Innovation Consultant: Job Description and Types

Most modern companies need professionals who have innovative design thinking skills they can use to improve the company’s products or services. Innovation consultants bring an experienced, objective perspective to a company’s strategy and design decisions. They conduct research into unmet customer needs, evaluate user experience data, and recommend strategies for launching new products. 

But what is innovation consulting, and what skills do innovation consultants need? Earning a degree in design and innovation can help professionals develop the design strategy and management expertise they need to work as an innovation consultant.
 

What Is an Innovation Consultant?

Innovation consultants apply their design strategy experience and user research to evaluate an organization’s products or services in order to determine ways they can improve these products or services or to suggest ideas for new ones. Their focus is on analyzing complex situations, recommending new solutions to existing problems, and developing novel strategic approaches. 

Innovation consultants need design thinking, creative problem-solving, design management, human-centered design, and strategic planning skills to do their work. 

Innovation consultant roles generally require prior experience in the field. For example, an innovation consultant advising a technology firm on a new product prototype might bring experience in product design, brand strategy, or user experience (UX) to the role. Related positions include design consulting roles such as UX consultant and brand strategy consultant.
 

Innovation Consultant Job Description

Broadly speaking, innovation consultants draw on their design thinking and strategy experience to recommend fresh, creative approaches to a company’s design efforts. But what are their daily responsibilities?

Job Duties

Innovation consultants’ responsibilities vary depending on their expertise, specialty area, and industry. However, their typical duties include:

• Researching customer or market needs to identify opportunities for design innovation
• Recommending strategic approaches to leverage design as business differentiators
• Evaluating product designs and human-computer interaction concepts 
• Testing prototypes and models to assess designs and user experience
• Developing implementation strategies to transform design ideas into operational plans
• Advising decision-makers on creative strategy and design systems

Key Design and Innovation Competencies

Innovation consultants working in design need skills in areas that include:

• Design Strategy: Performing consumer research, evaluating user experience data, and developing prototype ideas are key components of any design strategy. A deep understanding of how to develop design solutions benefits innovation consultants. 
• Human-Computer Interactions: Innovation consultants should understand the best practices and emerging trends in human-computer interactions, including in areas such as UX design, user interface (UI) design, and interaction design (IxD). 
• Strategic Design Leadership: Because innovation consultants often take an active role in leading strategic design efforts, they need to be skilled at leading creative teams. 
• Design Systems Implementation: Innovation consultants must understand effective design systems and implementation practices, including in design research and brand design.
   

Types of Innovation Consultant

Innovation consultants work in many industries and specialty areas. While design-focused innovation professionals often work in creative industries, many also work in technology, consumer goods, and other industries. In addition, corporate strategy teams, innovation labs, and consulting firms hire innovation consultants. 

Here are three types of specialized roles for innovation consultants.

Product Innovation Consultant

Product innovation consultants work with product design and development teams. They may consult on a company’s early-stage prototyping, product research, or go-to-market strategy. 

Some product innovation consultants specialize in a particular type of consumer good or technology. Others specialize in services innovation or both products and services.

Digital Innovation Consultant

Digital innovation consultants advise on human-centered designs for digital products. They apply design thinking principles as they evaluate the products’ core problems and test solutions for those problems. 

Digital innovation consultants focus on the workshopping stage, prototyping, and testing of digital products. They also work on strategy mapping.

UX Innovation Consultant

UX innovation consultants research how users interact with certain products and services to evaluate the users’ pain points and develop creative solutions to those problems. Their work is most often focused on evaluating and improving digital user interfaces.

Part of this process involves mapping users’ journeys with the digital products and prototyping potential new interfaces. In addition to expertise in human-computer interactions, UX innovation consultants need strong UX research skills and strategic planning skills. 
 

Innovation Professionals’ Salaries

Across industries, effective creative design strategies can translate into higher returns on investment for companies and more positive experiences for their customers. Skilled innovation consultants are poised to assist companies in improving their design strategies.

Innovation consultants’ salaries vary widely across industries, specialties, and experience levels. Professionals interested in career advancement can pursue a number of types of high-paying roles. For example, the median annual salary for those working in the in-house role of innovation manager was approximately $104,000 in 2026, according to Payscale. Innovation directors had a median annual salary of around $160,000, and chief innovation officers had a median of approximately $203,000 in the same year.
 

Earn a Master’s in Design and Innovation

Today’s fast-paced business landscape depends on innovative thinkers. Tseng College at California State University, Northridge, offers an online Master of Arts in Design and Innovation program that helps students develop the design strategy and leadership skills they need to succeed in this environment, including those who want to become innovation consultants. 

Divided into modules focused on design strategy and systems, design experiences and interactions, and design leadership and impact, CSUN’s master’s program incorporates hands-on practicums and a culminating project to enable students to build career-ready skills and a professional portfolio. 

Find out how CSUN can help you advance in your design career.