Innovation and Program Portfolio Manager - Cookies, Cones and Crusts

Ferrero - Chicago, IL

Full-time - Mid Level

Chicago, IL

10,001+ employees

Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods

About the position

As the Innovation and Portfolio Program Manager for Cookies, Cones & Crusts at Ferrero, you will play a pivotal role in driving innovation and facilitating the development of new products within this exciting category. Your primary responsibility will be to support and manage the design and development of innovative products, ensuring that all capital requirements for these innovations are effectively communicated and optimized. This dynamic position requires you to act as the local liaison with the global Ferrero team, aligning on the innovation pipeline and capital needs while delivering timely updates to the global team. You will lead the preparation for capital approvals and serve as the local expert on the Ferrero commercialization process, evaluating incoming requests for new developments based on established guidelines, complexity, and technical feasibility. In this role, you will maintain the capital expenditure (capex) budget for innovations, collaborating closely with the Innovation Brand Team, Brand Management, and R&D Technical Project Managers. You will create long-term plans for significant capex initiatives and partner with category planning to understand the capital needs for growth, initiating feasibility studies with engineering and industrial teams. Your responsibilities will also include conducting annual evaluations of the Cookies, Cones & Crusts portfolio, providing insights on performance, and working with cross-functional teams to present proposals to leadership. You will track project volumes and financials, assisting the project manager and cross-functional team in performing post-launch analyses to enhance the commercialization process continuously. As the local liaison for the commercialization process, you will train the marketing team on the necessary procedures and determine when projects should be initiated. You will act as the project manager for key initiatives, supporting the category plan and major brand developments. This includes developing and managing project timelines, success criteria, and risk assessments, while ensuring effective communication of project status updates to senior management. You will hold cross-functional team members accountable for their tasks, ensuring the efficient use of resources and timely execution of strategically important projects. Your ability to handle multiple initiatives simultaneously and work under pressure to meet deadlines will be crucial to your success in this role.

Responsibilities

• Act as the local liaison for category capital budget with the Ferrero Central Team.
• Maintain capex budget for innovations, collaborating with the Innovation Brand Team, Brand Management, and R&D Technical Project Managers.
• Create long-term plans for large capex initiatives for the local team.
• Partner with category planning to understand capital needs for growth and initiate feasibility studies with engineering and industrial teams.
• Evaluate the full Cookies, Cones & Crusts portfolio annually and provide an overarching view of performance.
• Work with the cross-functional team to bring proposals to leadership.
• Track project volumes and financials, assisting the PM and cross-functional team in post-launch analyses.
• Serve as the local expert and key point of contact for the Cookies, Cones & Crusts Ferrero Commercialization Process.
• Train the marketing team on the commercialization process and project initiation.
• Act as Project Manager for key initiatives, supporting the category plan and major brand developments.
• Develop and manage project timelines, success criteria, issues, risks, opportunities, and assumptions.
• Communicate project status updates to Senior Management when requested.
• Hold cross-functional team members accountable for delivering their tasks on time.
• Ensure effective use of resources and drive timely execution of strategically important projects.
• Evaluate and recommend go/no-go actions based on the viability of strategic initiatives.
• Handle multiple initiatives simultaneously and work under pressure to meet deadlines.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree required, preferably in Business, Engineering, or a related discipline.
• 3+ years of Project Management experience, preferably in Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG).
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong relationship-building skills with all levels of an organization.
• Experience with a project gating process.
• Familiarity with the product development process, preferably in food.
• Understanding of marketing key principles, particularly in innovation and pipeline building.
• Strong work ethic with a high sense of urgency, accountability, and initiative.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines with an ownership mentality.
• Excellent software skills: Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook; knowledge of Microsoft Project and ERP/SAP is a plus.