Senior Project and Portfolio Manager - Corporate Office (Bedminster, NJ)

SENIOR PROJECT AND PORTFOLIO MANAGER – CORPORATE OFFICE (BEDMINSTER, NJ) 

APPLEGATE / 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 

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®, 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. For more information, visit www.hormelfoods.com. 

SUMMARY:

Under the direction of the VP, Brand Equity & Innovation, the Senior Project & Portfolio Manager leads the successful end‑to‑end delivery of all Emerging Brands (Applegate & Columbus) projects. This role oversees a team of PMs, ensuring strong project execution, portfolio transparency, and cross-functional alignment. The Senior Manager also manages the Governance Committee (i.e. Stage Gate), maintains the Project Portfolio, tracks resourcing, and drives continuous improvement across project management processes and tools. 

RESPONSIBILITIES: 

1. Ensure PM team delivers consistent, high-quality project management execution across all Emerging Brands initiatives. 
2. Oversee project planning activities, including requirements gathering, stakeholder alignment, deliverable definition, timeline creation, and progress accountability. Ensure robust scoping, feasibility assessment, and documentation - including business requirements, project plans, risk assessments, communication plans, and performance metrics.
3. Ensure PM teams proactively identify risks, resolve issues, and escalate appropriately to senior leadership. Ensure all project documentation - timelines, scope documents, notes - remains up-to-date and accurate.
4. Drive continuous improvement by capturing and implementing lessons learned & new ways of working throughout project lifecycles. 
5. Establish, maintain, and improve project management systems, tools, and dashboards to enhance execution and reporting accuracy.
6. Maintain an accurate and current Project Portfolio through Asana and Compass, including project status, financial data, and pipeline details. Coordinate with Brand Management Innovation lead and IBP lead to ensure 3-year pipelines are up to date and consistently represented across the organization.  
7. Prepare for and lead monthly Governance Committee meetings, including Business Case review, agenda preparation, approval facilitation and communication of decisions and outcomes.
8. Partner with Senior Leadership & IBP Lead to help evaluate business priorities and short‑ and long‑term initiatives to ensure resources are allocated effectively across programs. Provide recommendations based on portfolio insights, capacity constraints, risk profiles, and organizational goals to support sound decision‑making and sustained portfolio health.
9. Input into PMR step within the IBP process by coordinating information collection and organizing it into structured updates for leadership review. 
10. Support staff development by assessing skills and capabilities, building training and development plans, coaching and mentoring team members, and fostering a culture of excellence.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree.
• 10+ years’ experience of managing Product Development Projects in the CPG industry. 
• Broad knowledge of the food industry; meat industry experience preferred.
• 5+ years’ experience managing Project Portfolios. 
• Demonstrated experience in process improvement and change management. 
• Strong leadership presence; able to present complex or sensitive situations with credibility and clarity, and drive to decisions. Ability to adjust content and messaging to audience (technical vs. executive). 
• Team leadership experience. 
• Excellent attention to detail, follow-through and execution skills.
• Strong communication skills (both written and verbal), negotiating and