Innovation Marketing Manager

Founded in 1920, Eastman is a global specialty materials company that produces a broad range of products found in items people use every day. With the purpose of enhancing the quality of life in a material way, Eastman works with customers to deliver innovative products and solutions while maintaining a commitment to safety and sustainability. The company’s innovation-driven growth model takes advantage of world-class technology platforms, deep customer engagement, and differentiated application development to grow its leading positions in attractive end markets such as transportation, building and construction, and consumables. As a globally inclusive company, Eastman employs approximately 13,000 people around the world and serves customers in more than 100 countries. The company had 2025 revenue of approximately $8.8 billion and is headquartered in Kingsport, Tennessee, USA. For more information, visit  www.eastman.com . Description

The Innovation Marketing Manager helps build Eastman's next generation of growth by translating market shifts, unmet customer needs, and technology capabilities into scalable business opportunities. This role operates at the front end of innovation, identifying and evaluating new growth opportunities, developing business cases, and advancing the most promising concepts through the company's innovation and Stage-Gate processes.   The successful candidate combines strategic marketing expertise, customer insight, commercial judgment, and cross-functional leadership. Working closely with technical, business, commercial, sustainability, manufacturing, and other functional teams, this individual will help determine where Eastman should invest, how new offerings can create differentiated value, and what is required to bring those opportunities to market.

Identify and Prioritize Growth Opportunities Identify emerging growth opportunities by analyzing market trends, customer needs, technology developments, and industry dynamics. Evaluate and prioritize a portfolio of ideas, recommending which opportunities should be advanced, refined, pivoted, or discontinued. Apply structured innovation methods and frameworks to assess strategic fit, market attractiveness, customer value, differentiation, commercial potential, and risk. Lead Customer and Market Discovery Conduct customer discovery and voice-of-customer research to uncover unmet needs and validate market opportunities. Design and execute primary and secondary market research to address critical knowledge gaps. Perform market, competitive, regulatory, industry, value-chain, and trend assessments to identify opportunities and challenges. Build Business Cases and Value Propositions Develop compelling value propositions that clearly articulate customer benefits and competitive differentiation relative to alternative solutions. Build fact-based business cases by evaluating market size, adoption potential, revenue potential, economics, key assumptions, risks, and competitive dynamics. Identify critical assumptions, potential barriers, and risks early, and develop plans to validate or mitigate them. Develop preliminary market entry, commercialization, and activation strategies for selected opportunities. Lead Innovation Projects Lead the marketing workstream for growth opportunities from early discovery through concept development and advancement within Eastman's innovation and Stage-Gate processes. Use structured market and business evaluation frameworks, including Eastman's EBME approach, to support high-quality strategic choices. Collaborate with technical, commercial, sustainability, manufacturing, business, and other functional partners to develop opportunity strategies and commercialization plans. Provide clear recommendations based on customer, market, competitive, and business insights. Influence and Align Stakeholders Build strong relationships with customers, external partners, and internal stakeholders to foster