Senior Manager BU Innovation - Poultry Foodservice

Management Level:

88

Work Shift:

1ST SHIFT (United States of America)

Position Summary

The Senior Manager, BU Innovation sets the innovation direction for the assigned brands and categories and is accountable for the quality, balance, and business impact of the innovation pipeline. This role translates category strategy, customer needs, market trends, and business objectives into prioritized innovation platforms and investment recommendations, then leads the most strategically significant and complex initiatives from concept through in-market performance. The Senior Manager influences senior leaders across the BU, Channel Marketing, R&D, Culinary, Insights, Supply Chain/Operations, Finance, and Strategy; coaches and develops innovation team members; and delivers profit, volume, and share growth for the business and its customers.

Strategy and Portfolio Ownership

• Own and shape the innovation strategy for the Foodservice Value Added Poultry category, aligned to corporate and business unit goals and feeding the long-range and annual plans.
• Define strategic innovation platforms and identify major white-space opportunities and emerging customer and consumer needs, using syndicated research, trend data, primary research, and competitive intelligence.
• Own the innovation pipeline and its prioritization across near-, mid-, and long-term horizons, ensuring a balanced mix of renovation, incremental innovation, and breakthrough/new-to-world opportunities.
• Establish innovation priorities and make investment recommendations to senior leadership.
• Evaluate innovation performance, ROI, and portfolio health, and adjust the pipeline accordingly.

Leadership and Influence

• Lead the most strategically significant and complex product, packaging, and go-to-market initiatives, from concept development and feasibility through business proposal, approval, customer sell-in, and tracking of in-market performance.
• Influence senior leaders in Sales, Marketing, R&D, Operations, Finance, and Strategy, and serve as the liaison to other corporate functions so that innovation initiatives receive the focus they need.
• Develop executive-level innovation narratives and recommendations, including clear consumer positioning and a clear point of difference versus competitors.
• Drive customer co-innovation and strategic partnerships, working with Sales and Channel Marketing to integrate operator and distributor strategies into the pipeline, improve innovation forecast accuracy, and deliver against joint business plan (JBP) objectives.
• Leverage synergies across retail and foodservice channels to maximize idea scale.
• Direct innovation and consulting agencies and build relationships with external suppliers and partners.

People and Capability Building

• Lead, coach, and develop Managers and Associate Managers of varying experience levels, building innovation capability across the organization.
• Oversee the projects owned by direct reports to keep them on time and on track, and resolve issues as they arise.
• Serve as an expert and advisor to other Tyson innovators.

Process and Governance

Use the innovation project management, packaging, and specification systems to advance projects with cross-functional teams.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor's degree required; MBA preferred.
• Experience and knowledge: Minimum 6 plus years of experience. Deep understanding of innovation success factors, innovation marketing, consumer insights, brand strategy, and P&L management.
• Leadership: A forward-thinking problem solver and proven collaborator who challenges the status quo to support strategic decisions, and who can devise strong solutions in unstructured situations.
• Communication: Strong communication and presentation skills, including the ability to influence senior leaders.
• Project management: Proven ability to manage multiple projects in a dynamic environment and to lead cross-functional teams and direct reports.

Requisition is not taking sponsorships.

A resume is required to be considered.

Internal Management & Management Support Applicants:

Automatic notification to your current manager will be initiated upon selection for interview. This applies to all candidates who are level 79 or above.

All professional team members are expected to demonstrate responsible use of approved AI tools, including safeguarding sensitive information, adhering to company policies, and validating AI-generated outputs. Individual Contributors should demonstrate the ability to integrate AI into daily work, improve efficiency through AI-enabled solutions, evaluate outputs critically, and apply professional judgment when using AI. People Leaders should demonstrate the ability to drive responsible AI adoption, enable effective use of approved solutions, identify opportunities to improve team performance through AI, and ensure accountability for the quality and accuracy of AI-supported outcomes.

Relocation Assistance Eligible:

Yes

Referral Payout Eligible:

No

For Professional Management levels, internal applicants should either upload a resume to their application OR complete their application fully showing current and past work experience in the sections provided.

The successful candidate(s) must be willing and able to perform the physical requirements of the job with or without a reasonable accommodation.

We provide our team members and their families with paid time off; 401(k) plans; affordable health, life, dental, vision and prescription drug benefits; and more.

Tyson is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, national origin, color, religion, age, genetics, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or veteran status.

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About Us

Our team members make the difference. If you are ready to grow your career with an industry leader and want to positively impact the team and community around you, then join us in helping us in raising expectations.
Join us on the journey.

At Tyson, we feed the world like family. Our Talent Strategy is to Attract, Grow, Reward and Retain the best talent, and we believe that our Culture is the connecting thread that drives that strategy!

We strive to be a talent magnet to establish a reputation for being a talent rich organization where team members can grow their career while growing the business.

We are a high performing organization where team members are rewarded (Pay, Benefits and Recognition) for their contributions, and given the opportunity to support and/or volunteer with programs that help Tyson make a lasting social impact in the communities where we live and work.

To learn more about our culture, please read Our Purpose.

The successful candidate(s) must be willing and able to perform the physical requirements of the job with or without a reasonable accommodation.

Tyson Foods, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. If you are unable to apply for career opportunities through use of this site due to an impairment or disability, please contact (479) 290-5000 for further assistance.