Future Strategy & Innovation Lead

Job description

Overview

PepsiCo's future growth depends on securing sustainable, innovative, resilient, and competitive ingredient supply chains that can support evolving consumer preferences, product innovation, and business strategy. The Future Strategy & Innovation Lead is responsible for identifying and translating long-term market, ingredient, technology, sustainability, and supply chain trends into actionable opportunities for PepsiCo's Strategic Ingredients Procurement Team.

The role will lead Horizon 3 thinking across the ingredients portfolio, shaping procurement strategies that anticipate future disruptions and position PepsiCo to access emerging ingredients, technologies, supplier capabilities and business models before they become mainstream. Working as a peer to Senior Category Managers, the role will influence category strategies, drive supplier-enabled innovation, and build external partnerships that strengthen PepsiCo's competitive advantage over the next 3-10 years.

Responsibilities

Develop long-term perspectives on global ingredient markets, supply ecosystems, and emerging technologies. Monitor consumer, regulatory, climate, geopolitical, and agricultural trends through a procurement and supply resilience lens. Partner with R&D, Product Development, Commercial, and Strategy teams to anticipate future ingredient requirements and growth opportunities. Build and maintain supplier innovation pipelines, strategic external partnerships, and emerging ecosystem networks.

Assess future supply security, resilience, and competitiveness risks across key ingredient categories. Identify and drive opportunities related to regenerative agriculture, sustainability, transparency, and traceability. Lead future-state reviews and scenario planning exercises across strategic ingredient categories. Challenge existing sourcing assumptions and embed long-term (Horizon 3) thinking into category and business strategies.

Own the Horizon 3 Procurement Strategy, ensuring a sustained focus on long-term value creation beyond annual objectives and category execution. Establish a structured approach for identifying future growth opportunities, disruptive risks, emerging supplier ecosystems, and breakthrough technologies. Translate foresight and market intelligence into actionable strategic recommendations for procurement leadership and business stakeholders.

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Business, Procurement, Supply Chain, Food Science, Agriculture, Economics, or a related field. 10+ years of experience in procurement, category management, strategy, innovation, market intelligence, or a related discipline. Strong understanding of global ingredient supply chains, agricultural markets, and emerging industry trends. Experience evaluating market, technology, consumer, regulatory, and sustainability developments and translating insights into business strategy.

Demonstrated success identifying and delivering innovation opportunities through suppliers, partnerships, or new business models. Knowledge of sustainability, regenerative agriculture, traceability, and supply chain resilience principles.