Vice President, Global Product Platforms & Innovation
Job Location:
Carol Stream, IL - USA
Monthly Salary:
Posted:
Application Deadline:
Vacancies:
Job Summary
As a part of the global industrial organization Marmon Holdingswhich is backed by Berkshire Hathawayyoull be doing things that matter leading at every level and winning a better way. Were committed to making a positive impact on the world providing you with diverse learning and working opportunities and fostering a culture where everyones empowered to be their best.
Marmon Foodservice Technologies designs and manufactures the equipment that powers the worlds largest consumer brands. The way peopleeatand drink is changing faster than at any point in our history and the equipment behind ithas tochange with it. Toleadthat change we are building something new. MFT is part of Marmon Holdings a Berkshire Hathaway company which gives us the capital and the multi-decade time horizon to build for the long term.
The mission
MFT has won regionally for decades through local customer intimacy and local execution. That strength is real and it stays. But the next chapter of our growth depends on a different muscle. A small set of global product platforms designed once reused everywhere protected and improved at the enterprise level.
We have builtequipmentone region at a time for a hundred years. We are now going to find out if we can build it for the world.
The forces pushing us here are real. MFT grew through decades of regional success and selective acquisitions. That history built strong local businesses and it also left us running parallel platform efforts that are getting more expensive every year. The technology underneath our products has shifted from mostly mechanical to increasingly software controls and connectivity and that shift punishes fragmentation in a way mechanical-only equipment did not.
We are creating the Vice President Global Product Platforms & Innovation role to build that muscle from the ground up. You will own MFTs most importantplatformsend to end. Strategy roadmap architecture technical execution lifecycle and economics. The single exception is manufacturing which is owned by regional plants. You will standupa dedicated platform organization that has not existed at MFT before.You will define the lanes between platform and region and you will hold both sides to them.
We are not looking for a heroic founder. We are looking for someone who builds a function that endures past them.
If you do this well three things will be true in five years. MFTs priority platforms will be the technical and economic engine of the business. Regional teams will win local customers faster because the platform core gives them more to work with. And MFT will have a repeatable way to invent the next platform after these.
Whatyoullown
At launch you will own three global platforms:
Valve technology andsolutionsserving thefountaincategory. The core dispense technology behind some of the worlds most recognized beverage brands.
Contact toasting technology and product platformsfor global multinationals. The platform that serves the largest most demanding QSR customers on the planet.
Holding bin technology platforms. The core hot-holding technology behind consistent food qualityat the momentof service.
This is a build role not a run role. Platform technical work today sits inside regional engineering and product teams. Part of your first eighteen months is transitioning that work into the new dedicated structure thoughtfully with the regional Presidents as partners. You will write the operating model hire and assemble your teams appoint your Platform Leaders set the cadences and decision rights and define the service contract that connects platforms to regions. None of this exists yet. That is the role.
Role Responsibilities & Expectations
Strategy and roadmap.Own the global roadmap for MFTs priority platforms across a three-to-five-year horizon. Decide what is core and reusable versus what is locallyadapted andkeep that boundary stable. Set architecture guardrails that protect scalability quality and long-term integrity. Sequence investment across the three platforms based on customer demand technical readiness and enterprise value and revisit that sequencing on a defined cadence.
Build the organization.Identify and select the talent assemble the teams appoint your Platform Leaders as direct reports each owning one platform end to end with a small dedicated technical team that executes the roadmap manages lifecycle and develops go-to-market enablement through Voice-of-Customer work. Each Platform Leader is an accountable business owner for their platform.
Operating model.Run platform-to-region as a service contract. Regions can rely on what the platform team ships and the platform team is held to what it commits. Establish a clean handoff to regional manufacturing. Designs specifications and validated configurations fromplatform;production from regional plants. No overlap between platform teams and regional engineering except where regions are doing local adaptation or reuse on top of the core.
Technical leadership.Make the architecture calls. Develop platforms with a lifecycle mindset. Manufacturability reliability serviceability and clear paths for future upgrades. Build quality andreliability infrom the start.
Platform economics.Own the economic view of each platform. Partner with Group Finance to make platform economics visible at the enterprise level so reinvestment decisions are made on enterprise value rather than regional P&L visibility alone.
Regional alignment.Bring regional and customer input into platform strategy through defined channels while keeping enterprise discipline.Build credibility by shipping platforms regional teams canactually commercialize support and scale.
Skills &Experience
12 years of senior product platform or core-technology leadership in a global organization with full lifecycle accountability for at least one platform from concept through commercialization and sustaining.
Documented results across regions. Adoption time to market cost or margin or quality and reliability. Numbers you can defend. Experienceoperatingwhere a global team owns the platform core and regionalteamsownlocalization launch manufacturing and customer execution.
Technical depth in electromechanical engineered product or equipment platforms. Strong grasp of platform economics and the ability to make and defend reinvestment cases at the enterprise level.
Track recordof building a function or operating model from an early state to adeliveringstate not only running an established oneand ofhiringand developingsenior platform or product leaders as direct reports.
The role at steady state
Two or three years in this role looks like a small distinctive operating function inside MFT. Three platforms with named owners and dedicated technical teams. A roadmap that runs three to five years out sequenced and revisited on a defined cadence with capital allocation that follows the analysis. A working service contract between the platform organization and the regions where commitments get made met and measured.
The cultural signal is alsovisibleby then. Regional leaders bring platform questions to your team because they expect substance not coordination. Engineering leaders treat your team as the technical authority on the platforms they own. Finance treats your reinvestment cases as serious quantitative work. Customers experience platforms that are more capable more reliable and faster to evolve than the regional alternatives that came before them.
What MFT will look for in deciding whether the role is succeeding is not a list of metrics in isolation. It is whether MFT itself has built the muscle. Whether the next platform after these three can be created on thefoundationthis roleestablishes. Whether the operating model holds up when you eventually move on. Whether the Platform Leaders you hired and developed can run their platforms without you in the room. The work is to build a system. We are looking fortheperson who can build it.
Benefits
We support your well-being with comprehensive and easy-to-use benefits that youll be eligible to enroll in on your first day of employment. Here are some of the highlights:
Medical Dental Vision and Prescription Drug insurance plans
Access to a Health Advocate who is an expert in Marmons health plan and can help you select the best health benefits for you and your family
Tax advantaged spending accounts for health and dependent care expenses
Wellness programs and resources including Telehealth Mental Health Fitness and Family Planning
Generous paid time off for personal use holidays and parental leave
Company-sponsored life insurance
401(k) with fully vested company match; Marmon may also make an additional annual discretionary contribution to your account whether or not you contribute on your own
Financial and retirement advising
About Marmon Holdings
Marmon Holdings Inc. a Berkshire Hathaway company comprises 11 groups and more than 100 autonomous businesses with total annual revenue of $10 billion. Marmons 28000-plus team members are celebrating the companys 70th anniversary in 2023 and helping write the next chapter of Marmons story.
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Pay Range:
233200.00 - 349800.00We offer a comprehensive benefits package that may include medical dental vision 401k matching and more!
Following receipt of a conditional offer of employment candidates will be required to complete additional job-related screening processes as permitted or required by applicable law.
We are an equal opportunity employer and all applicants will be considered for employment without attention to their membership in any protected class. If you require any reasonable accommodation to complete your application or any part of the recruiting process please email your request to and please be sure to include the title and the location of the position for which you are applying.
Required Experience:
Exec
