Procurement Manager, Innovation (External Manufacturing)

About the role

Kraft Heinz is looking for a Procurement Manager for its Innovation (HDM) function in Chicago. The role partners with brands, business units and cross-functional teams to understand innovation strategy and pipeline priorities, and leads external manufacturing sourcing and commercialization for innovation projects. It acts as the main link between business unit innovation and core procurement teams such as Ingredients, Packaging and External Manufacturing.

Key responsibilities

• Identify and develop supplier partners that enable innovation strategy, run continuous category landscape assessments and unlock new growth through proactive supplier partnerships.
• Build strong external partnerships and stay connected to market developments, bringing forward innovation concepts, supplier capabilities and emerging technologies.
• Connect business unit innovation with core procurement teams to align preferred suppliers, supplier readiness, contracting and launch support for internally manufactured innovation.
• Ensure procurement readiness and coordination across categories and stakeholders for internal innovation commercialization.
• Lead external manufacturing sourcing and commercialization, including supplier identification, strategic sourcing, commercial negotiation, IP and CAPEX considerations, contracting, onboarding and supplier ways-of-working setup.
• Act as the main contact for external manufacturing innovation partners and drive supplier relationship management, including performance management, collaboration routines, issue resolution and launch readiness.
• Lead problem solving during commercialization and launch, then transition launched products, supplier relationships and contract ownership to the appropriate business procurement team.
• Analyze supplier and market landscapes, drive continuous improvement and facilitate cross-functional forums with finance, operations, marketing, sales, legal, quality and R&D.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in supply chain, operations, finance, business, engineering or a related field; MBA and/or advanced procurement qualifications preferred.
• Experience in procurement, such as Ingredients, Packaging, CAPEX or External Manufacturing; finance or process engineering experience also valued.
• Knowledge of food or beverage manufacturing processes and commercialization environments.
• Strong negotiation and influence skills, and the ability to work across matrixed teams and supplier networks.
• Adaptability, resilience, strategic thinking and business acumen, with a passion for developing new products and partnering with suppliers on new technologies.

Required skills

• Digital savviness and basic knowledge of business intelligence tools such as Tableau and Power BI.
• Literacy in and curiosity about AI solutions.