Sr. Program Manager, Elevation

Kraft Heinz; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 121,000 - 151,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Performance-based bonus

Healthcare benefits

Travel opportunities

Job summary

Kraft Heinz in Chicago seeks a Senior Manager, Strategic Programs to lead large, cross‑functional initiatives that drive growth, modernization, and operational excellence. You will define objectives, build integrated plans, manage risks, and report to executives with clear governance and milestones.

The role requires travel up to 50% and a strong background in engineering, program management, and stakeholder leadership.

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from an accredited engineering school or related field is required.
• 6+ years experience in engineering, project management, program management, and/or technical leadership across multiple sites.
• Demonstrated success in project and program management execution including requirements definition, scope, schedule, budget, governance, reporting, risk, dependency, resource planning, execution, monitoring/control, closeout, roadmap development, cross-workstream dependency management, and decision cadence.
• Familiarity with Agile, Scrum, or other iterative delivery methods is beneficial where applicable.
• Demonstrated leadership, communication, influence, critical thinking, problem-solving, relationship-building, executive communication, and business acumen.

Responsibilities

• Lead complex capital programs from requirements definition and conceptual design through execution, commissioning, vertical startup, and handover.
• Define program objectives, scope, budgets, schedules, success measures, and execution plans aligned to approved business cases.
• Develop integrated program roadmaps that sequence workstreams, milestones, dependencies, resources, and key decision points.
• Provide cross-functional leadership across Engineering, Finance, Operations, HR, Legal, R&D, EHS, FSQ, Procurement, and external partners.
• Align sponsors, functional leaders, and portfolio governance teams on program scope, trade-offs, priorities, risks, value realization, and escalation needs.
• Communicate program health, milestones, budget, risks, dependencies, decisions, and required leadership actions through clear, decision-oriented reporting.

Skills

Program management

Cross-functional leadership

Budgeting

Risk management

Stakeholder alignment

Agile/Scrum

Executive communication

Education

Bachelor of Science in Engineering

Tools

PMO tools

Job description

The Senior Manager, Strategic Programs is responsible for defining program requirements, setting objectives, developing integrated project plans, and leading complex, cross-functional strategic initiatives that support business growth, infrastructure modernization, operational excellence, and network optimization objectives. This role serves as the overall program leader for assigned initiatives and is accountable for technical and program feasibility, governance, workstream integration, executive reporting, risk management, stakeholder alignment, process improvement, and successful delivery of program objectives.

Job Description

Essential Functions & Responsibilities

Program & Project Management:

• Lead complex capital programs from requirements definition and conceptual design through execution, commissioning, vertical startup, and handover.
• Define program objectives, scope, budgets, schedules, success measures, and execution plans aligned to approved business cases.
• Support Capital Appropriation Request submissions and serve as the program advocate to capital investment committees.
• Develop integrated program roadmaps that sequence workstreams, milestones, dependencies, resources, and key decision points.
• Provide technical guidance to influence design decisions, resolve technical challenges, and ensure feasible, scalable, compliant solutions.
• Establish the program structure, resource model, technical capabilities, and external partner support needed to deliver scope, schedule, and budget commitments.
• Provide cross‑functional leadership across Engineering, Finance, Operations, HR, Legal, R&D, EHS, FSQ, Procurement, and external partners.
• Align sponsors, functional leaders, and portfolio governance teams on program scope, trade‑offs, priorities, risks, value realization, and escalation needs.
• Manage cross‑functional dependencies, decision interlocks, critical path constraints, and prioritization conflicts across workstreams, sites, suppliers, and partners.
• Establish governance cadence, including workstream reviews, leadership updates, decision forums, action tracking, escalation pathways, and decision records.
• Develop and manage risk, issue, assumption, and dependency processes to identify, monitor, mitigate, and escalation factors that may affect delivery.
• Communicate program health, milestones, budget, risks, dependencies, decisions, and required leadership actions through clear, decision‑oriented reporting.
• Lead operational readiness, change adoption, training coordination, readiness criteria, and sustained ownership planning with site and functional teams.
• Ensure safety, environmental, compliance, and operational requirements are embedded from design through operational verification and value realization.

Program Management Standards, Tools

• Work with PMO and functional partners to drive continuous improvement of capital project management activities, workflows, tools, methodologies, and governance practices across KHC entities to improve efficiency, consistency, scalability, and execution quality.
• Develop and share best practices, reporting standards, reusable program artifacts, templates, and key performance indicators (KPIs) to track program progress, financial performance, schedule performance, risk, and total cost of ownership (TCO).
• Lead post‑implementation reviews and lessons learned activities to capture insights, identify improvement opportunities, and incorporate learnings into future program standards, tools, governance practices, and execution playbooks.

Expected Experience & Required Skills

Instructions: List the candidate’s proven experiences and specific skills that are required to perform the role. This section should:

• Be consistent across the job posting, interview, assessments, and the job itself
• Include specific, qualitative proven experiences versus generic years of experience
• Include both “hard” and “soft” skills
• Include skills that are observable, measurable, and assessable (speaking to their criticality to the role and business)
• Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from an accredited engineering school or related field is required.
• 6+ years experience in engineering, project management, program management, and/or technical leadership across multiple sites. Prior experience in an in‑plant technical role such as Operations, Maintenance, or Plant Engineering is preferred.
• Demonstrated success in project and program management execution, including requirements definition, scope, schedule, budget, governance, reporting, risk, dependency, resource planning, execution, monitoring/control, closeout, roadmap development, cross‑workstream dependency management, and decision cadence; familiarity with Agile, Scrum, or other iterative delivery methods is beneficial where applicable.
• Demonstrated leadership, communication, influence, critical thinking, problem‑solving, relationship‑building, executive communication, and business acumen to lead complex cross‑functional programs, align technical decisions with stakeholder and business needs, and support operational readiness, change adoption, benefits realization, and sustained value delivery.

Work Environment & Schedule

Field based environment; role requires frequent travel to customer locations, stores, manufacturing facilities, etc. Additionally, this role requires willingness to travel to locations outside of home state for extended periods (up to 50%) as needed and the demonstrated ability to work remotely with little supervision. Ability to work to flexible schedule including days, afternoons, nights and overtime as needed.

Physical Requirements

• This role requires inspection of sites to detect safety concerns. Occasional need to scale heights and traversal of workplace.
• Must be able to complete tasks in a noisy environment.

Benefits

Coverage for employees (and their eligible dependents) through affordable access to healthcare, protection, and saving for the future, we offer plans tailored to meet you and your family’s needs. Coverage for benefits will be in accordance with the terms and conditions of the applicable plans and associated governing plan documents.

Wellbeing

We offer events, resources, and learning opportunities that inspire a physical, social, emotional and financial well‑being lifestyle for our employees and their families.

You’ll be able to participate in a variety of benefits and wellbeing programs that may vary by role, country, region, union status, and other employment status factors, for example:

• Physical - Medical, Prescription Drug, Dental, Vision, Screenings/Assessments
• Social - Paid Time Off, Company Holidays, Leave of Absence, Flexible Work Arrangements, Recognition, Training
• Emotional – Employee Assistance Program , Wellbeing Programs, Family Support Programs
• Financial – 401k, Life, Accidental Death & Dismemberment, Disability

New Hire Base Salary Range

$120,800.00 - $151,000.00

Bonus

This position is eligible for a performance-based bonus as provided by the plan terms and governing documents.

The compensation offered will take into account internal equity and may vary depending on the candidate's geographic region, job‑related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors

Location(s)

Chicago/Aon Center

Kraft Heinz is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Kraft Heinz is an Equal Opportunity Employer – Underrepresented Ethnic Minority Groups/Women/Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity and other protected classes. In order to ensure reasonable accommodation for protected individuals, applicants that require accommodation in the job application process may contact [e-mail] for assistance.