Project Lead, Marketing Operations and Information Services

J.M. Smucker Co•Akron, OH

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Project Lead for Marketing Operations & Information Systems plays a critical role in keeping the work of the Marketing Operations (MOPS) team moving forward. This role is responsible for leading medium and large initiatives while also overseeing the day‑to‑day operational flow of work across the team. This person acts as the connective tissue across workstreams—making sure priorities are clear, progress is visible, issues are surfaced early, and commitments turn into follow‑through. They keep the Senior Manager, Marketing Operations & IS informed of what’s happening across the portfolio, escalate risks and blockers when needed, and help hold the team accountable to forward momentum. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys running the “engine” of a team: coordinating work, anticipating friction, bringing structure to complexity, and helping others do their best work—so leadership can stay focused on strategy and long‑term direction. The Project Lead reports directly to the Senior Manager, Marketing Operations & IS and partners closely with team members, business stakeholders, and external vendors.

Requirements

5+ years of experience leading or coordinating complex projects, ideally in technology‑enabled or marketing‑adjacent environments
Experience managing medium to large initiatives with multiple stakeholders and dependencies
Comfort working across both business and technical teams
Experience partnering with vendors or external delivery teams
Strong organizational skills and the ability to keep multiple workstreams moving at once
Clear, confident communicator—able to tailor messages up, down, and across the organization
Practical problem solver who can navigate ambiguity and make progress without perfect information
Ability to influence and work through others and help teams stay aligned and accountable
Solid understanding of project management fundamentals and delivery disciplines (Waterfall, Agile, or hybrid)
Comfortable using structure and process as tools—not bureaucracy
Proactive, self‑directed, and comfortable taking ownership
Calm and steady under pressure; able to spot risk early and act on it
Curious about the business and motivated to understand how work connects to outcomes
Collaborative, respectful, and inclusive in how you work with others
Willing to challenge when needed—and open to being challenged in return
Looks for the good in others and listens with full attention
Brings a sense of humor and a healthy work-life balance

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting Marketing, Commercial, or Digital teams
Familiarity with enterprise platforms, integrations, or data‑enabled initiatives
Exposure to change management, training, or enablement work
Consumer Packaged Goods experience

Responsibilities

Manage MOPs Program: Help manage the full body of work across Marketing Operations & IS, not just individual projects
Maintain visibility into what’s happening across initiatives, workstreams, and priorities
Identify cross‑project dependencies, risks, and capacity constraints and surface them early
Keep the Senior Manager informed of progress, risks, and tradeoffs; escalate issues when decisions or intervention are needed
Help create clarity when priorities compete and work becomes complex
Reinforce accountability for commitments, timelines, and next steps across the team
Lead medium and large projects: Own end‑to‑end delivery of assigned projects, from planning through execution and close‑out
Define scope, milestones, timelines, roles, and dependencies in partnership with stakeholders
Manage project execution across people, process, and technology, including managing budget and costs
Track and actively manage risks, issues, assumptions, and dependencies (RAID)
Ensure projects deliver agreed‑upon outcomes on time and within scope and budget, following change control where appropriate
Facilitate productive project meetings and decision‑making forums
Work effectively with external vendors and partners when needed
Communicate, align, and escalate: Translate both complex technical and business-focused project details into clear, actionable updates for both leadership and delivery teams
Set and manage expectations with stakeholders across Marketing, IS, and partner teams
Appropriately engage cross-functional leadership
Identify when work is at risk and escalate appropriately—before issues become failures
Support decision‑making by clearly framing options, tradeoffs, and recommendations
Enable strong execution and continuous improvement: Model high standards of execution, clarity, and follow‑through
Coach and mentor team members
Encourage consistent use of agreed‑upon project management and delivery practices (includes waterfall, agile and hybrid)
Capture learnings from projects and help apply them to future work
Support change management, communications, or training activities as needed to ensure successful adoption
Look for opportunities to improve how the team plans, tracks, and executes work over time