Innovation Commercialization Director, Global Foods - Purchase, New York

This role in based in Purchase, NY.

PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than $86 billion in net revenue in 2022, driven by a complementary beverage and convenient foods portfolio that includes Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker, and SodaStream. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including many iconic brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.

Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in Beverages and Convenient Foods by Winning with PepsiCo Positive (pep+). pep+ is our strategic end-to-end transformation that puts sustainability and human capital at the centre of how we will create value and growth by operating within planetary boundaries and inspiring positive change for planet and people. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com.

Overview of the Innovation & Commercialization Function:

The Innovation & Commercialization function is part of the broader Consumer Groups organization (that includes Marketing, Insights, Design and R&D) and plays a key role in PepsiCo Inc. accelerated growth agenda across International Foods & Beverages categories.

Purpose:

• Powering Positive Growth by delivering smart E2E solutions that are positive for the portfolio, people & planet, one smile at a time

Mission:

• We are 3 Lens innovation experts
• We creatively orchestrate teams to build & intentionally scale human centric solutions
• We drive bold choices, agility & winning execution

Key Deliverables:

• The function provides strategic & operational governance of PEP’s innovation & Positive Choices agenda, leads platform, program & project management from strategy to action, identifies & intentionally scales winning innovation across the enterprise and provides world class, digitalized, processes, systems & tools to underpin.

This Role:

The primary purpose of the Global Foods Innovation and Commercialization Director is to drive the accelerated, profitable, sustainable growth by leading and delivering strategic enterprise-wide human-centric innovation & Positive Choice solutions that are positive for the portfolio, people & planet. The role has a significant influence on the Global Foods innovation agenda.

This role will manage a complex agenda for few specific Innovation programs, driving multi-functional and multi located teams to deliver strategic E2E solutions, build roadmaps, investments required, trade-offs and execution plans that are critical to deliver the Foods strategic growth ambition. It is also responsible to drive stakeholder alignment and decisions to enable E2E viable solutions at speed.

The role reports to the Innovation & Commercialization VP, Global Foods. It is part of the Global Foods Group organization and the Global Commercialization function.

3 Lens Innovation Leadership:

• The role provides unique, 3-Lens leadership expertise across the Desirability, Feasibility & Viability lenses across all stages of the programs. Identifying the key tensions between a winning consumer proposition, the ability to make/move sell and the financial viability for PEP and retailers in different geographies is critical from the outset to deliver a winning, sustainable proposition. This enables key trade-offs to be made early and ensures the solution is human centric, strategically sound & affordable and that the programs are set up for success from the start. Ensuring that pep+ is front & center of the 3-Lenses is also a key responsibility of the role.

Intentionally Scale Human Centric Solutions:

• Leveraging 3-Lens and end-2-end (E2E) value chain thinking and expertise the role ensures that a FutureBack approach is adopted for the programs. This ensures the roadmaps and pace are designed with the end-point in mind from the start, and adopt an intentional yet agile approach to build & scale across the globe.
• Drives the appropriate E2E forward-compatibility design into a lead market development when the initiative has been identified as a scalable multi-market strategic solution and develops an E2E roll-out master plan and associated capability investments required.

Drive Bold Choices:

• Lead and influence the agenda to drive scalable, profitable and sustainable innovation solution that are that are consistent with a human centric innovation strategy and brand growth model and are positive for the portfolio, people and planet.
• Understand and manage gaps, risks, resources and trade-offs required for each roadmap and creatively orchestrate cross-functional & cross-geographies teams to make the best business choices and deliver the plans.
• Lead the program delivery through effective application of agile and waterfall project management techniques – as appropriate to the challenges at hand.

Manage Stakeholders & Communications:

• Manage an integrated, cross-functional engagement with Commercialization and GFG leadership teams to ensure alignment and unblocks and with local and regional leadership teams to secure commitments, ensure alignment and build roadmaps for each of the solutions and markets across the horizons.
• Define the appropriate communication as per the stakeholder management map and needs of each program, including the use of different communication tools as appropriate.

Key Leadership Competencies (The Great 5)

• The role is complex in nature, sitting in Global it plays in the matrix both geographic & cross-functional wise and is truly E2E in scope. Therefore, “influencing without authority” is a critical skill requirement, as is an ability to simplify complex issues and deliver actionable solutions.

Key leadership competencies for the role include: (The Great 5)

Thinking:

• Leverages a deep understanding of PEP’s business, consumers, customers & external environment to collaboratively build strategies & plans that resonate across geographies & categories (External Perspectives)
• Identify trends, anticipates issues/risks and develops multi-year plans that are both intentional and agile/flexible. Develop future-back prototyping & viable plans (Forward Thinking)

Execution:

• Develops compelling human-centric E2E innovation programs that inspire beyond the working team (Inspirational Leadership)
• Ability to identify key priorities, drive intentional trade-offs & simplification. Balance speed with the need to deliver quality results in the right way and demonstrates perseverance in achieving complex or ambiguous goals (Results)
• Exceptional critical thinking & storytelling skills to simplify complexity, identify smart solutions & communicate in an elevated way that inspires confidence and drives action (Clarity)

Relationships:

• Collaborates beyond boundaries to engage the right individuals in key decisions and keeps them apprised of significant change, whilst keeping momentum behind agreed commitments (Networks)
• Demonstrates emotional intelligence & understanding of others, and seeks out different perspectives, to set and drive the agenda (Inclusive & Respectful)

Growth:

• Demonstrates learning agility & curiosity to grow as an E2E innovation leader, especially across aspects of the entire value chain (Curiosity for Learning)

Compensation and Benefits:

• The expected compensation range for this position is between $113,300 - $226,600 based on a full-time schedule.
• Location, confirmed job-related skills and experience will be considered in setting actual starting salary
• Bonus based on performance and eligibility; target payout is 25% of annual salary paid out annually. And an additional target payout of 10% of annual salary is paid out over 3 years following the end of the performance period.
• Long term incentive equity may be awarded based on eligibility and performance.
• Paid time off subject to eligibility, including paid parental leave, vacation, sick, and bereavement.
• In addition to salary, PepsiCo offers a comprehensive benefits package to support our employees and their families, subject to elections and eligibility: Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability, Health and Dependent Care Reimbursement Accounts, Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Insurance (Accident, Group Legal, Life), Defined Contribution Retirement Plan.

• 10 to 15 years’ experience in Innovation, Commercialization, or similar.
• Minimum Bachelor’s Degree education, ideally in business studies, engineering or finance
• Very high levels of business acumen as a must-have: commercially savvy with outstanding analytical & problem solving skills
• Ability to engage with & effectively influence senior stakeholders within the organization and across multiple functions
• Proven results delivering significant business change within a fast-paced, matrix environment
• High level of organizational savvy and the ability to manage within ambiguity are a must for this role
• Ability to be both challenging & enabling and comfortable managing conflict
• Experience in delivering projects in the field (through development & scale-up to product on-shelf).
• Extensive experience working in innovation, incl portfolio management & stage gate management
• Very strong process & project management, including agile project management.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, or disability status.

PepsiCo is an Equal Opportunity Employer: Female / Minority / Disability / Protected Veteran / Sexual Orientation / Gender Identity

If you'd like more information about your EEO rights as an applicant under the law, please download the available EEO is the Law & EEO is the Law Supplement documents. View PepsiCo EEO Policy.

Please view our Pay Transparency Statement