Commercialization Excellence Lead

The Commercialization Excellence Lead is responsible for the foundational transformation of our Project Management Organization, in service of delivering Net Sales Value (NSV) targets, margin objectives, and time-to-market commitments. This is an opportunity for a seasoned commercialization leader to build something that matters - elevating how we conceive, plan, and deliver innovation across our entire portfolio.

As a senior leader of a commercialization organization, you will architect and institutionalize the processes, talent models, and digital systems that underpin world-class project management. You will set the standard for how multi-functional initiative teams operate: from stage-gate rigor and decision governance to in-market learning and post-launch performance accountability. This role demands equal parts strategic vision and hands-on execution, and equal parts process architect and people developer.

• Define and execute a multi-year commercialization capability maturity roadmap - spanning process, people, and technology - aligned to enterprise innovation ambitions.
• Design, implement, and continuously improve a project governance framework (agile, stage-gate, hybrid) scaled to initiative complexity, risk, and strategic importance.
• Establish standardized decision-making frameworks (RACI, Gate readiness criteria, issue escalation paths) that enable speed without sacrificing quality.
• Build and institutionalize rigorous change management practices, ensuring aligned base plans serve as the backbone of all initiative execution.
• Champion a 'Business First, Project Second' operating philosophy: anchoring every initiative plan to consumer-centric success criteria and competitive market realities.
• Develop and update comprehensive Commercial, Technical, and Market learning plans that generate the insights needed to support Gate decisions and in-market readiness.
• Establish post-launch tracking discipline using structured performance templates; drive corrective action rapidly when results diverge from commitments.

• Act as the commercialization's senior advisor - framing risks, surfacing key issues, and presenting decision-ready options for senior leadership with full transparency.
• Partner with commercialization, functional leaders, key decision makers to build strong governance communities and drive cross-functional accountability.

• Define role profiles, competency frameworks, and career ladders that attract, develop, and retain top commercialization talent in a competitive CPG environment; build and execute a capability development roadmap for Project/Program Managers and cross-functional initiative team members.
• Lead onboarding, team effectiveness, and health-check cadences that establish high-performing norms across all initiative teams.
• Coach and mentor a team of project managers; embed 5E Leadership principles as the operating model for all multi-functional team leadership.

• Lead the selection, implementation, and adoption of commercialization technology (portfolio management platforms, stage-gate tracking tools, collaboration systems).
• Define and enforce project data standards, tracking compliance protocols, and reporting cadences across the initiative portfolio.
• Design dashboards and governance reporting that give leadership real-time visibility into portfolio health, risk, and capacity utilization.
• Evaluate and continuously improve the integrated planning processes (AOP schedules, spending plans, resource allocation) that drive cross-functional synchronization.

• 10+ years of progressive experience in project management, commercialization leadership, or transformation roles within CPG, food & beverage, or adjacent consumer industries.
• Deep expertise in commercialization and innovation processes, portfolio governance, and multi-functional program management.
• Demonstrated success building or significantly maturing a commercialization function - including process design, talent development, and technology enablement.
• Strong track record of managing complex, cross-functional initiative portfolios from ideation through commercialization and in-market performance.
• Experience leading enterprise change management and stakeholder alignment at the executive level.
• Proficiency with…