Manager, External Partnerships

Mars•Chicago, IL

7d•$108,160 - $148,720•Hybrid

About The Position

Are you excited to build, operationalize, and grow the external alliances that fuel industry-leading innovation? Working out of our world-class Global Innovation Center (GIC) in Chicago, the Manager, External Partnerships serves as a vital bridge between high-impact external partners, including start-ups, strategic suppliers, academic institutions, venture-backed innovators, and industry disruptors, and Mars Snacking's leadership team. In this role, you will support the governance structures, operating models, and Roles & Responsibilities (R&R) that enable strategic partnerships to succeed. You will act as both the strategic and operational engine behind our external partnership portfolio, helping to identify, evaluate, onboard, and scale partnerships that accelerate business growth, innovation, and capability building. You will partner closely with leaders across R&D, Commercial, Finance, Legal, Procurement, and Strategy to design partnership blueprints, evaluate investment opportunities, build business cases, and monitor portfolio performance. Leveraging market intelligence, financial analysis, and performance insights, you will translate complex information into actionable recommendations that support decision-making across the partnership lifecycle. This highly visible role combines strategy, analytics, financial stewardship, and program execution. You will help establish repeatable processes, governance frameworks, dashboards, and playbooks that enable Mars to scale external partnerships effectively while ensuring investments are aligned to business priorities and value creation objectives.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Finance, Economics, Strategy, Commercial Management, Engineering, or a related field required.
1-3 years of experience in corporate strategy, consulting, business development, strategic finance, partnership management, innovation, analytics, or program management.
Exceptional analytical capabilities, including market assessment, competitive intelligence, opportunity sizing, due diligence, and the ability to synthesize complex insights into executive recommendations.
Strong financial and commercial skills, including business case development, investment evaluation, budgeting, capital planning, and scenario modeling.
Demonstrated ability to conduct market research, partner assessments, commercial diligence, and competitive benchmarking to support strategic decision-making.
Experience developing dashboards, KPI frameworks, portfolio reporting, and performance analytics to track partnership effectiveness and value creation.
Proven ability to influence and coordinate across diverse stakeholder groups, including R&D, Commercial, Finance, Legal, Procurement, and external organizations.
Strong presentation, storytelling, and written communication skills with the ability to create decision packs, executive briefings, and concise recommendations.
High degree of initiative, adaptability, and problem-solving capability in fast-paced and evolving environments.

Nice To Haves

MBA or advanced degree preferred.
Experience within CPG, innovation ecosystems, venture-backed environments, or strategic partnerships is preferred.

Responsibilities

Collaborate with business and portfolio leadership teams to develop, coordinate, and execute the external partnership roadmap.
Support partnership opportunities across the full lifecycle, from discovery and evaluation through implementation, governance, and scaling.
Identify strategic opportunities, risks, bottlenecks, and resource constraints, and facilitate alignment on solutions.
Conduct market research, ecosystem mapping, competitive intelligence, and partner assessments to identify emerging opportunities.
Lead or support commercial and strategic due diligence activities for prospective partnerships.
Develop business cases, opportunity sizing analyses, and investment recommendations that inform leadership decisions.
Create repeatable playbooks, templates, tools, and best practices that improve partnership effectiveness and scalability.
Capture lessons learned and continuously improve partnership management processes.
Develop processes to evaluate the financial, capability, and capacity investments required to onboard and scale strategic partners.
Support capital appropriation, budgeting, and planning activities across the partnership portfolio.
Ensure consistent governance and transparency regarding partnership investments and resource allocation.
Build and maintain partnership dashboards, KPI frameworks, portfolio scorecards, and reporting tools.
Monitor partnership performance, track post-pilot outcomes, and identify opportunities for optimization.
Ensure leadership has access to timely, accurate, and actionable insights to support decision-making.
Synthesize market, operational, financial, and partner performance data into executive-ready presentations and decision materials.
Produce one-page briefs, investment memos, portfolio updates, and leadership communications.
Provide analytical support that enables faster, more informed business decisions.