Manager, Procurement - Innovation (HDM)

The Kraft Heinz Company•Chicago, IL

22h•$104,200 - $130,200•Hybrid

About The Position

The Manager, Procurement - Innovation partners with brand, business, and cross-functional teams to understand innovation strategy, pipeline priorities, and future capability needs. The role identifies and develops supplier partners, assesses category landscapes, brings forward supplier capabilities and emerging technologies, and helps shape partnerships that enable commercialization and growth. This position connects business-unit innovation with core procurement teams, including Ingredients, Packaging, and External Manufacturing, to align suppliers, readiness, contracting, and launch support. It supports procurement readiness for internally manufactured innovation and leads external-manufacturing sourcing and commercialization for applicable projects, including supplier identification, sourcing, negotiation, IP and CAPEX considerations, contracting, onboarding, and supplier ways of working. The role is the primary contact for external-manufacturing innovation partners through development, commercialization, launch, and early lifecycle support, and transitions stabilized products, relationships, and contract ownership to the appropriate business procurement team. The manager drives supplier relationship management, commercialization problem solving, supplier and market analysis, continuous improvement, and cross-functional alignment. The role facilitates forums and working sessions with stakeholders such as finance, operations, marketing, sales, legal, quality, and R&D, and executes supplier segmentation and relationship routines covering quality, service, sustainability, cost, and performance. The position also advances supplier-led innovation by connecting external capabilities and technology with business needs.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, operations, finance, business, engineering, or a related field.
Experience in Procurement, including areas such as Ingredients, Packaging, CAPEX, External Manufacturing, or related categories; Finance or process engineering experience is also valued.
Knowledge of food or beverage manufacturing processes and commercialization environments.
Strong negotiation and influence skills, with the ability to shape decisions and build alignment across internal and external stakeholders.
Strong collaboration skills and ability to work across matrixed teams, functions, and supplier networks.
Adaptability and resilience through change, and ability to remain effective in fast-moving environments.
Digital savviness and basic knowledge of business intelligence tools such as Tableau and Power BI.
Literacy in and curiosity about AI solutions, with interest in improving insight generation, decision making, and ways of working.
Strategic thinking and business acumen, with the ability to connect procurement decisions to brand, category, and business strategy.
Ability to prioritize, balance competing priorities, assess trade-offs, and focus on high-value work to deliver innovation with speed and rigor.
Intellectual curiosity and a growth mindset, including willingness to challenge assumptions and embrace possibilities.
Advanced storytelling and communication skills, including the ability to explain complex ideas clearly to different audiences; strong written, verbal, analytical, interpersonal, and presentation skills.
Change leadership capability, including influencing adoption, aligning stakeholders, and moving work from concept to execution.
Risk sensing and scenario-planning capability, including anticipating issues, evaluating alternatives, and developing practical paths forward.
Process orientation and continuous-improvement mindset, with ability to drive efficiencies, simplify complexity, and establish scalable best practices.
Strong analytical, planning, and execution skills, with attention to detail across multiple priorities and projects.
Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook) and understanding of source-to-pay tools such as SAP and Ariba.
Ability to quickly develop organizational agility and get things done through formal and informal channels.

Nice To Haves

MBA and/or advanced procurement qualifications.
Finance or process engineering experience.

Responsibilities

Partner with brand, business, and cross-functional teams to understand innovation strategy, pipeline priorities, and future capability requirements.
Identify and develop supplier partners, assess category landscapes, support commercialization, and shape supplier partnerships to meet business needs.
Bring forward innovation concepts, supplier capabilities, and emerging technologies through external partnerships and awareness of market developments.
Connect business-unit innovation with core procurement teams, including Ingredients, Packaging, and External Manufacturing, to align preferred suppliers, readiness, contracting, and launch support.
Support internal innovation commercialization by ensuring procurement readiness and coordination across procurement categories and stakeholders.
Lead external-manufacturing sourcing and commercialization for applicable innovation projects, including supplier identification, strategic sourcing, commercial negotiation, IP and CAPEX considerations, contracting, onboarding, and setup of supplier ways of working.
Serve as the primary contact for external-manufacturing innovation partners through development, commercialization, launch, and early lifecycle support.
Manage innovation-partner relationships, including performance management, collaboration routines, issue resolution, and launch readiness.
Lead problem solving during commercialization and launch to support speed, continuity, and cross-functional execution.
Transition launched products, supplier relationships, and contract ownership to the appropriate business procurement team after stabilization.
Analyze supplier and market landscapes to identify partners, innovation opportunities, and competitive advantages.
Drive continuous improvement, process efficiency, and best practices across innovation sourcing, supplier collaboration, and commercialization.
Facilitate cross-functional forums and working sessions with finance, operations, marketing, sales, legal, quality, and R&D to strengthen alignment and improve procurement’s impact on innovation delivery.
Execute supplier segmentation and relationship-management routines, including business reviews and continuous improvement in quality, service, sustainability, cost, and performance.
Execute supplier-led innovation by aligning supplier capabilities and technology with business needs, fostering collaboration to unlock growth and value, and managing additional responsibilities as assigned.

Benefits

Performance-based bonus, subject to plan terms and governing documents.
Healthcare coverage for employees and eligible dependents.
Medical and prescription drug coverage.
Dental insurance.
Vision coverage.
Paid time off.
Company holidays.
Leave of absence.
Flexible work arrangements.
Recognition programs.
Training.
Employee Assistance Program.
Wellbeing programs.
Family support programs.
401(k).
Life insurance.
Accidental death and dismemberment coverage.
Disability coverage.
Wellbeing events, resources, and learning opportunities supporting physical, social, emotional, and financial well-being.