Manager, Portfolio Strategy

Chicago, IL (Hybrid)

$108K/yr – $149K/yrSenior Level4+ years expFull time

Posted 2 weeks ago

Job Summary

Own and orchestrate multi-category growth initiatives from challenger-brand positioning to GTM optimization, leading cross-functional projects to unlock volume and household penetration across the portfolio.

  • Lead strategic initiatives to drive step-change growth across the portfolio
  • Define brand roles within the portfolio and optimize resource allocation
  • Partner across Sales, Trade Marketing, and Brand Activation to maximize ROI

Job Description

Responsibilities

  • The Manager, Portfolio Strategy is a high-impact strategic orchestrator tasked with identifying, designing, and launching growth initiatives to unlock massive volume and household penetration (HHP) growth across a multi-category portfolio.
  • Supporting the Line Manager directly, this role acts as an agile project leader driving critical, complex initiatives. These include identifying challenger brand strategies, clarifying the role of brands and portfolio architecture, improving innovation performance knowledge, optimizing investment allocation strategies, refining go-to-market (GTM) execution, and establishing best-in-class portfolio practices to secure our long-term competitive advantage.
  • Strategic Initiative Execution: Lead the execution of key strategic initiatives designed to unlock step-change volume, market share, and household penetration (HHP) growth across the entire portfolio.
  • Innovation Performance Excellence: Analyze and build capability around historical innovation performance, translating past launch learnings into scalable, repeatable best practices that optimize future success rates.
  • Go-To-Market (GTM) Investment Optimization: Partner with Sales, Trade Marketing, and Brand Activation to evaluate and improve GTM execution, distribution playbooks, and promotional investment strategies to ensure maximum ROI.
  • Challenger Brand Portfolio Role Definition: Identify challenger brand strategies and define the role each brand plays within the broader portfolio, ensuring clear choices on where to win, how to compete, and how resources should be prioritized.
  • Cross-Functional Orchestration: Lead agile, multi-disciplinary teams (RD, Sales, Finance, External Agencies) to rapidly develop, pressure-test, and scale complex projects from concept to commercial execution.
  • Ad-Hoc Strategic Projects: Support the Line Manager on high-priority strategic briefs, business case developments, and executive presentations addressing competitive threats, regulatory shifts, or macroeconomic trends.

Requirements

  • Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Strategy, Business Administration, or related field required (MBA preferred).
  • 4 years of experience in CPG, with a strong background in Brand Strategy, Strategic Planning, Category Management, or Go-To-Market/Trade Strategy, including
  • Hands-on experience leveraging syndicated data, consumer insights, and shopper insights to identify growth opportunities and inform portfolio choices.
  • Strong stakeholder management
  • Innovation and pipelining management experience
  • Strong end-to-end project management capabilities
  • Comfortability managing high levels of ambiguity
  • Experience with coordinating complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives under tight timelines.
  • Strong communication, networking, and presentation skills
  • Strong knowledge of excel and PowerPoint

Benefits

  • An industry competitive salary and benefits package, including company bonus.
  • Best-in-class learning and development support from day one, including access to our in-house Mars University.
  • medical and dental benefits, participation in 401k plan, and paid time off benefits.
  • 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.
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Mars

4.3 Glassdoor

We’re a unified force of 150,000+ Associates, taking action every day toward the world we want tomorrow. Our Five Principles have kept us true to ourselves and to our commitment to treat others in ways that are consistent with those values. Having stood the test of time, these principles will continue, keeping us free to move quickly and plan for the future. Quality - The consumer is our boss, quality is our work and value for money is our goal. Responsibility - As individuals, we demand total responsibility from ourselves; as Associates, we support the responsibilities of others. Mutuality - A mutual benefit is a shared benefit; a shared benefit will endure. Efficiency - We use resources to the full, waste nothing and do only what we can do best. Freedom - We need freedom to shape our future; we need profit to remain free. Note to Parents: https://www.mars.com/about/policies-and-practices/note-to-parents/np-english For more information, please visit mars.com. Follow us: facebook.com/mars, twitter.com/marsglobal, instagram.com/marsglobal/, youtube.com/mars For more information about careers at Mars, please visit careers.mars.com Follow us: facebook.com/LifeAtMars, instagram.com/LifeAtMars/, tiktok.com/LifeAtMars Mars, Incorporated is not responsible for any content or activity made available via third party sites or services. Page subject to: mars.com/legal mars.com/privacy

Founded in 1911
McLean, Virginia, US
64K employees (5,033 in marketing)
86% recommend to a friend
93% CEO approval

Salaries

Posted range

$108K/yr – $149K/yr

Taken straight from the job posting.

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Funding

Last Raise
Debt Financing, 1 years ago

Funding History

  • Mar 2025
    Debt Financing

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Manager, Portfolio Strategy

Mars · Chicago, IL · Hybrid