Portfolio Health & Optimization Manager

Mars Incorporated in; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 108,000 - 149,000; Full time

Job summary

Mars is seeking a Portfolio Health & Optimization Manager in Chicago, IL, office-based. This role shapes long-term health, competitiveness, and growth for the Marks Snacking Confectionary portfolio, bridging strategy, innovation, and life cycle management to translate growth ambitions into actionable portfolio choices.

The successful candidate will combine strategic thinking with strong analytical and financial skills to assess portfolio health, innovation sufficiency, and assortment

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, business, strategy, finance, or related field; MBA preferred.
• 4+ years of progressive experience in CPG across portfolio strategy, brand/category management, strategic planning or finance.
• Strong Excel and presentation skills.
• Experience assessing portfolio performance, innovation pipelines, assortment productivity, or long-term growth plans.
• Experience with forecasting.
• Ability to influence and align stakeholders across cross-functional teams, including senior leadership.
• Curious and forward-looking, challenging assumptions and linking portfolio choices to growth.
• Comfort navigating ambiguity and balancing consumer opportunity, business performance, strategy, and operations.

Responsibilities

• Long-Term Portfolio Planning: translate growth ambitions into portfolio actions and risks.
• Identify shifts in portfolio mix, innovation, assortment, or investment to meet growth objectives.
• Integrate consumer, category, competitive, brand, financial, and operational views for a holistic portfolio health.
• Identify gaps and opportunities and translate into actionable recommendations for evolution.
• Develop clear portfolio health measures to track long-term ambition progress.
• Innovation Sufficiency & Portfolio Pipeline: assess gaps and connect plans with future needs.
• Collaborate with brand, insights, finance, and R&D teams to align plans with needs.
• Evaluate innovation performance and strengthen future pipeline decisions.
• Provide portfolio-level perspective on gaps, overlaps, or imbalances across brands and growth horizons.
• Portfolio Health & Assortment Optimization: assess portfolio health and SKU productivity to boost profitability.
• Analyze performance gaps, duplication, fragmentation, and opportunities for scaling.
• Balance product roles within the portfolio considering consumer, brand, and financial factors.
• Drive consistent evaluation of portfolio additions and exits to reduce unnecessary complexity.
• Portfolio Health & Insights Governance: create clear portfolio narratives for senior leadership.
• Establish regular portfolio reviews linking ambition, innovation sufficiency, and performance.
• Act as a strategic connector ensuring data-based, long-term confectionery objectives.

Skills

Excel skills

Presentation skills

Forecasting

Stakeholder management

Ambiguity tolerance

Strategic thinking

Education

Bachelor’s degree

MBA preferred

Job description

Job Description:

Portfolio Health & Optimization Manager

Chicago, IL

Office-based

The Portfolio Health & Optimization Manager will play a critical role in shaping the long-term health, competitiveness, & growth for the Marks Snacking Confectionary portfolio. Sitting at the intersection of portfolio strategy, innovation & life cycle management, consumer & market insights, and long-range planning, this role will translate growth amotions into actionable portfolio choices.

This Portfolio Health & Optimization Manager will lead to the assessment of portfolio health and innovation sufficiency, identifying where the portfolio has the right offerings to deliver future growth and where gaps, overlaps, or under-performing areas require intervention. Through long-term portfolio forecasting, innovation pipeline assessment, and assortment optimization, the Portfolio Health & Optimization Manager will help ensure Mars is building the right portfolio for the future.

The successful candidate will combine strategic thinking with strong analytical capabilities, financial acumen, and operational focus to develop clear recommendations that strengthen the portfolio and unlock sustainable growth.

What are we looking for?

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, Business, Strategy, Finance, or related field; MBA degree preferred.
• 4+ years of progressive experience in CPG, ideally across Portfolio Strategy, Brand Management, Category Management, Strategic Planning or Finance/Revenue Growth Management.
• Strong strategic & analytical capabilities with the ability to translate complex consumer, market, financial, and portfolio data into clear business recommendations.
• Experience assessing portfolio performance, innovation pipelines, assortment productivity, or long-term growth plans.
• Strong Excel and presentation skills
• Previous experience with Forecasting
• Demonstrated ability to influence and align stakeholders across highly cross-functional matrixed organizations. Comfortability with senior leadership.
• Highly curious and forward-looking, with the ability to challenge existing assumptions and connect today’s portfolio choices with growth ambition.
• Comfortable navigating ambiguity and balancing consumer opportunity, business performance, strategic priorities, and operational considerations.

What would be your key responsibilities?

Long-Term Portfolio Planning

• Lead portfolio inputs into long-term planning, translating enterprise growth ambitions into clear portfolio actions, opportunities, and risks.
• Assess the future portfolio against strategic growth objectives to identify where shifts in portfolio mix, innovation, assortment, or investment may be required.
• Integrated consumer, category, competitive, brand, financial, & operational perspectives to develop holistic view of future portfolio health.
• Identify emerging portfolio gaps and opportunities and translate them into actionable recommendations for long-term portfolio evolution.
• Crystalize clear measures of portfolio health and use them to monitor whether the portfolio is progressing against long-term strategic ambition

Innovation Sufficiency & Portfolio Pipeline

• Evaluate innovation against identified portfolio gaps and strategic growth spaces to determine where additional innovation or intervention may be required.
• Partner with brand teams, insights, finance, R&D and other cross-functional teams to connect innovation plans with future portfolio needs.
• Evaluate innovation performance and translate learnings into recommendations that strengthen future pipeline decisions.
• Provide a portfolio-level perspective that helps identify potential gaps, overlaps, or imbalances across brands, segments, growth spaces, and innovation horizons.

Portfolio Health & Assortment Optimization

• Leading ongoing assessment of portfolio and assortment health (i.e. sku rationalization) to identify opportunities to strengthen productivity, relevance, profitability, and sustainable growth.
• Analyze portfolio performance, gaps, duplication, fragmentation, underperforming SKUs, and opportunities to scale larger parts of the portfolio.
• Work with cross-functional teams to assess the strategic role of products within the broader portfolio, balancing consumer and shopper needs, brand strategies, financial performance, and operational complexity.
• Drive consistent approach for evaluating portfolio additions and exits to ensure assortment choices strengthen the overall portfolio rather than increase unnecessary complexity.

Portfolio Health & Insights Governance

• Create clear, compelling portfolio narratives and recommendations for senior leadership to support strategic prioritization and decision-making.
• Establish consistent portfolio health reviews that connect long-term ambition, innovation sufficiency, current assortment performance, and future portfolio actions.
• Act as a strategic connector across functions, ensuring portfolio decisions are fact based and are aligned to long-term Confectionary objectives.

What can you expect from Mars?

• Work with over 130,000 with diverse and talented Associates, all guided by The Five Principles.
• Join a purpose driven company, where we’re striving to build the world we want tomorrow, today.
• Best-in-class learning and development support from day one, including access to our in-house Mars University.
• An industry competitive salary and benefits package, including company bonus.

Mars does not sponsor visas for this role.

The base pay range for this position at commencement of employment is between the range listed below, however, base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including but not limited to job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.The total compensation package for this position will include variable pay, medical and dental benefits, participation in 401k plan, and paid time off benefits.Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an applicant receives an offer of employment.

The pay range shown is applicable to all US locations listed within the job posting:USD 108,160.00 - USD 148,720.00