Innovation Project Manager

Innovation Project Manager

Ahlstrom is accelerating its growth through breakthrough innovation. We’re looking for an experienced project manager capable of delivering complex innovation projects. In this role, you will lead complex, cross-functional innovation projects that drive our strategic agenda in safe and sustainable specialty materials. You will collaborate across R&D, Commercial, Operations, and external partners to deliver impactful, market-driven solutions. This is an exciting opportunity with high visibility, strategic influence, and future leadership potential as we continue to strengthen our global innovation capabilities.

Purpose Of The Job / Position Description

Lead the execution, coordination, and delivery of complex innovation projects with significant business relevance. Drive project strategy, planning, alignment, and decision-making across technical and commercial functions. Lead multidisciplinary teams in the role of project manager and ensure effective collaboration between R&D, Marketing & Sales, Operations, Procurement, and Business Development. Influence innovation governance through preparation and facilitation of stage-gate and steering committee reviews.

Main Responsibilities

• Lead and manage innovation projects from early feasibility to implementation, ensuring timely delivery and measurable outcomes.
• Develop robust project plans, business cases, budgets, timelines, and risk mitigation strategies.
• Coordinate and influence cross-functional teams globally, ensuring alignment around project goals and milestones.
• Facilitate effective decision-making by synthesizing complex inputs into clear options, recommendations, and implications.
• Navigate competing priorities and interests across teams, driving alignment and timely resolution of issues.
• Ensure innovation projects are grounded in commercial logic and contribute measurably to performance, competitiveness, or growth.
• Communicate project status, risks, and recommendations to senior leadership and key stakeholders.
• Conduct structured project reviews and ensure adherence to innovation governance processes.
• Contribute to improving project management methodologies by embedding learnings from past projects into governance standards and review cycles.

Qualifications

Work experience needed

• Minimum 5-8 years of experience in project management, preferably in industrial B2B and innovation/product development environments.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex, multi-year, or high uncertainty projects in a matrixed, multinational context.

Primary Competencies (mapped To Job Role)

• Strong leadership and project management capabilities.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and senior stakeholder management skills.
• Strategic thinking with strong business and financial acumen.
• Ability to influence without authority and drive alignment across functions.
• Proactive, self-driven, and comfortable operating with ambiguity.
• Fluent in English; ability to work effectively in a multicultural organization.

Additional Competencies/ Other Requirements

• Travel may be required.
• Team-oriented, proactive, transparent and collaborative working style.

About Ahlstrom

Ahlstrom is a global leader in combining fibers into sustainable specialty materials. Our purpose is to Purify and Protect, with Every Fiber, for a Sustainable World. We aim to be the Preferred Sustainable Specialty Materials Company for all our stakeholders. Our Filtration and Life Sciences, Food and Consumer Packaging, and Protective Materials segments, along with the Performance Materials Cluster, address global trends with safe and sustainable solutions. Our net sales in 2025 amounted to EUR 2.9 billion and we employ some 7,000 people.

Key skills/competency

• Project Management
• Innovation Management
• Product Development
• Cross-functional Team Leadership
• Stakeholder Management
• Strategic Planning
• Business Acumen
• Risk Management
• Change Management
• Sustainable Materials