Position: Head of Innovation
Location: Chennai Tamil Nadu (Hybrid- 4 days/week)
Duration: Full Time
Notice Period: Only Immediate Joiners/ Currently Serving Notice/ Notice is less than 60 days
Budget: 30-55 LPA (Depending on level of expertise)
Head of Innovation (Director level but wants hands on person)
Dynamic Head of Innovation to lead a high-impact innovation team. The role is responsible for designing, developing, and delivering next-generation solutions aligned with priorities recommended by GTM (Go-to-Market) teams, delivery teams, and support functions. This is a hybrid role combining strategic leadership with hands-on technical development, with a focus on building core frameworks and accelerators that can be leveraged across the organization.
The Innovation Head will be a thought leader and practitioner, staying ahead of evolving trends in Agentic AI, Generative AI, data-driven automation, and intelligent enterprise solutions, translating them into practical and scalable business applications.
Key Responsibilities
- Establish lightweight governance for evaluating, prioritizing, and scaling innovation ideas.
- Ensure solutions align with enterprise architecture, security, and compliance standards.
- Define clear success metrics for innovation initiatives (ROI, adoption, time-to-value).
- Stay current with emerging technologies, AI/ML trends, and industry best practices.
- Partner with GTM teams to shape customer-facing innovation narratives and differentiators.
- Mentor and upskill team members and delivery functions on new technologies and frameworks.
- Architect, design, and prototype innovation solutions in areas such as Agentic AI, Generative AI, automation frameworks, and knowledge-driven systems.
- Build core reusable platforms (APIs, microservices, accelerators, AI frameworks) to speed up solution delivery across business functions.
- Drive proof-of-concepts (POCs) and pilots, iterating quickly with stakeholders.
- Lead the innovation team, fostering a culture of creativity, experimentation, and rapid prototyping.
- Collaborate with GTM, delivery, and support functions to identify high-impact innovation opportunities.
- Translate business requirements into scalable technical solutions and reusable frameworks.
Required Skills & Experience
- Leadership & Collaboration
- Proven experience leading small, cross-functional teams in innovation, product development, or R&D.
- Strong stakeholder management and ability to align with GTM, delivery, and support teams.
- Technical Expertise
- Hands-on experience with Agentic AI, Generative AI (LLMs, prompt engineering, fine-tuning, multi-agent systems).
- Proficiency in building frameworks and reusable assets (Python, Java, APIs, cloud-native platforms).
- Familiarity with modern architectures: microservices, event-driven systems, vector databases, and AI orchestration platforms.
- Exposure to cloud ecosystems (GCP, AWS, Azure) and MLOps practices.
- Innovation Mindset
- Deep curiosity about emerging technologies, AI trends, and enterprise adoption patterns.
- Ability to translate cutting-edge technology into practical business value and differentiated offerings.
Preferred Qualifications
- 14+ years of overall experience, with at least 3 years in innovation leadership or applied R&D roles.
- Demonstrated track record of building and scaling innovative solutions in enterprise environments.
- Experience in consulting, product engineering, or digital transformation initiatives.
- Strong communication and storytelling skills to influence senior leadership and clients.
