Senior Innovation Manager for Planters and Skippy Brands - Corporate Innovation - Corporate Off
Listed on 2026-01-12
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Business
Business Management, Business Analyst, Corporate Strategy -
Management
Business Management, Business Analyst, Corporate Strategy
Senior Innovation Manager for Planters and Skippy Brands – Corporate Innovation – Corporate Office (Downtown Chicago, IL)
Hormel Foods Corporation
To save time applying, Hormel Foods does not offer sponsorship of job applicants for employment-based visas for this position at this time.
About Hormel Foods – Inspired People. Inspired Food.™
Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minnesota, is a global branded food company with approximately $12 billion in annual revenue across more than 80 countries worldwide. Its brands include Planters®, Skippy®, SPAM®, Hormel® Natural Choice®, Applegate®, Justin’s®, Wholly®, Hormel® Black Label®, Columbus®, Jennie-O® and more than 30 other beloved brands. The company is a member of the S&P 500 Index and the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, was named one of the best companies to work for by U.S. News & World Report, one of America’s most responsible companies by Newsweek, recognized by TIME magazine as one of the World’s Best Companies, and has received numerous other awards and accolades for its corporate responsibility and community service efforts.
The company lives by its purpose statement – Inspired People. Inspired Food.™ – to bring some of the world’s most trusted and iconic brands to tables across the globe. For more information, visit
Development of innovation strategy and pipelines to deliver against retail vision and business goals: Develops the innovation strategy that connects to the overarching brand and business strategy and portfolio growth goals. Assesses size of the prize for growth opportunities and develops and manages the workplan against the innovation goal. Applies consumer and trend lens and thinks creatively to source new product ideas.
Facilitates ideation sessions. Writes new product concepts. Works collaboratively with consumer insights, business analytics, brand, and R&D teams to build a multi-year innovation pipeline. Secures leadership buy‑in and approval for recommended pipelines. Presents and gets key customer alignment. Pushes pipelines through the Capex planning process to secure capabilities/capacity required when needed.Commercialization of new products: Collaboratively leads multi‑level cross‑functional project teams across stage gates for innovation launches. This includes having a working knowledge of multiple cross‑functional areas, i.e., sales, P&L, regulatory, operations, insights, R&D. Puts together and adheres to timelines of the project through creation, development, and launch of new items. Must be able to put together a high‑level P&L, product concept, and build and present a sell‑in story to the customer and internal stakeholders.
Partnership with external agency partners: Collaborates with external suppliers and agencies across different steps of the innovation process when needed to bring in new capabilities (i.e., in‑market test), fresh thinking (i.e., ideation), or agility (i.e., quick turnaround).
Leadership: Provides guidance and support to a junior team member. Delegates, shares regular feedback, and develops a direct report to ensure strong motivation and performance. Champions team culture. Actively participates in monthly portfolio management reviews, annual planning process, and champions resource governance (stage gate) process.
Required
- Bachelor’s degree and 5+ years of innovation, marketing/marketing related, or sales experience OR MBA and 3+ years of innovation, marketing/marketing related experience.
- Pattern of initiative.
- Experience commercializing a new item.
- Experience developing brand or business strategy.
- Proven problem‑solving and decision‑making skills.
- Understanding of P&L structure and components.
- Ability to write product concepts and positioning statements.
- Highly developed interpersonal and organizational skills.
- Well‑developed written and verbal communication skills.
- Strong analytical and time management skills.
- Ability to translate data into consumer insights and then into product innovation.
- Ability to travel 15% of the time, as needed (to the Corporate Office in Austin MN, customer meetings, etc.).
- Applicants must not now, or at any time in the future, require…
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