Sr Manager, Commercialization; Hybrid: Onsite and Remote

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Hybrid: 2 days remote (Monday and Friday) and 3 days onsite in Rosemont, IL (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday).

The Senior Manager, Commercialization is responsible for overseeing and enabling product development commercialization for exclusive brand launches and product changes (80%), while also supporting cross‑functional planning initiatives (20%) such as innovation pipeline and merchandising wide activities e.g., sourcing activities. This role leads a team of Commercialization Managers, providing strategic direction, prioritization, and coaching to ensure the successful delivery of innovation and exclusive brand programs across product, packaging, and sustainability.

The Senior Manager drives long‑term commercialization and innovation plans and advances continuous process improvement across Product Development while partnering closely with Marketing, Category Management, FSQA, and other leaders to support enterprise initiatives, including high‑visibility programs such as Scoop.

• Lead a team of Commercialization Managers to deliver Exclusive Brand projects on time both for new product launches and existing product changes.
• Translate enterprise and category strategies into clear commercialization roadmaps and execution plans across teams.
• Oversee cross-category initiatives and ensure appropriate resourcing, sequencing, and risk management.
• Act as a senior liaison across Product Development, Sourcing, Category Management, FSQA, Marketing, and other cross-functional partners to ensure alignment, transparency, and decision-making.
• Lead prioritization alignment of all commercialization activities with the cross‑functional leads effectively using business acumen and an enterprise lens.
• Lead resolution of program issues with structured thinking and analysis of launch risks, escalations, and trade‑offs, ensuring sound decisions across cost, quality, brand standards, and timelines.
• Facilitate project post‑mortems and ensure learnings are embedded into standardized processes and future planning.
• Own and drive continuous improvement of commercialization and product delivery processes at the program and team level.
• Establish and monitor key performance indicators to assess delivery effectiveness, speed‑to‑market, and quality.
• Ensure consistent application of governance, tools, and methodologies across Commercialization Managers.
• Lead, coach, and develop a team of 5-7 Commercialization Managers, setting clear expectations, priorities, and performance standards.
• Support program‑level strategy and direction for enterprise innovation and product development initiatives (e.g., Scoop), ensuring alignment to business priorities.
• Lead team training planning, development, and engagement events to strengthen functional capability and alignment.

• 5-7 Commercialization Managers

• Internal:
  Strong collaborative relationship across the Merchandising organization, including Category Management, Marketing, FSQA, and Analytics. Interacts across all levels up to and including senior leaders.
• External:
  Professional and effective relationships with the vendor community and key raw material ingredients. A strong dynamic relationship with professional organizations and peer community.

• Hybrid:
  This role is partially remote, and the associate is expected to perform assigned responsibilities from a combined home‑based and office‑based environment.

• 7 years of customer focused product development commercialization related experience in food service, consumer packaged goods, or retail.
• 3 years of people management and/or leadership experience.
• Program and project management experience.
• Prior experience in training facilitation.
• Strategic decision‑making approach to business interests.
• Sound business judgment and a strong business acumen.
• Highly organized with a strong focus on detail and accuracy.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong presentation skills.
• Work effectively as an individual with minimal supervision, or as a team member as required.
• Ability to…