Innovation Manager - Fixed Term Contract

Innovation Manager – Fixed Term Contract

• Salary : £54,927 - £68,659 | €75,439 - €94,299 | $99,367 - $124,208 USD, depending on experience
• Job Type : Full-Time, Fixed Term Contract for 12 months
• Location : Cardiff, UK | The Hague, Netherlands | Washington, USA
• Hybrid working : 2 days in office per week

About the IB

The International Baccalaureate provides world-class educational services to over 6,000 schools across 160 countries. A career with the IB is not just a job; it’s an opportunity to work with an innovative world leader in education services where we empower our employees to thrive and make a difference.

About the job

The Continuous Improvement and Implementation (CI&I) team drives transformative change across the Assessment and Operations Office by improving processes and implementing solutions that enhance efficiency, consistency, and flexibility, while building organizational capability to sustain change. Through expertise in business change, process improvement, innovation, and localization technology, the team delivers measurable improvements in efficiency, quality, and scalability. The Innovation Manager supports AI-enabled innovation initiatives that address wider operational and business challenges across A&O.

The role identifies high-value opportunities for AI applications and automation; translates operational problems into practical use cases; and works with colleagues across A&O, Digital, Product, Data and relevant business teams to prototype, evaluate and embed solutions. The role supports responsible use of AI by ensuring initiatives are grounded in clear business problems, appropriate data quality, governance, ethical considerations, measurable outcomes and sustainable adoption.

• Identify, frame and prioritize AI and automation opportunities that improve operational efficiency, quality, service and risk management.
• Translate business challenges into clear AI use cases, success measures and delivery plans.
• Build and maintain a pipeline of AI-enabled improvement initiatives aligned to strategic priorities.
• Lead or coordinate pilots, proofs of concept and experiments to validate business value and feasibility.
• Partner across A&O, Digital, Data and Product teams to embed solutions into operational processes.
• Support stakeholder engagement, change planning, adoption activities and benefits tracking.
• Develop cost estimates, resource forecasts and business cases for innovation initiatives.
• Coordinate suppliers, contractors and internal specialists to deliver agreed outcomes.
• Degree qualification or equivalent professional experience in operational improvement, digital transformation, business analysis, education technology, computer science or a related field.
• Experience leading or supporting AI, automation, digital transformation or data-driven improvement initiatives.
• Strong ability to translate business problems into requirements, use cases and implementation plans.
• Knowledge of responsible AI, privacy, information security and ethical considerations.
• Experience working with operational or assessment-related data to support decision-making and process improvement.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to explain complex concepts to non-technical audiences.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills across cross-functional teams.
• Working knowledge of AI, machine learning, generative AI and automation technologies.

Benefits

• The IB provides support for the continuous personal and professional development of our colleagues, enabling each employee to realize their full potential.
• We offer a range of region-specific benefits depending on office location centred around employee benefits, work-life flexibility, and growth.
• Please feel free to discuss the benefits on offer in your region with your Recruitment Partner.
• For the UK, these include;

• Flexible benefits allowance equivalent to 1.5% of Annual Salary to spend on benefits or as addition to salary
• 10% employer pension contribution with a minimum 3% employee contribution
• Enhanced family friendly benefits
• 25 Days Annual Leave plus public holidays. The opportunity to purchase up to 5 days of leave each year.
• Life assurance 4x annual salary
• Flexible working hours (core hours are 10am-12pm and 2pm-3pm), 37.5 hours per week
• Paid volunteering leave
• Excellent continuous professional development

Applications will be accepted until 11:55pm 02 September 2026.

Opportunity & Belonging

We are committed to building a working environment that values respect, diversity, and compassion. The International Baccalaureate is proud to be an equal opportunities employer, and we welcome applications from all qualified applicants. As a global employer, we adhere to all relevant employment legislation in the countries in which we operate, and we’re happy to provide any reasonable support or adjustments as needed to ensure applicants can fully participate in our recruitment process.