Commercialisation Project Manager (Maternity cover)

PepsiCo; Reading; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Car allowance

Flexible working

Critical illness cover

Discounted gym memberships

Enhanced parental leave

Electric car schemes

Job summary

PepsiCo UK is seeking a Commercialization Manager to drive innovation from concept through launch across UK Foods brands. You will own project delivery, partner with Marketing, Insights, Supply Chain, and Finance to accelerate speed to market and ensure flawless execution within the PEP+ framework.

The role requires strong project management, stakeholder influence, and deep knowledge of UK retail dynamics. A flexible, hybrid working model and attractive benefits are offered.

Qualifications

• Proven experience delivering complex projects on time and on budget.
• Excellent communication and ability to influence senior stakeholders.
• Strong commercial awareness and knowledge of UK retail.
• Ability to manage a fast-moving agenda and drive change.
• Technical knowledge of PEP packaging and the PEP+ agenda desirable.

Responsibilities

• Lead commercialization and project management for innovation across UK Foods brands (Walkers, Quaker, Doritos, etc.).
• Coordinate packaging optimisation and channel-specific packaging developments to support PEP+ transformation.
• Collaborate with Marketing, Insights, Supply Chain, Engineering, R&D, Finance & Sustainability to launch new products.
• Manage Horizon 1 calendar projects, ensuring on-time, on-budget delivery and milestones.
• Communicate risks and trade-offs to senior stakeholders; oversee data governance in myInnovation.
• Present updates at Activation Board and other key forums.
• Ensure readiness and performance review against plan, driving interventions where needed.

Skills

Project management

Stakeholder communication

UK&I business knowledge

Decision making

Commercial awareness

Packaging knowledge

Change management

Job description

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.

Commercialisation is at the heart of PepsiCo's growth and innovation agenda, helping bring new products, capabilities and strategic initiatives to market across Europe. Partnering with cross-functional teams, you will manage a diverse innovation pipeline, ensuring the business makes the right investment decisions while balancing value, risk, resources and commercial priorities.You will lead the delivery of innovation and commercialisation projects from concept through to launch, enabling speed to market and driving flawless execution across business unit commercial calendars.

Working closely with Sector and Global teams, you will help scale successful ideas, unlock synergies across markets and identify opportunities to simplify processes and eliminate duplication. You will play a key role in strengthening innovation governance, leading Stage Gate reviews and supporting critical business decisions that shape the future pipeline. The role also offers the opportunity to drive continuous improvement, enhance commercialisation processes, and build best-in-class capabilities, tools and ways of working that support sustainable business growth and transformation.

Responsibilities

• This Commercialization Manager role has responsibility for the management, readiness and flawless execution of innovation and change projects across brands in UK Foods
• Projects will cover innovation as well as packaging optimisation and channel-specific packaging developments to maintain our best-in-class customer collaborations and support our PEP+ packaging transformation journey
• The role will work closely with the UK Foods Marketing teams, Insights, Perfect Store,Supply Chain, Engineering, R&D, Finance & Sustainability to develop and execute the new product launches and commercial change projects
• The focus will predominantly be responsibility for project managing Horizon 1 calendar projects, to deliver on time and on budget, supporting our PEP+ agenda, speed to Market and Fewer, Bigger, Better priorities and with ownership of timeline and delivery milestones
• Responsible for communicating risks/issues and required trade-offs across senior stakeholders
• Management of the myInnovation system to ensure data accuracy, governance and compliance to the Stage Gate process
• Working alongside project prime movers to present and update at Activation Board and other key forums
• Ensuring execution readiness, reviewing early performance vs plan, driving awareness & intervention alongside Prime Movers and project teams

Qualifications

• Demonstrated performance managing successful projects
• Strong communication & presentation skills with the ability to collaborate & influence peer groups & senior stakeholders across all functions
• Broad, generalist knowledge of the UK&I Business and the ability to build & deliver business recommendations
• Ability to quickly bring context and perspective to a given situation to aid sound decision making and prioritization
• Strong Commercial awareness and an understanding of UK retail is desirable
• Strong technical understanding of operations, supply chain and planning processes is desirable
• Technical knowledge of PEP packaging and the relationship to PEP+ agenda desirable
• Ability to manage a complex, fast moving agenda, managing significant amounts ofchange and time critical situations

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.

• competitive salary
• bonus
• car allowance
• flexible working
• critical illness cover
• discounted gym memberships
• enhanced parental leave
• electric car schemes