Senior Innovation Manager for PLANTERS and SKIPPY brands - Corporate Innovation (Downtown Chicago, IL)

SENIOR INNOVATION MANAGER FOR PLANTERS® AND SKIPPY® BRANDS – CORPORATE INNOVATION (DOWNTOWN CHICAGO, IL) 

HORMEL FOODS CORPORATION

To save time applying, Hormel Foods does not offer sponsorship of job applicants for employment-based visas for this position at this time. 

ABOUT HORMEL FOODS — Inspired People. Inspired Food.™ 

Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minnesota, is a global branded food company with approximately $12 billion in annual revenue across more than 80 countries worldwide. Its brands include Planters®, Skippy®, SPAM®, Hormel® Natural Choice®, Applegate®, Justin’s®, Wholly®, Hormel® Black Label®, Columbus®, Jennie-O® and more than 30 other beloved brands. The company is a member of the S&P 500 Index and the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, was named one of the best companies to work for by U.S. News & World Report, one of America’s most responsible companies by Newsweek, recognized by TIME magazine as one of the World’s Best Companies, and has received numerous other awards and accolades for its corporate responsibility and community service efforts. The company lives by its purpose statement — Inspired People. Inspired Food.™ — to bring some of the world’s most trusted and iconic brands to tables across the globe. For more information, visit www.hormelfoods.com. 

RESPONSIBILITIES:

This position is responsible for delivering Innovation net sales and gross margin contribution for $1B+ business. The person in this role will lead the overall innovation strategy for the assigned brands and will be directly accountable for the innovation pipeline sufficiency to hit growth objectives. The person will spearhead multiple complex projects, drive alignment with business and executive suite leadership. This position is an individual contributor role. 

• Development of long-term innovation strategy, pipelines, and financial forecast to deliver against Business Goals: Develops the Innovation Strategy that connects to the overarching Business Strategy and portfolio growth goals. Assesses size of the prize for growth opportunities and builds 3–5-year forecast and capabilities to activate against the strategy. Applies consumer lens and predictive trends, thinks creatively, and beyond current business model to source new product ideas. Facilitates the ideation sessions. Writes new product concepts. Works collaboratively with consumer insights, Business Analytics, Brand, and R&D teams to build a multi-year innovation plan. Secured executive suite leadership buy-in and approval for recommended pipelines and financials. Pushes pipelines through the Capex planning process to secure capabilities / capacity required when needed. 
• Commercialization of new products: Collaboratively leads multi-level cross-functional project teams across stage gates for Innovation launches. This includes having a working knowledge of multiple cross-functional areas (i.e., Sales, P&L, regulatory, operations, insights, R&D). Must be able to put together a high-level P&L, product concept, and build and present a sell-in story to the customer and internal stakeholders. 
• Partnership with external agency partners: Collaborates with external suppliers and agencies across different steps of innovation process when needed to bring in new capabilities (i.e. in-market test), fresh thinking (i.e. ideation), or agility (i.e. quick turnaround). 
• Managerial Requirements/Influence on Others: Provides guidance and support to junior team members. Champions team culture. Actively participates in monthly Portfolio Management Reviews, Annual Planning Process, and champions Resource Governance (Stage-Gate) process. Leads cross business unit teams with Director and above level team members. Presents to a c-suite leadership on a regular basis. 

QUALIFICATIONS:

Required

• Bachelor’s degree and 8+ years of innovation, marketing experience  
  OR  MBA and 5+ years of innovation and marketing experience. 
• Pattern of initiative. 
• Experience commercializing a new item. 
• Experience developing a long term (3-5 years) strategy and forecast, writing a long-term business plan and selling it through the organization. 
• Proven problem-solving and decision-making skills. 
• Ability to build P&L and should understand NPV components and drivers.