Business Strategy Associate Manager

PepsiCo; Reading; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading global beverage and snack company seeks a Strategy Manager in Reading to drive strategic initiatives and support business transformation. The ideal candidate should possess strong analytical skills, a strategic mindset, and excellent communication abilities. The role entails working cross-functionally to ensure project success and making data-driven decisions. PepsiCo offers a competitive salary along with many benefits including flexible working arrangements.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Bonus

Car allowance

Flexible working

Gym membership discounts

Enhanced parental leave

Electric car schemes

Qualifications

• Results-oriented strategic thinker with a can-do approach.
• Strong understanding of external data sets.
• Excellent analytical and critical thinking skills.
• Ability to influence and communicate effectively.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to excel in an agile, collaborative environment.
• Knowledge of PepsiCo and UKBU business systems.
• Project management abilities with strong prioritisation skills.

Responsibilities

• Support long-term enterprise strategy for UK BU.
• Lead strategic problem-solving initiatives.
• Understand key performance drivers through data analysis.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams for project success.
• Maintain awareness of market trends and developments.
• Create executive deliverables for leadership reviews.

Skills

Strategic problem solving

Analytical skills

Team player

Communication skills

Job description

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Overview

At PepsiCo UK, we’re proud to make some of the nation’s favourite snacks and drinks‑like Walkers, Quaker, Doritos, Pipers, and Monster Munch. With sites across the UK, including our Quaker mill in Cupar and Doritos factory in Coventry, we’re also home to one of the world’s largest crisp factories in Leicester. At the end of 2025 we will move our UK office to a vibrant new Reading town‑centre location, just minutes from Reading train station.

We are looking for a Strategy Manager to join and play an integral part in the broader UK BU Strategy and Transformation team, contribute to a range of critical and impactful business priorities. Key responsibilities of the broader team include the following:

• Support the long‑term enterprise strategy of UK BU to deliver sustainable, profitable growth and drive the end‑to‑end business transformation (PSP).
• Partner with the cross‑functional stakeholders in UK BU to ensure successful implementation of projects.
• Act as the internal consulting team and business partner to UK BU and Exec team.
• Identify, integrate and accelerate the delivery of initiatives and priority programmes which drive top‑line acceleration and/or bottom‑line delivery in line with UK BU Strategic Vision and Transformation agenda (e.g. end‑to‑end transformation, capability and change management, business processes, organisational efficiency & effectiveness, holistic cost management & productivity).

Responsibilities

• Strategic Problem Solving: Support the team in evaluating performance and analyse future opportunities utilising an array of data sources.
• Diagnose: Identify the problem to solve, capture/map the current state and internal/externals comparisons and benchmarks.
• Analytics: Be the go‑to person in the team to understand key performance drivers through data across fragmented and disparate sources (e.g. external Nielsen / Kantar / ONS / IGD data & internal financial performance).
• Design: Develop solutions in partnership with cross‑functional teams, find opportunities to enable growth and/or drive productivity.
• Plan & Execute: Support the execution of initiatives in accordance with approved plans and targets, resolve bottlenecks and track performance against set milestones and goals/criteria. This can include both co‑ordination of initiatives led by others or direct responsibilities.
• Influence & Communication: Support data‑based decision making through clear and well‑articulated business proposals. Collaborate and partner closely with cross‑functional teams to ensure successful realisation of UK BU goals.
• Maintain an external mindset, including staying on top of consumer, competitive and macroeconomic/geopolitical trends and developments.
• Execute against time‑sensitive requests from UK BU Strategy & Transformation VP and aligned by UK BU GM/UK Exec.
• Create executive‑ready project deliverables for senior leadership reviews including presentations for the UK Exec.

Qualifications

• Strategic problem solving & results‑oriented strategic thinker who demonstrates a bias for action with a can‑do approach to work.
• Strong understanding of external data sets and how they can be knitted together.
• Excellent analytical skills, strong critical thinking and problem‑solving skills.
• Influence & Communication: Ability to communicate, collaborate and influence effectively at all levels of the BU & sector organisation and drive business decisions.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including presentation skills (ability to create presentations and present in a clear and succinct manner to senior audiences).
• Team player with the ability to excel in an agile, collaborative, ambiguous environment demonstrating strong people skills, flexibility and willingness to take on diverse tasks.
• Good knowledge of the PepsiCo & UKBU business system and opportunities/challenges, as well as the UK operating environment (consumer, channel, macros, competitors).
• Project Management: Ability to drive an agenda autonomously with strong prioritisation skills – requires working in a highly‑matrixed organisation, handling competing priorities and connecting the dots across multiple large‑scale initiatives that have interconnecting impact across functions.

Why Join Us?

We offer a competitive salary, bonus, car allowance, flexible working, and a wide range of benefits – from critical illness cover and discounted gym memberships to enhanced parental leave and electric car schemes. Our commitment to wellbeing and career growth makes us a Top Employer for 14 years running.

A Space to be You

We celebrate individuality and are committed to building an inclusive workplace. Our Employee Resource Groups help embed inclusion into our culture, ensuring everyone feels valued and heard.

Equal Opportunities

We’re an equal opportunity employer, committed to the Equality Act 2010. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and will provide any necessary adjustments to support you through the recruitment process.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated nearly $92 billion in net revenue in 2024, driven by a complementary beverage and convenient foods portfolio that includes Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi‑Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker and SodaStream. PepsiCo’s product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including many iconic brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.

Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in Beverages and Convenient Foods by Winning with pep+ (PepsiCo Positive). pep+ is our strategic end‑to‑end transformation that puts sustainability and human capital at the centre of how we will create value and growth by operating within planetary boundaries and inspiring positive change for planet and people. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com, and follow on X (Twitter), Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn @PepsiCo.