Associate Brand Manager, Innovation - Taco Bell Retail

Job Description
Kraft Heinz, the company
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, and numerous other grocery products in a portfolio of more than 200 legacy and emerging brands.
No matter the brand, we're united under one vision: To sustainably grow by delighting more consumers globally. Bringing this vision to life is our team of 39,000+ food lovers, creative thinkers, and high performers worldwide. Together, we help provide meals to those in need through our global partnership with Rise Against Hunger. We also stand committed to responsible, sustainable practices that extend to every facet of our business, our consumers, and our communities. Every day, we're transforming the food industry with bold thinking and unprecedented results. If you share our passion - and are ready to create the future, build a legacy, and lead as a global citizen - there's only one thing to do: join our table and let's make life delicious!
Our culture of Ownership, Meritocracy and 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: Associate Brand Manager, Innovation- Taco Bell Retail
An Associate Brand Manager, for Taste elevation Innovation will play a crucial role in driving the development of new & delicious products from concept to launch, for one of our growth and key flagship brands. This position requires a creative and analytical thinker with a passion for food innovation and the ability to work collaboratively across various departments.
You'll lead a cross-functional team of colleagues from product & packaging R&D, culinary, consumer insights, sales, finance, and Supply chain, and manage the end-to-end commercialization process to bring new & exciting innovation products to market. This position is best suited for someone who is has a strong bias for action, ownership mentality, able to deal with ambiguity, strong analytical and creative problem-solving skills. This person must be comfortable working both horizontally and vertically across an organization to keep multiple projects and priorities moving forward to achieve deadlines.
Key Components of the role:

• Lead the ideation, development and execution of new products (Innovation and/or Renovation projects)
• Conduct market research and competitive performance to identify trends and opportunities
• Develop product concepts, prototypes, and formulations in collaboration with R&D and culinary teams
• Manage the product commercialization process and lead cross-functional teams (including R&D, Marketing, Culinary, CIS, Supply chain, Sales & Finance) ensuring timely, on budget and successful project completion
• Contribute to the Masterbrand innovation strategy and 3Y pipeline by identifying trends, Consumer jobs to be done, innovation territories that are aligned with our Masterbrand strategy & POD
• Partner with the Marketing & Sales team to develop compelling product launch plans, product positioning, packaging, and promotional strategies and customer & sales presentations

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree (or advanced degree) in Business, Marketing, or related field
• 3 to 5 years of experience (prior experience in marketing or product innovation preferred)
• Strong project management skills with ability to successfully handle multiple projects simultaneously
• and deliver on timelines (Experience in cross-functional team management preferred)
• Outstanding verbal, written and interpersonal communications skills
• Creative thinker with strong analytical skills
• Operates with a sense of urgency
• Strong leadership and results driven
• Passion for food and flavor innovation
• Growth mindset and consumer obsessed

Location(s)
Chicago/Aon Center
Kraft Heinz is an Equal Opportunity Employer that prohibits discrimination or harassment of any type. All qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Applicants who require an accommodation to participate in the job application or hiring process should contact [email protected] .