Job description

Are you passionate about shaping the future of food and creating the next generation of consumer-loved products? As a Manager, Permissible Innovation , you will play a key role in defining the future growth agenda for PFUS' Positive Choice portfolio. Sitting at the intersection of consumer insights, brand strategy, and product development, you'll identify emerging opportunities, uncover unmet consumer needs, and translate them into compelling concepts that drive long-term business growth. In this role, you will lead the planning, development, and execution of the portfolio's future growth pipeline, helping to expand brand reach, unlock new occasions, and strengthen brand equity. You'll partner with senior leaders to identify the next generation of growth platforms and help establish new ways of working that enable the organization to move faster and think bigger. As a key strategic leader, you'll influence portfolio priorities, participate in critical planning forums and work closely with cross-functional teams to turn ideas into commercially successful products. Success will require balancing long-term vision with strong execution, navigating ambiguity, and building alignment across a complex matrixed organization. This role offers the opportunity to work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment that will challenge and showcase your strategic thinking, creativity, agility, and leadership skills. The ideal candidate brings prior marketing experience, strong consumer curiosity, and a passion for solving complex business challenges. They thrive on collaboration, are comfortable influencing across functions and levels, and are energized by the opportunity to build the future of the business. Innovation Strategy & Portfolio Growth • Help define and refine the long-term innovation strategy for the portfolio, including brand sequencing, growth platforms, and white space opportunities for 2028 and beyond. • Develop both incremental and breakthrough innovation platforms that expand brand reach, occasions, and consumer relevance while driving highly incremental growth. • Leverage consumer insights, Jobs To Be Done frameworks, category trends, and macro cultural shifts to identify opportunities and inform innovation strategy. • Play a leadership role in strategic forums, including Test Kitchen and portfolio reviews, influencing future business direction and investment priorities. • Partner with brand teams to embed innovation into broader brand growth strategies and long-term business plans. Pipeline Development • Develop and execute a consumer-led innovation pipeline designed to grow share and unlock incremental business opportunities. • Lead ideation sessions, agile workshops, and innovation development processes to create compelling and feasible consumer propositions. • Drive the consumer learning agenda in partnership with Insights, identifying emerging trends, unmet needs, and opportunities for future growth. • Continuously align pipeline priorities with brand leadership, ensuring innovation efforts support portfolio and business objectives. Innovation Execution • Lead execution of the 2027 and 2028+ innovation pipeline, partnering with a cross-functional innovation taskforce to advance projects through key milestones. • Manage innovation projects through internal stage-gate and governance processes, ensuring projects stay on track and meet critical deadlines. • Drive strong cross-functional alignment across R&D, Insights, Finance, Supply Chain, Sales and Brand teams throughout development and commercialization. • Identify and proactively solve barriers to execution while maintaining momentum against ambitious business goals. Organizational Leadership • Help establish and champion new ways of working that improve innovation effectiveness and organizational agility. • Influence without authority across a complex matrix organization to drive alignment and action. • Serve as a strategic thought partner to senior leaders and cross-functional teams, helping shape the future growth trajectory of the business. Key Partners • Brand Marketing Teams • Consumer Insights • R&D • Finance • Supply Chain • Sales Compensation and Benefits: • The expected compensation range for this position is between $110,700 - $185,250. • Location, confirmed job-related skills, experience, and education will be considered in setting actual starting salary. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range during the hiring process. • Bonus based on performance and eligibility target payout is 12% of annual salary paid out annually. • Paid time off subject to eligibility, including paid parental leave, vacation, sick, and bereavement. • In addition to salary, PepsiCo offers a comprehensive benefits package to support our employees and their families, subject to elections and eligibility: Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability, Health, and Dependent Care Reimbursement Accounts, Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Insurance (Accident, Group Legal, Life), Defined Contribution Retirement Plan. Qualifications • Bachelor's Degree required; MBA preferred. • Prior marketing, innovation, brand management, or commercialization experience. • Demonstrated experience leveraging consumer insights to develop effective marketing programs, innovation strategies, or growth initiatives. • Strong project management capabilities with experience leading complex cross-functional initiatives. • Experience influencing and collaborating effectively in a highly matrixed organization. • Exceptional communication, presentation, and storytelling skills. • Advanced PowerPoint and Excel capabilities. Success Profile The ideal candidate is: • A strategic thinker who can connect consumer insights, business objectives, and innovation opportunities. • A creative problem solver who thrives in ambiguity and identifies opportunities where others see obstacles. • Naturally curious about consumers, culture, and future trends. • Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, dynamic environment with shifting priorities. • A collaborative leader who builds strong relationships and drives alignment across diverse stakeholders. • Entrepreneurial, resilient, and energized by the challenge of creating something new. Differentiating Competencies: • Dealing with Ambiguity – Ability to synthesize conflicting data and manage viewpoints across multiple points of the organization to create a clear, aspirational way forward for each brand. • Portfolio Growth Mindset – Ability to balance pushes from multiple brand leads while weighing limited organizational resources (for R&D, SC, etc.) to prioritize and develop an innovation strategy that will harness the entire portfolio to drive category growth. • XF Empathy & Context – Ability to understand KPIs for XF partners and to understand and empathize with their pushes and concerns to develop holistic strategies and solutions for each brand and project. • Bias for Action – Courage to challenge the status quo and willingness to drive the agenda forward. • Resilience – Ready to accept pushback and skepticism across the organization while still finding ways to make progress on projects and ensuring team morale stays strong. • Brand-Building Acumen – Ability to partner with Brand Leads to as a strategic thought leader to develop a holistic brand growth strategy inclusive of innovation to drive the business and brand equity long-term. Our Company will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and all other applicable laws, including but not limited to, San Francisco Police Code Sections 4901-4919, commonly referred to as the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance; and Chapter XVII, Article 9 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code, commonly referred to as the Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, or disability status. PepsiCo is an Equal Opportunity Employer: Female / Minority / Disability / Protected Veteran / Sexual Orientation / Gender Identity / Age If you'd like more information about your EEO rights as an applicant under the law, please download the available EEO is the Law & EEO is the Law Supplement documents. View PepsiCo EEO Policy . Please view our Pay Transparency Statement .

Requirements

Must-haves

Innovation Strategy & Portfolio Growth
Help define and refine the long-term innovation strategy for the portfolio, including brand sequencing, growth platforms, and white space opportunities for 2028 and beyond.
Develop both incremental and breakthrough innovation platforms that expand brand reach, occasions, and consumer relevance while driving highly incremental growth.
Leverage consumer insights, Jobs To Be Done frameworks, category trends, and macro cultural shifts to identify opportunities and inform innovation strategy.
Play a leadership role in strategic forums, including Test Kitchen and portfolio reviews, influencing future business direction and investment priorities.
Partner with brand teams to embed innovation into broader brand growth strategies and long-term business plans.
Pipeline Development
Develop and execute a consumer-led innovation pipeline designed to grow share and unlock incremental business opportunities.
Lead ideation sessions, agile workshops, and innovation development processes to create compelling and feasible consumer propositions.
Drive the consumer learning agenda in partnership with Insights, identifying emerging trends, unmet needs, and opportunities for future growth.
Continuously align pipeline priorities with brand leadership, ensuring innovation efforts support portfolio and business objectives.
Innovation Execution
Lead execution of the 2027 and 2028+ innovation pipeline, partnering with a cross-functional innovation taskforce to advance projects through key milestones.
Manage innovation projects through internal stage-gate and governance processes, ensuring projects stay on track and meet critical deadlines.
Drive strong cross-functional alignment across R&D, Insights, Finance, Supply Chain, Sales and Brand teams throughout development and commercialization.
Identify and proactively solve barriers to execution while maintaining momentum against ambitious business goals.
Organizational Leadership
Help establish and champion new ways of working that improve innovation effectiveness and organizational agility.
Influence without authority across a complex matrix organization to drive alignment and action.
Serve as a strategic thought partner to senior leaders and cross-functional teams, helping shape the future growth trajectory of the business.
Key Partners
Brand Marketing Teams
Consumer Insights

Nice-to-haves

Bachelor's Degree required; MBA preferred.

Application prep

Use the role’s language and application details while tailoring your materials.

Keywords to mirror

agile

Platform: icims
Effort: medium

Benefits

Benefits detected in the listing.

Dental

Vision

Paid Time Off

Parental Leave