Innovation Manager

Job Title Manager, Innovation & Partnerships 

Location New York, NY (Tri-State Metro) or Eastern Time zone (Remote/Hybrid) 

About Gain Theory 

Gain Theory is a top-tier Global Marketing Analytics company bringing together data, analytics, technology, and insight capabilities to weave engaging business narratives which inspire our Fortune 500 clients to impactful business decision making every day. 

We are an independent practice within WPP operating across 50+ markets with hubs in New York, London, and Singapore. Our New York office sits in 3 World Trade, overlooking the World Trade Memorial.  We retain full independence to work with non-WPP clients (over 50% of our clients are non-WPP clients), and we do not provide unpaid services within WPP. 

When it comes to working at Gain Theory, our people are passionate about making a difference, both at work and in their lives. We are creating a culture that drives excellent delivery while giving our teams and individuals the space they need to enjoy their own passions.  Pursuing these two objectives in tandem maximizes the quality of delivery for Gain Theory, but more importantly, the quality of life for the individual. 

About Innovation and Partnerships 

Gain Theory is approaching how we develop products and solutions differently.  We are moving beyond products that simply deliver facts and figures to solutions that influence decisions and drive enthusiasm to act.  We’re doing it fast, and we’re infusing AI at every step in the process. Our Innovation and Partnerships team develops our new, client-ready, measurement solutions, supports and enhances our existing product suite, and identifies, negotiates, and manages our data and tech partnerships that help power all our solutions. We maintain a robust and vibrant partner ecosystem to meet the current and future needs of our diverse client roster.  We also have an active voice in WPP’s broader partnership ecosystem ensuring Gain Theory’s vision and business needs are reflected at the highest levels in our broader organization. 

Position Summary 

The Manager, Innovation & Partnerships will drive day-to-day execution across three core areas: rapid prototyping and commercialization of new solutions; support and evolution of existing products; and management of strategic data and technology partnerships. This role is highly visible and occasionally client-facing, requiring strong project/product management, exceptional attention to detail, and the ability to operate in a fast-moving environment with shifting priorities. The successful candidate will partner with Research & Development (R&D), Development, Client Teams, and external partners to translate concepts into client-ready offerings and support their adoption in market. 

We are looking for an individual that understands the data, analyses, and tools of Marketing, understands where the marketplace is going and approaches delivery of results through the eyes of the client. Consulting, partnership, excellent communication and project management will be the hallmarks of the ideal candidate beyond the prerequisite problem-solving skills and general understanding of how Marketing organizations function and use analytics to solve everyday challenges. 

So, if you are talented, client-centric, solutions oriented, and future focused then we want to talk! 

Key Responsibilities 

• Product Management: Maintain accurate product documentation, narratives, FAQs, and proposal content; ensure pricing and capability descriptions are current. 

• Design strategic project plans, assess organizational risks, and dependencies; influence alignment across technical and business stakeholders. 

• Brainstorm with business partners and help translate Gain Theory strategic vision in to  client-ready prototypes; coordinate with R&D and Development on scoping, testing, and development logs. 

• Enable organizational access to tools and environments; define and enforce process standards and quality assurance checks. 

• Lead Go-to-Market (GTM) process and design assets for multiple solutions concurrently, including: sales materials, product documentation, training content, demo videos, pricing frameworks, and rate cards. 

• Lead internal enablement and client training; co-pitch with Client Teams and manage pilots with clear milestones and success criteria. 

• Support new client pitches for existing solutions; tailor messaging by industry and buyer persona. 

• Track product performance and adoption; synthesize insights into strategic product recommendations, new features, and product roadmap inputs. 

• Identify, evaluate, integrate, and manage data and technology partners (e.g., media, measurement, platform providers). 

• Maintain a partner roster with capabilities, performance metrics, limitations, cost implications, and use-case alignment. 

• Participate in WPP’s broader product ecosystem to ensure Gain Theory’s offerings are accurately represented. 

Required Qualifications 

• Bachelor’s degree. 

• 2–5 years of experience in a combination of the following: Product Management/Operations, Project Management, Innovation, Partnerships, Marketing Analytics, GTM/Sales Enablement, Customer Success, Product Marketing. 

• Familiarity with marketing analytics concepts (e.g., Marketing Mix Modeling, attribution, optimization, audience activation) and industry data sources (e.g., Nielsen, IRI, iSpot.tv, YouGov, BAV, Experian). 

• Professional exposure to AI (e.g., working with multiple large language models, AI agents, or product-embedded AI features). 

• Strong communication and storytelling skills; confident presenting to clients and senior stakeholders. 

• Proficiency in PowerPoint and Excel (including pivot tables and VLOOKUP). 

• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects, prioritize with imperfect information, and meet tight deadlines. 

• High attention to detail and process rigor. 

Plus Qualifications 

• Exposure to Python, R, SQL, Tableau, AWS, Google Cloud Platform, or Microsoft Azure. 

• Familiarity with core statistics (e.g., correlations, t-tests, R², sample sizing, A/B testing). 

• Experience leading small teams. 

• Advanced degree. 

Critical Intangibles 

• High capacity for context switching and operating in a fast-paced environment. 

• Relationship-building and influence across technical and business stakeholders, including senior executives. 

• Ownership mindset with bias to action; ability to introduce structure and standards where needed. 

• Resilience and adaptability; comfortable iterating and pivoting based on new information. 

• Meticulous documentation and quality assurance. 

Role Highlights 

• Access to best-in-class AI tools and ecosystem few companies can match. 

• Visibility and impact with Fortune 500 brands. 

• A culture that values excellence and supports personal passions. 

• Global reach with independence to work across WPP and non-WPP clients. 

• Career growth in a team shaping the future of AI-enabled marketing analytics.