A mutually rewarding experience.

Work. Realize your ambitions. And realize there’s more to being in business than just making a profit. That’s the Mars philosophy. And the opportunity we offer every one of our Associates. An opportunity to take what you do and make it mean more for you, for those around you and for the planet.  What you get here is challenging, interesting work. You get the tools you need to do a great job and you get to have the best possible people on your side to help you do it. And at the same time as getting to find ways to do business better today than we did it yesterday and driving a great career, you also get to build a more enlightened business and drive sustainability.

Because it’s never just about a single person, a single project or a single brand. It’s about how you can grab everything that’s within your reach here and use it to pursue mutual, long-term gain. It’s about having ideas. And ideals. Being prepared to risk failure because the promise of success means we’ll all be a little better off. It’s that mix of integrity and ambition that makes Mars such a special place to work. And why working here is always about more than just a job.

About Mars, Incorporated 

Mars is a family-owned business with more than a century of history making diverse products and offering services for people and the pets people love. With almost $35 billion in sales, the company is a global business that produces some of the world’s best-loved brands: M&M’s®, SNICKERS®, TWIX®, MILKY WAY®, DOVE®, PEDIGREE®, ROYAL CANIN®, WHISKAS®, EXTRA®, ORBIT®, 5™, SKITTLES®, UNCLE BEN’S®, MARS DRINKS and COCOAVIA®. Mars also provides veterinary health services that include BANFIELD® Pet Hospitals, Blue Pearl®, VCA® and Pet Partners™. Headquartered in McLean, VA, Mars operates in more than 80 countries. The Mars Five Principles – Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom – inspire its more than 100,000 Associates to create value for all its partners and deliver growth they are proud of every day.

 

Job Title: Strategy and Growth Director

Location: Nashville, TN

The Strategy and Growth Director is responsible for leading the long-term strategy process for Mars Petcare by identifying and prioritizing opportunities in addition to defining, aligning, and facilitating the execution of our multi-year enterprise strategy to defend and enhance our competitive advantage and accelerate our growth. The role is also responsible for leading Mergers & Acquisitions and business development activities as opportunities arise, as well as establishing a culture of continuous improvement, revenue idea generation, and cost management. This position will also have line management responsibilities with the goal of recruiting, retaining, and developing our associates.

Key Responsibilities

• Responsible end-to-end for long-term strategy: partnering cross-functionally and globally while conducting analysis to regularly identify and prioritize opportunities to pursue and risks to address; leading executive working sessions to evaluate and prioritize, translating thinking into LT plan including clear goal, action plan, scorecards with clear metrics and targets, resources / systems / capabilities required, etc. (in partnership with finance and business leaders); leading regular global and corporate level reviews on delivery of critical strategic initiatives; leading governance (e.g., establishing and monitoring KPIs to ensure plans are met). 
• Lead and support cross functional project teams to manage and execute top-priority strategic initiatives.
• Provide thought leadership and oversee various business and competitive intelligence activities.
• Responsible for mentoring and developing associates on the team, fostering a positive and engaged environment, as well as coaching and building capabilities throughout the organization as relevant and appropriate while partnered on major strategic projects and initiatives. Also responsible to help manage overall strategy team capability improvement (e.g., campus recruiting strategies, learning and development plans).
• Expected to become an expert over time in the pet category and use this knowledge to inform our efforts.
• Responsible for working with and managing 3rd party consulting organizations and external vendors as required.
• Effectively collaborate with cross functional peers, VPs, Regional Presidents, and critical Global/Corporate/Family stakeholders to drive people, process, and system transformation within Strategy and Growth Transformation
• Building a Five Principles Mars culture in the Strategy & Growth Transformation team through 80%+ associate engagement, a passion for pets, and a superior experience for our customers.

 

Job Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required, MBA or similar advanced degree in a competitive environment highly preferred.
• Significant experience working with and influencing stakeholders well above own tenure / level, as well as team members in very different roles (e.g., front-line).
• 8+ years of experience including 3+ years of experience in strategy consulting, investment banking, private equity, corporate strategy, or corporate development as well as 2+ years of leadership experience
• Broad range of functional experience and exposure preferred (e.g., strategy, marketing, BI / analytics, merchandising, supply chain, inorganic growth).
• Consumer packaged goods (CPG) and/or retail experience strongly preferred.
• High energy style, flexible and adaptive, with the ability to work well at all levels in a fast-paced environment
• Excellent analytical, verbal and written communications skills
• Strong organizational skills with a high level of accuracy and attention to detail

 

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Mars is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. If you need assistance or an accommodation during the application process because of a disability, it is available upon request. The company is pleased to provide such assistance, and no applicant will be penalized as a result of such a request.