Director, Innovation - Meals

About Us 

The Kraft Heinz Company is one of the largest food and beverage companies in the world, with eight $1 billion+ brands and global sales of approximately $25 billion. We’re a globally trusted producer of high-quality, great-tasting, and nutritious foods for over 150 years. Our brands are truly global, with products produced and marketed in over 40 countries. These beloved products include condiments and sauces, cheese and dairy, meals, meats, refreshment beverages, coffee, infant and nutrition products, and numerous other grocery products in a portfolio of more than 200 legacy and emerging brands.  

Our Culture of Ownership, Meritocracy & Collaboration 

We're not afraid to think differently. Embrace new ideas. Dream big. We empower our people at every level – from entry-level intern to senior leader – to own their work. We share a responsibility to think like Owners – to be mindful of the collective and sustained success of Kraft Heinz – which we apply to every situation, every day. As part of Kraft Heinz, you're supported to grow and achieve. You’re expected to bring your authentic self to work every day, to lead with humility, and drive outstanding performance at every level – and you’ll be rewarded. You’re given opportunities to leave a mark and build a legacy. But you won’t do it alone.  You’re supported by passionate teammates along the way, and our collective, collaborative spirit fuels our incredible progress. 

Job Description 

The Director, Innovation, M&C and Shelf Stable Meals will lead innovation development across several critical areas of responsibility, with a focus on building the long-term growth pipeline for Kraft M&C and Velveeta. 

This role will be responsible for: 

• Leading expansion and whitespace opportunities for Kraft M&C and Velveeta, including building the 5-year innovation pipeline 

• Developing new categories for Kraft M&C and Velveeta to bring growth plan ambitions to life 

• partnering across multiple innovation teams at KHC, including Disruptive Innovation Pods, AFH, and Canada, as well as R&D, Operations, Brand Teams, and Finance 

• Building strong, two-way cross-functional relationships that foster collaboration, idea-sharing, and effective execution 

• Serving in a highly visible leadership role on the Meals Leadership Team while leading and developing a team of direct reports with a broad range of experience 

• Managing the creation and validation of a multi-year innovation strategy rooted in meaningful consumer pain points 

• Managing agency relationships for packaging design of new products and leading consumer validation in partnership with the Consumer Insights team 

• Owning innovation through the stage gate process, providing visibility to senior leadership on opportunities and aligning stakeholders to next steps and tradeoffs 

• Leveraging syndicated data sources to assess internal and competitor innovation performance, and translating insights into recommendations that drive business impact 

• Bringing a consumer-first mindset to day-to-day decisions while protecting brand integrity and balancing financial and operational considerations 

Qualifications 

• 10+ years of experience

• Experience managing direct reports and setting strategic direct for a team 

• Advanced experience in product management, brand management and managing a P&L 

• Experience in cross-functional team management 

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills 

• Ability to handle simultaneous projects and deliver within agreed upon time frames. 

• Ability to effectively lead discussions and share vision with Executive level of KHC