Commercial Strategy Manager
PepsiCo · Reading
OverviewAbout the role:
This is a high‑impact strategy role at the heart of PepsiCo UKI’s Commercial function.
As Commercial Strategy Manager, you will be the strategic right-hand to our Commercial Vice President and Sales Leadership Team, shaping the long-term commercial strategy, solving the hardest problems, and building the narratives that influence how PepsiCo shows up with its biggest customers.
This role is ideal for an experienced strategy consultant looking to move into industry while retaining the problem quality, senior exposure, and pace of a consulting environment, with the added benefit of end‑to‑end ownership and delivery.
Responsibilities
What you’ll do:
Shape the commercial strategy
- Partner with the Commercial VP and Sales Leadership Team as a trusted advisor on the most complex and ambiguous commercial questions.
- Lead the long-term and short-term commercial planning processes — growth outlook, sub-channel strategy, annual operating plan.
- Own the strategic outputs that define PepsiCo's commercial narrative: category strategy, customer narratives, and the growth story.
Drive strategic initiatives from concept to impact
- Lead priority commercial initiatives end-to-end, from diagnosis and business case through to delivery and measurement.
- Own the governance, portfolio management, and integrated roadmap: milestones, risks, resources, and investment.
- Coordinate cross-functional teams to ensure tangible commercial outcomes, not just strategic recommendations.
Be the strategic go-to for Commercial Leadership
- Build the strategic storyline for internal and external forums.
- Act as a chief of staff to the VP of Sales, handling high-priority, time-sensitive requests with precision and judgement.
- Maintain a sharp external lens: consumer trends, competitive moves, macroeconomic and geopolitical shifts that shape the commercial agenda.
Qualifications
What you’ll bring:
- Consulting-grade problem structuring – you frame problems clearly, test hypotheses rigorously, and land on a "so what" that drives action.
- Comfort in ambiguity with senior stakeholders – you can walk into a room of Directors and VPs with a half-formed problem and leave with a clear path forward.
- Storytelling that drives decisions – you translate analysis into compelling, executive-ready narratives that shift the conversation.
- Bias to delivery – you don't just recommend; you own outcomes. You hold yourself accountable for commercial impact, not just strategic output.
- Intellectual curiosity – you stay on top of what's happening outside PepsiCo as much as inside it. You bring fresh thinking from other industries, markets, and categories.
Requirements:
- 5+ years' experience, ideally including 3+ years at a top-tier strategy consulting firm or an FMCG in-house strategy / commercial excellence team.
- Strong commercial and strategic judgement.
- Proven ability to influence and operate credibly with senior leaders (Director / VP level and above).
- Outstanding analytical skills and structured problem-solving.
- Excellent written and verbal communication, including executive presentations for C-suite audiences.
- Ability to lead complex, cross-functional agendas autonomously in a matrixed organisation.
What you’ll do:
Shape the commercial strategy
- Partner with the Commercial VP and Sales Leadership Team as a trusted advisor on the most complex and ambiguous commercial questions.
- Lead the long-term and short-term commercial planning processes — growth outlook, sub-channel strategy, annual operating plan.
- Own the strategic outputs that define PepsiCo's commercial narrative: category strategy, customer narratives, and the growth story.
Drive strategic initiatives from concept to impact
- Lead priority commercial initiatives end-to-end, from diagnosis and business case through to delivery and measurement.
- Own the governance, portfolio management, and integrated roadmap: milestones, risks, resources, and investment.
- Coordinate cross-functional teams to ensure tangible commercial outcomes, not just strategic recommendations.
Be the strategic go-to for Commercial Leadership
- Build the strategic storyline for internal and external forums.
- Act as a chief of staff to the VP of Sales, handling high-priority, time-sensitive requests with precision and judgement.
- Maintain a sharp external lens: consumer trends, competitive moves, macroeconomic and geopolitical shifts that shape the commercial agenda.
What you’ll bring:
- Consulting-grade problem structuring – you frame problems clearly, test hypotheses rigorously, and land on a "so what" that drives action.
- Comfort in ambiguity with senior stakeholders – you can walk into a room of Directors and VPs with a half-formed problem and leave with a clear path forward.
- Storytelling that drives decisions – you translate analysis into compelling, executive-ready narratives that shift the conversation.
- Bias to delivery – you don't just recommend; you own outcomes. You hold yourself accountable for commercial impact, not just strategic output.
- Intellectual curiosity – you stay on top of what's happening outside PepsiCo as much as inside it. You bring fresh thinking from other industries, markets, and categories.
Requirements:
- 5+ years' experience, ideally including 3+ years at a top-tier strategy consulting firm or an FMCG in-house strategy / commercial excellence team.
- Strong commercial and strategic judgement.
- Proven ability to influence and operate credibly with senior leaders (Director / VP level and above).
- Outstanding analytical skills and structured problem-solving.
- Excellent written and verbal communication, including executive presentations for C-suite audiences.
- Ability to lead complex, cross-functional agendas autonomously in a matrixed organisation.
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