic thinking and partnership skills.
✨Tip Number 3
Practice your storytelling! We love hearing about your past experiences, so frame them in a way that showcases your impact and how you’ve driven innovation. Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to keep it structured.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to follow up after interviews! A quick thank-you email can go a long way in keeping you top of mind. Reiterate your enthusiasm for the role and mention something specific from your conversation to make it personal.
We think you need these skills to ace Head of Strategic Innovation & Partnerships
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your Application:Make sure to customise your CV and cover letter to reflect the specific skills and experiences that align with the Head of Strategic Innovation & Partnerships role. Highlight your relevant achievements and how they connect to Haleon's mission and values.
Showcase Your Strategic Thinking:In your written application, demonstrate your ability to think strategically about innovation and partnerships. Use examples from your past experiences to illustrate how you've successfully driven innovation or built valuable partnerships in previous roles.
Be Clear and Concise:Keep your writing clear and to the point. Avoid jargon and ensure that your application is easy to read. This will help us quickly understand your qualifications and how you can contribute to our goals at Haleon.
Apply Through Our Website:We encourage you to submit your application through our official website. This ensures that your application is received directly by our recruitment team and allows you to easily track your application status.
How to prepare for a job interview at Gsk
✨Understand the Company’s Purpose
Before your interview, dive deep into Haleon's mission of putting everyday health in the hands of millions. Familiarise yourself with their brands and how they align with the company's purpose. This will help you articulate how your experience can contribute to their goals.
✨Showcase Your Strategic Thinking
As the Head of Strategic Innovation & Partnerships, you'll need to demonstrate your ability to think strategically. Prepare examples of past experiences where you've successfully driven innovation or built partnerships that led to measurable business outcomes. Be ready to discuss how you can apply this to Haleon.
✨Prepare for Executive-Level Conversations
Since this role involves influencing senior stakeholders, practice articulating your ideas clearly and confidently. Think about how you can present complex information in a way that resonates with executive audiences. Use storytelling techniques to make your points memorable.
✨Align with Their Innovation Culture
Haleon values a culture of intentional and measurable innovation. Be prepared to discuss how you can foster this culture within the team. Share your thoughts on building effective partnerships and how you would ensure that innovation efforts are aligned with enterprise architecture and business outcomes.
