Senior Project Manager

Mars•Chicago, IL

7d•$108,160 - $148,720

About The Position

Mars is seeking a Senior Project Manager to drive execution that directly supports growth, brand strategies, and business priorities. This role involves taking full ownership of high complexity initiatives, guiding projects from initial charter development through post-launch review, and ensuring seamless delivery against objectives. The Senior Project Manager will simultaneously manage and lead projects of varying complexities, from those requiring capital investments to those focused on value leadership or freedom to operate. This position requires leading cross-functional teams, conducting comprehensive risk assessments, and acting as the gatekeeper of the Stage & Gate framework and PPM system. The role also involves partnering with project manager cell leads and portfolio managers to support the development and execution of the 3+3 growth pipeline, collaborating with leadership to integrate pipeline goals into broader organizational strategies, and owning/monitoring item setup and tracking through the Go-to-Market (GTM) process. Continuous improvement in ways of working and value creation against wider business objectives is also a key aspect of this role.

Requirements

5+ years of Project management with proven track record on innovation
A minimum of a Bachelor’s degree is required, preferably in Business Administration, Project Management, or a related discipline.
Knowledge and expertise in utilizing Microsoft Project for effective project planning, scheduling and scenario planning.
Knowledge of Idea to Market E2E process.
Excellent stakeholder management, communication, and influencing skills.
Comfort navigating ambiguity

Nice To Haves

Experience in a CPG environment
Knowledge and expertise in utilizing PPM to manage project lifecycle.

Responsibilities

Serve as the Senior Project manager for our Portfolio, driving execution that directly supports growth, brand strategies and business priorities.
Take full ownership of high complexity initiatives, guiding projects from initial charter development through post-Launch review, ensuring seamless delivery against objectives.
Simultaneously manage and lead projects of varying complexities, ranging from highly complex initiatives that require capital investments to those focused on value leadership or freedom to operate.
Lead cross-functional teams across functions to align on project scope, identify critical success factors, allocate resources effectively, and create detailed, actionable timelines.
Conduct comprehensive risk assessments to anticipate potential obstacles, proactively resolving issues and ensuring project resilience.
Facilitates the identification and escalation of issues and risks to relevant stakeholders, senior leadership and/or S&OP+ forums while minimizing disruption to the project.
Act as the gatekeeper of the Stage & gate framework and PPM system; leveraging the methodology to drive precision in execution, instill discipline across the team, and ensure decisions are underpinned by robust data and documentation.
Partner closely with project manager cell leads and portfolio managers to support the development and execution of the 3+3 growth pipeline, ensuring alignment with long-term strategic objectives.
Assist in identifying and prioritizing projects and resource allocations to optimize value delivery and address gaps within the pipeline.
Collaborate with leadership to integrate pipeline goals into broader organizational strategies, ensuring the sufficiency pipeline delivers meaningful business impact.
Own and monitor item setup and tracking, ensuring smooth progression and to troubleshooting when needed through the GTM (Go-to-Market) process.
Lead continuous improvements in ways of working and value creation against the wider business objectives.