Strategic Value Lead — Senior Project Manager

Mars; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 101,000 - 139,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Mars University access

Company bonus

Job summary

Mars is seeking a Senior Project Manager to lead end-to-end Value Leadership initiatives in the United States. You will guide cross-functional teams from charter through post-launch, delivering on strategic objectives.

The role requires strong leadership, stakeholder management, and the ability to navigate ambiguity, with emphasis on Stage & Gate governance and PPM processes to ensure disciplined execution and measurable value delivery.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of project management with proven track record on managing cross functional projects.
• A minimum of a Bachelor’s degree is required, preferably in Business Administration, Project Management, or a related discipline.
• Knowledge and expertise in utilizing Microsoft Project for effective project planning, scheduling and scenario planning.
• Knowledge of E2E process.
• Excellent stakeholder management, communication, and influencing skills.
• Comfort navigating ambiguity

Responsibilities

• Serve as the Senior Project manager for Value Leadership, driving execution that directly supports our Value Leadership Targets.
• Take full ownership of high complexity initiatives, guiding projects from initial charter development through post-Launch review, ensuring seamless delivery against objectives.
• Simultaneously manage and lead projects of varying complexities, ranging from highly complex initiatives that require capital investments to those focused on value leadership.
• Lead cross-functional teams across functions to align on project scope, identify critical success factors, allocate resources effectively, and create detailed, actionable timelines.
• Conduct comprehensive risk assessments to anticipate potential obstacles, proactively resolving issues and ensuring project resilience.
• Facilitates the identification and escalation of issues and risks to relevant stakeholders, senior leadership and/or S&OP+ forums while minimizing disruption to the project.
• Act as the gatekeeper of the Stage & gate framework and PPM system; leveraging the methodology to drive precision in execution, instill discipline across the team, and ensure decisions are underpinned by robust data and documentation.
• Partner closely with VL Program Manager and VL Project managers to support the development and execution of the projects to support short term and long-term strategic objectives.
• Assist in identifying and prioritizing projects and resource allocations to optimize value delivery and address gaps within the pipeline.
• Collaborate with leadership to integrate pipeline goals into broader organizational strategies, ensuring the sufficiency pipeline delivers meaningful business impact.
• Own and monitor item setup and tracking, ensuring smooth progression and troubleshooting when needed through the GTM (Go-to-Market) process.
• Lead continuous improvements in ways of working and value creation against the wider business objectives.

Skills

Project management

Cross-functional

Stakeholder management

Leadership

Communication

Ambiguity tolerance

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Microsoft Project

PPM systems

Job description

Mars is seeking a Senior Project Manager to lead end-to-end Value Leadership initiatives in the United States. You will guide cross-functional teams from charter through post-launch, delivering on strategic objectives.

The role requires strong leadership, stakeholder management, and the ability to navigate ambiguity, with emphasis on Stage & Gate governance and PPM processes to ensure disciplined execution and measurable value delivery.