Innovation Engineer - Development & Innovation Range

Job Description

Älmhult is the home of IKEA of Sweden. Here the IKEA range is developed and made available to stores and customers all over the world. IKEA is built on a culture of entrepreneurship and has throughout our nearly 80-year long history been known for being a challenger and thinking differently. It is part of our cultural DNA to never settle but to find new and better ways forward. Innovation and entrepreneurship will be key in developing IKEA also for the future – to create a better everyday life for the many people also in the decades to come.

Do you want to be part of accelerating innovations that make a difference in life at home and for our planet? Welcome to a team of people determined to solve the big problems and making the small things happen that are meaningful for the many! We work on innovations that enhance the current range and new ideas with potential for future growth, as well as keeping an eye on future scenarios that will fundamentally change people’s life at home. One key capability in this work is creative and innovative engineers who are happy to say “I do not know (yet) - but let’s figure it out together! Your daily work is to explore possible solutions to problems with many un-known parameters in areas that are new to IKEA – and to develop ideas into tested and verified concepts. 

We have an exciting innovation agenda ahead of us and are now looking for new colleagues to join us.

As an Innovation Engineer in Development & Innovation you will be responsible for:
• Ensure product and concept development of new products, features, solutions, technology and materials 
• Work cross-functionally from an engineering perspective; plan, execute and deliver full engineering readiness of proven solutions 
• Creating and/or contributing to new ideas and concepts
• Ensure that all projects deliver to scope and set objectives and goals
• Responsible to secure all documentation, testing, and risk assessments

To be successful in this role, we believe that: You have good understanding of how we operate IKEA to contribute at an early stage through ideations/explorations as well as drilling down into specifics to develop new technical solutions into next generation products. You have deep engineering competence and proven experience managing projects. You have an analytical mindset in combination with a holistic view on strategic business decisions and as a person, you are down-to-earth, pragmatic solution orientated with a sparkling curiosity that will lead you forward in the unknown. You are self-driven; you make things happen and are open to change. You have a business mindset and interest in the market and global trends, and you have a sense of urgency and strive to optimize sustainability, cost, quality and function. You have excellent skills in building trustworthy relationships and strive to work together with your team colleagues and across departments and have during the years built a strong network with partners across the IKEA landscape.

We are looking for you, with and engineering background with experience from product development. You have deep interest and knowledge about construction, design and materials. You are in the fore front of new technical solutions and are well updated on industry trends and understand the different cost-drivers within production. You are used to work in the unknown and have a broad network around you. You have well developed personal and interpersonal leadership and experience in project management. Good communication and university degree in engineering or equivalent qualification. Fluent in English, both written and spoken

Additional Information
There are 1 permanent position and 1 temporary position, both are based in Älmhult, Sweden.

Sounds interesting?
Please send us your application your CV and your answers on the three questions below, in English no later than 16th of March.

Please answer these questions together with your application:
1. Describe your experience based on IKEAs product development process
2. Describe your project experience and your role in the project(s)
3. Why do you think you are the right candidate for this job? 

Please note that we will be interviewing continuously, which means that we may close the application process earlier than stated if we find the right candidates.

If you have any questions about the position, please contact Hiring Manager Thomas Hörberg at [email protected] 

Regarding the recruitment process, please contact Recruiter Jonas Levin at [email protected]

We look forward to your application!