Innovation Manager

Innovation Manager

Pioneer your career! Krber is the home for passionate people who innovate, collaborate, and love what they do. Entrepreneurial spirit is our joint DNA. We develop future technologies and support talents to deploy their skills and reach their full potential. Together, we aim to be the first to do the right thing at the right time. Join the home for entrepreneurs! We are seeking an experienced professional to manage and lead the customer maintenance organization. The role requires strong expertise in maintenance contracts, customer relations, and quality management, with the ability to drive operational excellence, ensure contractual compliance, and maintain customer satisfaction. About Krber

Krber is a global technology group with deep industrial expertise and a strong innovation agenda. We operate across three Business Areas - Pharma, Supply Chain, and Technologies - delivering high-tech machinery, software, digital, and service solutions that are critical to our customers success. Within the Group Innovation function, we define and drive the central innovation and technology roadmap for the Group. Our focus is on advancing strategic technology topics, enabling cross-business collaboration, and creating scalable innovation programs that support long-term, sustainable growth.

Role Overview

We are seeking an Innovation Program Manager focused on Smart factory and process solution topics. This role sits within Krbers Central Group Innovation function and serves as a key interface between the strategic innovation roadmap and the Business Areas leading development and deployment. The ideal candidate brings strong technology Project management expertise combined with hands-on and operational experience in topics like Robotics and autonomous Systems, Industrial IoT etc. The expectation from the candidate is to effectively guide cross-functional teams, anticipate integration challenges, and support scalable execution across Krbers industrial environments.

Key Responsibilities ::

Program Coordination & Governance

Coordinate one or more innovation programs aligned with Krbers strategic technology roadmap, with focus areas such as robotics automation and AMR-enabled workflows

Establish program structures, milestones, KPIs, and governance frameworks to ensure transparency and progress tracking

Prepare materials for steering committees, senior reviews, and decision forums

Cross-Business Enablement

Act as the interface between Group Innovation and Business Areas to ensure clarity on objectives, scope, timelines, and interdependencies

Support decentralized execution by enabling structured collaboration across engineering, operations, and digital teams

Translate strategic robotics topics into clear workstreams, deliverables, and action plans Stakeholder & Partner Management

Drive structured communication across internal stakeholders, technology partners, and system integrators

Support vendor landscape evaluation and partner collaboration for robotics innovation initiatives Ensure stakeholder alignment across diverse, matrixed environments

Risk, Dependency & Resource Oversight

Track program risks, dependencies, and change impacts across concurrent innovation workstreams

Support mitigation planning and timely escalation where required

Contribute to resource planning and budget oversight for multi-business innovation initiatives Standardization & Scaling

Develop common templates, playbooks, and best-practice frameworks to enable consistent execution across robotics innovation programs

Promote operational excellence through Lean and continuous improvement principles

Core Competencies (Preferred / Value-Add)

The following experience is considered a strong advantage, enabling effective program leadership in robotics innovation contexts:

Robotics & Automation Exposure (Plus)

AMR Navigation and Deployment Environments

SLAM, LiDAR, Sensor Fusion awareness

Fleet Management Systems and multi-robot operations

Industrial safety and automation constraints

Methodologies & Tools

Agile / Scrum, Kanban, hybrid delivery models

Stage-Gate familiarity for hardware-driven programs

Jira, Confluence

Python or SQL for operational/data-driven insights

ROS familiarity is a plus

Program Management Strengths

Stakeholder management across senior and cross-business audiences

Risk mitigation and dependency tracking

Vendor and partner collaboration

Structured execution in matrix organizations

Your Profile ::

58+ years of experience within innovation, automation, robotics, or smart factory environments Proven experience managing cross-functional, cross-business initiatives in a matrixed organization

Ability to work confidently with technology-focused topics without needing to be a deep technical expert

Strong planning, structuring, and execution skills, with attention to detail and follow-through

Comfortable operating in an environment where execution is decentralized and coordination, alignment, and governance are central to success

Familiarity with agile or hybrid project management methodologies is a plus

Strong stakeholder management and communication skills; confident interacting with senior and diverse stakeholders

Excellent English communication skills (written and verbal); German is an advantage

Proactive, hands-on mindset with a strong sense of ownership

Your working environment at Krber Krber Business Area Pharma is the leading provider of MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems) software to the pharmaceutical and biotech manufacturing industry. Our first-in-class Werum PAS-X software offering allows our customers to control and record the making of life-saving therapies to ensure the best possible business and patient outcomes. We are seeking talented individuals as we look to transform our business and products to meet the constantly shifting demands of the ongoing revolution in factory digitization and automation.

Your benefits ::

Competitive compensation package.

Opportunities for professional growth within a global organization.

A work environment that values collaboration, efficiency, and commitment.

Continuous learning and development opportunities.

Can you find yourself in this profile? Then you are right at Krber. We are looking forward to getting to know you