Senior Director, Portfolio Management

Kinder's•Walnut Creek, CA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Director, Portfolio Management is a critical enterprise leadership role responsible for bridging innovation and execution and turning product concepts into successful in-market launches. This leader oversees project management across the innovation lifecycle, from early-stage category incubation through development, production, and retail execution across core and emerging businesses. You will lead a high-performing team of directors, project managers, and cross-functional partners across three verticals within Portfolio Management, including Pre-Commercialization, Commercialization, and Strategic Projects. You will serve as the thread between Innovation, R&D/Product Development, Brand, Supply Chain, Operations, Creative, Finance, and Executive Leadership, balancing long-term thinking with disciplined operational execution. You will drive alignment, mitigate risks, and uphold Kinder’s standards for quality, cost, and speed, ensuring each launch reflects our relentless pursuit of flavor and excellence. This role requires a highly collaborative, hands-on, and entrepreneurial leader who thrives in ambiguity, builds scalable process improvements, and can guide teams through the day-to-day delivery of both bold innovation and incremental category expansion.

Requirements

12-15 years of experience in commercialization, innovation, operations, strategic initiatives, or project management within CPG or food manufacturing
Proven experience leading complex product launches and cross-functional innovation initiatives from concept through retail execution
Demonstrated success managing leaders and building high-performing teams in high-growth environments
Deep understanding of manufacturing, packaging, sourcing, supply chain, and operational scale-up processes
Strong strategic thinking and business acumen paired with exceptional operational execution capabilities
Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders and lead through organizational ambiguity
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Food Science, Engineering, Operations, or related field required

Nice To Haves

Experience commercializing opportunities in new categories strongly preferred
MBA preferred
Wrike experience preferred

Responsibilities

Oversee the Pre-Commercialization portfolio management function responsible for overall portfolio analytics as well as early-stage exploration, capability assessment, and development of categories Kinder’s has not yet entered
Work with the Pre-Commercialization leader to build pre-commercialization processes and governance, facilitate evaluation and early development of white-space opportunities, and ensure readiness once a category is prioritized for commercialization
Partner with executive leadership to understand potential growth opportunities and relevant operational and go-to-market implications
Evolve and lead Kinder’s enterprise commercialization strategy across all product categories and innovation initiatives
Lead the Portfolio Management team in facilitating the end-to-end commercialization process, ensuring successful product delivery from pilot to first production and distribution for core innovation / renovation (within the dry and liquid portfolio) as well as for high priority strategic projects (e.g., frozen)
Oversee portfolio resource allocation across commercialization initiatives to maximize organizational effectiveness
Anticipate and mitigate risks—technical, operational, financial, or regulatory—and communicate proactive solutions to leadership
Drive visibility and accountability through weekly executive touchpoints and ongoing stakeholder communications
Lead, develop, and inspire a high-performing Portfolio Management organization, fostering a culture of accountability, transparency, and collaboration
Build organizational capabilities that enable Kinder’s to scale innovation complexity while maintaining speed and entrepreneurialism
Serve as the central thread between Innovation, R&D/Product Development, Brand, Sourcing, Operations, Planning, Quality, Finance, and Sales
Partner cross-functionally across the organization to strengthen ways of working, decision-making processes, and execution discipline across the innovation lifecycle
Deliver clear, proactive, and actionable communication to executive leadership regarding portfolio health, launch status, investment needs, and strategic risks
Evaluate and continuously evolve Kinder’s commercialization and pre-commercialization processes to support increasing scale, complexity, and cross-category growth
Partner with functional leaders to evolve workflows, playbooks, and digital tools that support scalable success
Support digital transformation by maximizing Wrike and other tools for real-time collaboration and tracking
Work with Finance and Operations to develop and monitor relevant KPIs for commercialization success—for example, cost and delivery performance