Lead, R&D - Operating Model Excellence Lead

Kraft Heinz, Inc.; Glenview (IL); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Kraft Heinz, Inc. is seeking a senior leader to manage R&D governance and reporting, overseeing projects that translate complex data into actionable insights.

You will coordinate cross-functional teams across R&D, product development, and manufacturing to drive governance and transparency. Lead executive-ready dashboards, KPI tracking, and complex reporting, enabling informed decisions and strategic alignment with enterprise goals.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field; MBA/ Master's preferred.
• 10+ years leading transformation, portfolio, or program work in cross-functional environments (R&D, product development, manufacturing, supply chain).
• Strong capabilities in portfolio coordination, prioritization, and governance.
• Proven ability to design and implement executive-ready reporting, dashboards, and operational metrics.
• Experience partnering with data/analytics teams to improve reporting automation and data quality.

Responsibilities

• Manage a team of R&D professionals, overseeing projects and studies to investigate relationships and develop new solutions.
• Aggregate internal R&D capability initiatives into views for leadership and key stakeholders.
• Define, build and maintain dashboards surfacing KPI health and strategic progress for decision-making.
• Deliver recurring status reporting to improve transparency and cadence across R&D workstreams.
• Support enterprise reporting needs with traceability, completeness, and consistency (government/tax credit/audit).
• Strengthen operating model rigor across R&D with standards, processes, and governance mechanisms.
• Enable effective R&D forums with audited inputs/outputs and action follow-through.

Skills

Portfolio coordination

Governance

Change management

Stakeholder leadership

Dashboard design

Data analytics

R&D reporting

Cross-functional leadership

Executive communication

Process governance

Project management

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree / MBA

Tools

Portfolio management tools

Dashboard software

Job description

Manage a team of research and development professionals, overseeing research and development projects and studies in order to investigate relationships, solve technical problems, and develop new solutions for a specific application or within a specific branch of science.

Reporting, Insights, & Governance

Aggregate BU and Central internal R&D capability initiatives into views for R&D leadership and key stakeholders.

Examples include system and process pilots, GBS operating model assessments, people programs, and new technical standards.

Deliver recurring status reporting that improves transparency, cadence, and decision-making across R&D workstreams.

Reporting includes center commitments, technology readiness and transfers, resource utilization, etc.

Define, build and maintain dashboards that surface R&D-specific KPI health and strategic progress in a practical, decision-oriented format with high confidence in data and insights.

Support enterprise reporting needs tied to external and internal requirements (e.g., government reporting, tax credit documentation, audit support) by ensuring traceability, completeness, and consistency.

Strengthen operating model rigor across R&D by supporting clear standards, processes, and governance mechanisms.

Enable effective R&D forums (e.g., Technical Review Board, Monthly Business Reviews) with routine audit, established R&D calendar, structured inputs and outputs, decision tracking, and follow-through.

Serve as a governance partner to leadership, ensuring updates and decisions are captured, communicated, and translated into execution.

Drive adoption of more disciplined ways of working, improving consistency, readiness, and predictability across the R&D portfolio.

Apply change management practices to increase adherence to shared standards while balancing practicality for teams executing day-to-day work.

Anticipate technical pipeline risks to delivery and readiness early, creating simple mechanisms to surface issues and drive action before they escalation.

Bachelor's degree in a relevant field such as Engineering, Food Science, Chemistry, Biology, Operations/Supply Chain; Master's degree or MBA highly desired.

10+ years of experience leading transformation, portfolio, or program work in complex, cross-functional environments (R&D, product development, manufacturing, supply chain, or similar).

Strong capabilities in portfolio coordination, prioritization, and governance, with the ability to create clarity across multiple stakeholders and competing demands.

Proven ability to design and implement executive-ready reporting, dashboards, and operational metrics that drive decisions, not just visibility.

Strong change management and stakeholder leadership skills, including influence without authority and navigating senior leadership expectations.

High proficiency translating ambiguous needs into structured processes, clear deliverables, and repeatable operating rhythms.

Excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to synthesize complex work into crisp leadership narratives.

Experience working with portfolio management tools and/or building operating cadences for stage gates, readiness, and governance highly desired.

Experience partnering with data/analytics teams to improve reporting automation, data quality, and dashboard usability.

Background supporting enterprise reporting or compliance-adjacent documentation (e.g., audit support, structured evidence, traceability).

Familiarity with R&D portfolio contexts (e.g., commercialization workflows, readiness frameworks, cross-function dependencies).