Tech Innovation Director, Emerging Markets

Overview

This role is responsible for shaping and executing PepsiCo's enterprise strategy and innovation agenda across emerging and developing markets. It involves translating long-term strategic priorities into scalable, market-relevant platforms, identifying white space opportunities, and fostering strategic partnerships with global and regional tech players.

Key responsibilities include:

- Enterprise Strategy Development: Define and align enterprise strategy with global priorities, ensuring relevance to high-growth regions and operational feasibility.
- Innovation Program Leadership: Design and manage end-to-end innovation programs, from terrain selection and vendor scouting to pilot execution and scale-up.
- Vendor & Pilot Management: Lead the vendor selection process, coordinate proof-of-concept (POC) pilots, and ensure alignment with business needs and legal standards.
- Stakeholder Engagement: Collaborate with business leaders and executive sponsors to drive decisions, align innovation with business goals, and report progress.
- Scale-Up & Incubation: Refine scale-up processes, support implementation, and establish frameworks for incubating Horizon 2 & 3 technologies.
- Event & Communication Management: Plan and execute key program events, manage internal and external communications, and promote a culture of innovation.
- Collaboration & Ecosystem Building: Build partnerships with startups, academia, and industry leaders to drive collaborative innovation and research.

Responsibilities

Build Enterprise Strategy for Emerging & Developing Markets

- Inform and define the future of enterprise strategy for emerging/developing markets, aligned with the key global priorities
- Translate long-term enterprise strategies into scalable, market-relevant platforms that address the unique dynamics of high-growth regions
- Connect the needs of emerging markets to PepsiCo's largest-scale platforms, ensuring strategic alignment and future readiness
- Identify strategic opportunities and white spaces in developing markets that require tailored platform approaches and unique solutions (e.g., price, implementation etc. to ensure operational fit)
- Develop strategic partnerships with global and regional tech players to secure access to next-gen platforms for emerging and developing regions

Innovation Program set up

- Ensure alignment of business unit objectives with the overall innovation strategy and technological feasibility
- Manage and drive the innovation programs from start to finish, ensuring timely and effective delivery of use cases and POCs
- Set clear objectives and KPIs for the programs, continuously monitoring progress and adjusting strategy to maximize impact

Manage process selecting vendors for POC/pilot

Step 1: Select priority terrains

- Ensure strategic terrains, ripe for startup tech innovation, are identified and clear briefs developed
- Support driving full alignment of terrains across organization

Step 2: Meet vendors

- Ongoing mapping and scouting of the tech landscape
- Coordinate eco-systems immersions (virtual/in-person) to scout for relevant vendors – right people attend & right timing with effective engagement tools
- Ensure timely follow-ups with attendees to drive alignment on prioritized vendors and next steps

Step 3: Select vendors

- Consolidate immersion output (selected vendors, initial use cases etc) for sign off from program executive sponsors
- Maintain database (CRM) of all startup discussions & status to ensure efficiency for program and ongoing startup engagement

Co-lead, with transformation owners, to ensure well-run POCs/pilots

Step 1: Prepare for kick off

- Work with advisory to assign business partner to 'own pilot' and executive sponsor
- As needed, navigate org to ensure experts engaged
- Support initial discussions introducing business partner and vendors
- Coordinate with Legal all documentation (e.g., NDAs, MOUs) to ensure adherent to PEP standards and protected from IP

Step 2a: Project kick off

- Facilitate kick-off sessions by
- Defining use case and objectives for the pilot
- Setting ways-of-working for rapid decision: e.g., micro-team (DICE framework), milestones, KPIs and timeline)
- Progress POC/pilot process with weekly business partner calls & monthly senior sponsor calls
- Act as a bridge between vendors and PEP and remove roadblocks or stepbacks
- Support vendors & business partners to build effective communications that inspire PEP engagement with the startup (e.g., well written presentations/videos on case for action and opportunity for PepsiCo)
- Consolidate communications for ongoing advisory updates

Step 2b: Use case discovery (when needed, for relevant technologies that are cross functional)

- Showcase technology internally to PEP experts to discover use-cases
- Work closely with business leaders – business partners and executive sponsors - to drive decisions
- Provide external lens to help shape and refine focus areas
- Develop process flows to identify opportunities for innovation
- Lead process for post pilot evaluation and scale-up recommendation
- Engage and manage internal stakeholders across various departments, ensuring alignment on program goals and outcomes
- Regularly report to senior leadership on the progress of innovation initiatives, highlighting key achievements, challenges, and opportunities
- Provide thought leadership on industry trends, emerging technologies, and innovation best practices.

Refine design of scale up process and support implementation of scale up

- Refine design of scale-up process
- Guide business owner through the process and best practices

Lead planning & execution of key program events – immersion sessions, kick-offs, interim & final events with senior leaders and vendors

- Design and execute effective and engaging immersion session
- Coordinate and lead thorough debriefs with internal attendees and drive selection of vendors to progress to pilot
- Design program kick-off and events – multi-day events with broad range of attendees

Collaboration Management

- Build strong, mutually beneficial partnerships with industry leaders, start-ups, and academic institutions to drive collaborative research, development, and pilot programs
- Manage relationships with internal business units, aligning innovation initiatives with business needs and challenges

Create ongoing and inspiring communications on progress to gain executive support & continue infusing innovation culture

- Support executive updates on priority use cases, project status and lessons learned
- Sector comms on progress with successful pilots and scale up

Establish incubation framework for horizon 2 & 3 technologies to focus on developing PEP specific use cases with strategic vendors

-
Provide guidance to vendor partners on PEP use cases
- Co-develop with vendors to evaluate and create stage gate process to pilot in real world scenario

Qualifications

- Minimum 12-15 years of experience in innovation management, technology partnerships, and program leadership
- Preference to Consulting background/M&A/Venture Capital
- In-depth knowledge and experience with deep tech areas such as AI, machine learning, blockchain, IoT, and advanced analytics
- A strong track record of successfully executing innovation programs, from ideation to POC and full-scale implementation
- Demonstrated success in driving tech adoption of innovation within large organizations
- Ability to build and manage a network of technology partners, VCs, and innovation hubs
- Strong interpersonal and team leadership skills
- Ability to think strategically and translate to action to 'get things done'
- Experience working in a multinational company with matrix processes and activities
- Experience in leading complex and multi-functional project teams
- Effective communication (written and oral) to senior management
- Flexibility and ability to deal with complexity under time pressure
- Bachelors degree, MBA preferred

- Minimum 12-15 years of experience in innovation management, technology partnerships, and program leadership
- Preference to Consulting background/M&A/Venture Capital
- In-depth knowledge and experience with deep tech areas such as AI, machine learning, blockchain, IoT, and advanced analytics
- A strong track record of successfully executing innovation programs, from ideation to POC and full-scale implementation
- Demonstrated success in driving tech adoption of innovation within large organizations
- Ability to build and manage a network of technology partners, VCs, and innovation hubs
- Strong interpersonal and team leadership skills
- Ability to think strategically and translate to action to 'get things done'
- Experience working in a multinational company with matrix processes and activities
- Experience in leading complex and multi-functional project teams
- Effective communication (written and oral) to senior management
- Flexibility and ability to deal with complexity under time pressure
- Bachelors degree, MBA preferred

Build Enterprise Strategy for Emerging & Developing Markets

- Inform and define the future of enterprise strategy for emerging/developing markets, aligned with the key global priorities
- Translate long-term enterprise strategies into scalable, market-relevant platforms that address the unique dynamics of high-growth regions
- Connect the needs of emerging markets to PepsiCo's largest-scale platforms, ensuring strategic alignment and future readiness
- Identify strategic opportunities and white spaces in developing markets that require tailored platform approaches and unique solutions (e.g., price, implementation etc. to ensure operational fit)
- Develop strategic partnerships with global and regional tech players to secure access to next-gen platforms for emerging and developing regions

Innovation Program set up

- Ensure alignment of business unit objectives with the overall innovation strategy and technological feasibility
- Manage and drive the innovation programs from start to finish, ensuring timely and effective delivery of use cases and POCs
- Set clear objectives and KPIs for the programs, continuously monitoring progress and adjusting strategy to maximize impact

Manage process selecting vendors for POC/pilot

Step 1: Select priority terrains

- Ensure strategic terrains, ripe for startup tech innovation, are identified and clear briefs developed
- Support driving full alignment of terrains across organization

Step 2: Meet vendors

- Ongoing mapping and scouting of the tech landscape
- Coordinate eco-systems immersions (virtual/in-person) to scout for relevant vendors – right people attend & right timing with effective engagement tools
- Ensure timely follow-ups with attendees to drive alignment on prioritized vendors and next steps

Step 3: Select vendors

- Consolidate immersion output (selected vendors, initial use cases etc) for sign off from program executive sponsors
- Maintain database (CRM) of all startup discussions & status to ensure efficiency for program and ongoing startup engagement

Co-lead, with transformation owners, to ensure well-run POCs/pilots

Step 1: Prepare for kick off

- Work with advisory to assign business partner to 'own pilot' and executive sponsor
- As needed, navigate org to ensure experts engaged
- Support initial discussions introducing business partner and vendors
- Coordinate with Legal all documentation (e.g., NDAs, MOUs) to ensure adherent to PEP standards and protected from IP

Step 2a: Project kick off

- Facilitate kick-off sessions by
- Defining use case and objectives for the pilot
- Setting ways-of-working for rapid decision: e.g., micro-team (DICE framework), milestones, KPIs and timeline)
- Progress POC/pilot process with weekly business partner calls & monthly senior sponsor calls
- Act as a bridge between vendors and PEP and remove roadblocks or stepbacks
- Support vendors & business partners to build effective communications that inspire PEP engagement with the startup (e.g., well written presentations/videos on case for action and opportunity for PepsiCo)
- Consolidate communications for ongoing advisory updates

Step 2b: Use case discovery (when needed, for relevant technologies that are cross functional)

- Showcase technology internally to PEP experts to discover use-cases
- Work closely with business leaders – business partners and executive sponsors - to drive decisions
- Provide external lens to help shape and refine focus areas
- Develop process flows to identify opportunities for innovation
- Lead process for post pilot evaluation and scale-up recommendation
- Engage and manage internal stakeholders across various departments, ensuring alignment on program goals and outcomes
- Regularly report to senior leadership on the progress of innovation initiatives, highlighting key achievements, challenges, and opportunities
- Provide thought leadership on industry trends, emerging technologies, and innovation best practices.

Refine design of scale up process and support implementation of scale up

- Refine design of scale-up process
- Guide business owner through the process and best practices

Lead planning & execution of key program events – immersion sessions, kick-offs, interim & final events with senior leaders and vendors

- Design and execute effective and engaging immersion session
- Coordinate and lead thorough debriefs with internal attendees and drive selection of vendors to progress to pilot
- Design program kick-off and events – multi-day events with broad range of attendees

Collaboration Management

- Build strong, mutually beneficial partnerships with industry leaders, start-ups, and academic institutions to drive collaborative research, development, and pilot programs
- Manage relationships with internal business units, aligning innovation initiatives with business needs and challenges

Create ongoing and inspiring communications on progress to gain executive support & continue infusing innovation culture

- Support executive updates on priority use cases, project status and lessons learned
- Sector comms on progress with successful pilots and scale up

Establish incubation framework for horizon 2 & 3 technologies to focus on developing PEP specific use cases with strategic vendors

-
Provide guidance to vendor partners on PEP use cases
- Co-develop with vendors to evaluate and create stage gate process to pilot in real world scenario

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