Job Description
Ajinomoto Health & Nutrition North America, Inc. is seeking a Manager, Growth Strategy & Intelligence to join the Innovation Strategy Department (ISD) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Innovation Strategy Department supports Ajinomoto’s long-term growth agenda through a combination of strategic intelligence, market insight, and new business opportunity development. This role will play a key part in identifying, evaluating, and shaping growth opportunities, with primary focus areas in healthcare (e.g., cell and gene therapy) and ICT / advanced materials, while supporting broader corporate priorities as needed. This is a highly hands-on role requiring both strategic judgment and personal execution. The successful candidate will be expected to independently frame strategic questions, scope and lead intelligence efforts, conduct rigorous primary and secondary research, synthesize complex findings, and translate insights into clear recommendations for senior leadership. The role will also directly contribute to strategy development, portfolio prioritization, and decision support for emerging growth initiatives. Reporting to the Director of Growth Strategy within the ISD, this role partners closely with strategy leaders, R&D teams, business leaders, Ajinomoto’s Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) function, and global stakeholders across the United States and Japan. The successful candidate will help strengthen scalable, repeatable approaches to strategic insight, planning, and innovation strategy development across the Ajinomoto Group. Strategic Intelligence & Market Insight Identify and prioritize strategic questions relevant to Ajinomoto’s growth agenda, particularly in healthcare and ICT-related domains Independently scope, design, and execute market, competitive, customer, ecosystem, and technology intelligence efforts Conduct primary and secondary research using expert interviews, literature review, databases, public sources, and external networks Monitor emerging market trends, disruptive technologies, and competitive developments to identify opportunities and risks Translate incomplete or complex information into clear hypotheses, scenarios, and strategic implications Personally lead rigorous analytical workstreams from problem definition through synthesis and recommendation. Strategy Development & Decision Support Convert intelligence outputs into strategic recommendations regarding where to play, how to win, partnerships, investments, and capability priorities. Prepare executive-ready presentations, memos, and decision materials for leadership audiences Lead analyses supporting portfolio prioritization, investment planning, and resource allocation discussions across growth initiatives. Contribute directly to long-range planning and strategic roadmap development. Support evaluation of new business opportunities, partnerships, and adjacent growth platforms. Stakeholder Engagement & Cross-Functional Collaboration Partner directly with business leaders, technical teams, and senior stakeholders to refine problem statements and align around decision needs. Design and facilitate workshops, working sessions, and cross-functional strategy discussions when appropriate. Build alignment across diverse stakeholders by surfacing assumptions, risks, and tradeoffs constructively. Collaborate effectively across functions, cultures, and geographies, including regular engagement with colleagues in Japan. Translate differing stakeholder perspectives into clear next-step decisions and aligned action plans. Department & Capability Development Build practical tools, templates, and processes for insight generation, strategic planning, and opportunity evaluation. Contribute to the continued development of a high-performing internal strategy capability within ISD Improve the speed, quality, and repeatability of strategic decision support across priority growth domains. Support additional strategic initiatives and special projects as assigned. EDUCATION, CERTIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE: Bachelor’s degree required in a scientific, engineering, or technical discipline, such as biology, chemistry, biochemistry, chemical engineering, biomedical engineering, materials science, or a related field. Master’s degree or PhD preferred, particularly where it supports strong scientific literacy and comfort engaging with complex technical topics. Five or more years of relevant experience, ideally including some combination of: Strategy consulting or similarly rigorous analytical problem-solving experience Corporate strategy, innovation, market insight, b