Senior Director R&D Digital Transformation

Job Purpose/Overview

The Senior Director - R&D Transformation is responsible for leading the strategic design, harmonization, and end-to-end transformation of Pet Nutrition’s global Idea to Market (I2M) operating model, ensuring it is agile, efficient, and future-ready. This pivotal role drives business value by seamlessly integrating robust business processes, progressive organizational capabilities, and cutting-edge digital/AI technologies.

This role is inherently cross-functional, spanning all functions and disciplines involved in the end-to-end Innovation and Renovation processes (including R&D, Quality, Regulatory, Commercial, and Supply). Beyond digital enablement, the role is highly focused on modernizing R&D processes, instilling strong process governance, and building a continuous-learning culture that upskills our talent. To maximize strategic alignment, build capability, and share best practices, the role requires developing and maintaining a strong collaborative network across the broader Petcare segment as well as other Mars business segments.

Key Responsibilities

1. Transformation Strategy & Capability Vision

• Define and lead the multi-year transformation roadmap for Pet Nutrition’s global Idea to Market operating model, aligning priorities and investments with overall Pet Nutrition business growth, R&D strategy, and efficiency goals.

• Establish a clear vision for "future-ready R&D capabilities," mapping out the shifting skills, tools, and mindsets required by R&D associates globally to remain industry leaders.

• Cultivate and leverage a strong network across Petcare and other business segments to benchmark capabilities, share organizational learnings, and maximize segment-wide alignment.

2. End-to-End Process Architecture & Governance

• Redesign, standardize, and simplify end-to-end Idea to Market workflows across all functions involved in the Innovation and Renovation pipelines (R&D, Quality, Regulatory, Commercial, Supply, and other cross-functional partners) to drive speed-to-market.

• Establish and embed a robust Process Ownership & Governance Framework, clarifying decision rights, cross-functional accountabilities, and performance metrics (KPIs) to sustain process health.

• Drive process excellence by removing operational friction and reducing cycle times, while maintaining maximum product quality, regulatory compliance, and business resilience.

3. Future-Ready Capability Building & Upskilling

• Design and implement comprehensive organizational capability programs to transition the R&D team from traditional methodologies to modern, agile, and data-driven ways of working.

• Partner with People & Organization (HR) and R&D leadership to identify critical skills gaps in advanced technologies, agile workflows, and data literacy, establishing upskilling curricula to address them.

• Build internal capabilities for continuous improvement and design thinking, ensuring R&D associates are active participants and co-creators of the transformation.

4. Process-Centric AI, Digital & Data Enablement

• Treat technology as an accelerator of process and capability; embed AI, advanced analytics, automation, and digital tools directly into streamlined, user-centric R&D workflows.

• Direct the Product Owner and Data Senior Lead in defining an integrated, value-driven digital and data roadmap.

• Ensure digital systems and tools are intuitive, improve the employee experience, and enforce "data-by-design" to drive high-quality decision-making.

5. cPLM Sponsorship & Process Integration

• Provide executive governance, strategic sponsorship, and escalation support for the Pet Nutrition Core PLM program.

• Line-manage the Global Process Owner for PLM, ensuring PLM software and process designs align with global standards and serve as a strong foundational database for R&D.

• Integrate PLM data, workflows, and digital modules seamlessly into the broader Idea to Market transformation roadmap.

6. Transformation Delivery & Organizational Governance

• Direct and manage the core transformation team, including the Product Owner, PMO, Business Process Senior Leads, and Data Senior Lead.

• Own the transformation budget, resource allocation plans, project governance, and risk mitigation strategies.

• Maintain clear reporting on progress, business cases, return on investment (ROI), and capability adoption metrics to the Global Technical Leadership Team (GTLT).

7. Change Leadership, Culture & Cross-Segment Collaboration

• Lead the cultural, mindset, and behavioral shifts required to transition the organization to faster, collaborative, and fail-forward ways of working.

• Build high-trust relationships and secure active commitment/sponsorship from regional business units, global functions, and peer segments.

• Navigate highly matrixed structures to ensure active cross-functional and cross-segment collaboration, establishing formal and informal feedback loops across all teams contributing to Innovation and Renovation.

Context and Scope

This role operates at a global level within the Pet Nutrition R&D function, collaborating closely with sub-functional leaders, Operational Excellence (OE) leads, and the Global Technical Leadership Team (GTLT). Reporting to the Global Pet Nutrition R&D VP, the role is highly cross-functional, bridging R&D with Supply, Commercial, Quality, and Enterprise Digital teams.

A critical dimension of this role is its cross-functional breadth across all stages of both the Innovation and Renovation processes, ensuring that product modifications and new product launches follow harmonized, lean paths to market. To avoid silos, drive enterprise-wide synergies, and ensure maximum strategic alignment, the job holder must build, leverage, and sustain a robust network across the wider Petcare segment and other business segments (e.g., Snacking, Food).

Success is measured not only by digital tool deployments, but by the measurable speed-to-market of Innovation and Renovation pipelines, the successful adoption of new operating models, and the verified uplift of digital and process competencies across the global R&D associate base.

Relevant Quantitative and Budget Information

• Financial: TBC (Responsibility for the global transformation budget and cPLM integration funding).

• Staff: 6 direct reports (Product Owner, PMO, Business Process Senior Leads, Data Senior Lead, and PLM Global Process Owner) with a broader temporary organization and contractor network supporting cPLM through 2030.

Job Specifications/Qualifications

Education & Professional Background – Minimum

• Degree in a scientific, engineering, or business/operations discipline (e.g., Chemistry, Food Science, Engineering, Business Architecture, or Data Science).

• 15+ years of progressive experience in R&D, product innovation, operating model transformation, or process engineering.

• Proven track record of leading large-scale, cross-functional organizational transformations, specifically demonstrating a balance of process redesign and capability building alongside digital tool adoption.

• Strong established professional network or proven ability to rapidly build influence across multiple business units, functions, and segments.

• Exceptional stakeholder management and influencing skills within highly matrixed, global organizations.

Preferred Qualifications

• Deep experience in Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), Food & Beverage, or Pet Care sectors.

• Extensive experience in Business Process Management (BPM), operating model design, or organizational change management (e.g., Prosci, Agile, Lean Six Sigma).

• Experience leading cross-functional operating models that span R&D, Supply, Quality, Portfolio Management, and Commercial operations.

Key Functional Competencies & Technical Skills

• Operating Model & Process Design: Expertise in structural design, business capability mapping, process mapping, and establishing cross-functional RACIs across the end-to-end Innovation & Renovation lifecycles.

• Large-Scale Transformation & Change Management: Demonstrated ability to manage multi-million-dollar program roadmaps, budgets, and change/communication plans.

• Organizational Capability & Upskilling Frameworks: Skill in designing training, upskilling, and competence certification programs to raise workforce performance.

• Digital & Data Enablement: Understanding of how PLM, AI, and advanced analytics serve as enablers for modern, streamlined R&D processes.

• Preferred: Certification in Lean Six Sigma, Agile methodology (e.g., Scrum/SAFe), or Prosci Change Management.

Qualifications Decision Quality; Persuades; Manages Complexity; Optimizes Work Processes; Plans and Aligns; Collaborates; Strategic Mindset; Communicates Effectively

Req ID R166087