Business Unit Lead – Food Ventures - UK in Reading

At PepsiCo, you’ll discover a place where our mission is to create smiles around the world. With a portfolio of more than 500 beloved brands including Gatorade, Lay’s and Quaker, our work touches millions of people every day. At the heart of the company is a team of thinkers, creators, and problem-solvers who collaborate to innovate and turn ideas into action. Driven by innovation and a focus on creating joyful moments through food and drinks, our decisions are guided by consumer centricity, creating opportunities for our associates to do meaningful work and make a lasting impact in the communities we serve.

Business Unit Lead – Food Ventures (Territory) based in Reading, UK.

The Opportunity

Are you excited by the challenge of building a business from the ground up and scaling it into a market success story? We are looking for a Business Unit Lead – Food Ventures to drive the launch, execution, and expansion of innovative food business models within a designated territory. This role combines the agility of a startup environment with the scale and resources of a global organization. As the territory lead, you will act as the single-threaded owner of the business, leading everything from market entry and operational setup to commercial growth and financial performance. You will work at the intersection of strategy, operations, and innovation, transforming bold ideas into scalable, profitable ventures. This is a high-impact leadership opportunity for someone who thrives in fast-paced environments, embraces ambiguity, and is passionate about building new businesses.

What You’ll Do

• Launch & Build New Ventures: Lead the end-to-end launch of new food venture concepts within the territory. Translate global business models into locally relevant, operationally viable solutions. Ensure launch readiness across operations, supply chain, marketing, finance, compliance, and people. Drive rapid execution while maintaining operational excellence and customer experience.
• Own Business Performance: Act as the territory’s business owner with full accountability for growth and profitability. Manage key business drivers including revenue, pricing, demand generation, cost structure, and productivity. Monitor performance metrics and implement fast test-and-learn cycles to optimize results. Drive sustainable unit economics and scalable operating models.
• Scale & Expand: Identify opportunities to scale successful concepts across locations, cities, and channels. Build repeatable playbooks and operational standards that enable rapid replication. Lead expansion planning including site readiness, resource allocation, and operational deployment.
• Lead Cross-Functional Execution: Orchestrate cross-functional teams across Supply, Operations, Marketing, Finance, Legal, QA, and HR. Create strong execution rhythms, governance routines, and decision-making processes. Align stakeholders on priorities, trade-offs, risks, and business objectives.
• Drive Innovation & Continuous Improvement: Continuously improve customer experience, operational efficiency, and commercial performance. Leverage insights and analytics to refine the business model and value proposition. Explore new channels, partnerships, and growth opportunities to accelerate scale.

Qualifications

What We’re Looking For:

• 8-15 years of experience in general management, commercial operations, multi-site operations, or venture building.
• Proven experience launching and scaling new business models, startups, or high-growth ventures.
• Strong P&L management and financial acumen.
• Experience operating in fast-changing, ambiguous environments.
• Strong leadership skills within matrix organizations.
• Data-driven mindset with strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
• Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on execution.
• High ownership mentality, resilience, and bias for action.

Why Join Us?

This is more than a traditional operations or commercial leadership role. It is an opportunity to:

• Build innovative food businesses from 0 to 1.
• Scale successful ventures from 1 to N.
• Operate like a mini-CEO within your territory.
• Shape the future of food ventures within a globally recognized organization.
• Combine entrepreneurial speed with enterprise-level impact.

You’ll join a highly dynamic environment where experimentation, innovation, and execution excellence are critical to success — and scale across markets.

Reporting Structure:

Reports to: Director, Venture Platform (Global)

Key Cross-Functional Partners: Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing, Finance, Legal, Quality Assurance, and Human Resources.