Director, Innovation - Meals

Kraft Heinz•Chicago, IL

3d•Onsite

About The Position

The Director, Innovation, M&C and Shelf Stable Meals will lead innovation development across several critical areas of responsibility, with a focus on building the long-term growth pipeline for Kraft M&C and Velveeta. This role will be responsible for leading expansion and whitespace opportunities for Kraft M&C and Velveeta, including building the 5-year innovation pipeline. The role involves developing new categories for Kraft M&C and Velveeta to bring growth plan ambitions to life by partnering across multiple innovation teams at KHC, including Disruptive Innovation Pods, AFH, and Canada, as well as R&D, Operations, Brand Teams, and Finance. The position requires building strong, two-way cross-functional relationships that foster collaboration, idea-sharing, and effective execution. Serving in a highly visible leadership role on the Meals Leadership Team, the Director will also lead and develop a team of direct reports with a broad range of experience. Key responsibilities include managing the creation and validation of a multi-year innovation strategy rooted in meaningful consumer pain points, managing agency relationships for packaging design of new products, and leading consumer validation in partnership with the Consumer Insights team. The role also involves owning innovation through the stage gate process, providing visibility to senior leadership on opportunities, and aligning stakeholders to next steps and tradeoffs. Leveraging syndicated data sources to assess internal and competitor innovation performance, and translating insights into recommendations that drive business impact are crucial. The position demands a consumer-first mindset in day-to-day decisions while protecting brand integrity and balancing financial and operational considerations.

Requirements

10+ years of experience
Experience managing direct reports and setting strategic direction for a team
Advanced experience in product management, brand management and managing a P&L
Experience in cross-functional team management
Strong interpersonal and communication skills
Ability to handle simultaneous projects and deliver within agreed upon time frames
Ability to effectively lead discussions and share vision with Executive level of KHC

Responsibilities

Leading expansion and whitespace opportunities for Kraft M&C and Velveeta, including building the 5-year innovation pipeline
Developing new categories for Kraft M&C and Velveeta to bring growth plan ambitions to life
Partnering across multiple innovation teams at KHC, including Disruptive Innovation Pods, AFH, and Canada, as well as R&D, Operations, Brand Teams, and Finance
Building strong, two-way cross-functional relationships that foster collaboration, idea-sharing, and effective execution
Serving in a highly visible leadership role on the Meals Leadership Team while leading and developing a team of direct reports with a broad range of experience
Managing the creation and validation of a multi-year innovation strategy rooted in meaningful consumer pain points
Managing agency relationships for packaging design of new products and leading consumer validation in partnership with the Consumer Insights team
Owning innovation through the stage gate process, providing visibility to senior leadership on opportunities and aligning stakeholders to next steps and tradeoffs
Leveraging syndicated data sources to assess internal and competitor innovation performance, and translating insights into recommendations that drive business impact
Bringing a consumer-first mindset to day-to-day decisions while protecting brand integrity and balancing financial and operational considerations