Manager Associate Innovation & Projects

Introduction Ahold Delhaize USA, a division of global food retailer Ahold Delhaize, is part of the U.S. family of brands, which also includes five leading omnichannel grocery brands – Food Lion, Giant Food, The GIANT Company, Hannaford and Stop & Shop. Ahold Delhaize USA associates support the brands with a wide range of services, including Finance, Legal, Sustainability, Commercial, Digital and E-commerce, Technology and more. Overview Ahold Delhaize USA, a division of global food retailer Ahold Delhaize, is part of the U.S. family of brands, which includes five leading omnichannel grocery brands - Food Lion, Giant Food, The GIANT Company, Hannaford and Stop & Shop. Our associates support the brands with a wide range of services, including Finance, Legal, Sustainability, Commercial, Digital and E-commerce, Technology and more. The Manager of Associate Innovation & Projects is responsible for driving initiatives that improve and enhance the associate experience through technology solutions. They maintain a broad awareness of industry and technology trends - such as automation, AI, SaaS technologies - identifying those that align to ADUSA needs and goals, then building the business case for those that will deliver a strong ROI. They and their team support the visibility and management of US and global solutions from conception to delivery. What are some things that you would do in this role? Ensure robust support to 230,000+ associates of the ADUSA brands, leveraging relationship‑building skills and deep knowledge of the U.S. business, SuccessFactors (EC, R&O, LMS, Talent/Performance), ServiceNow, and other supported applications and vendor solutions. Forward‑scan for enhancements and new technologies in the industry that could be applied to the environment to foster innovation and improvement in efficiency and experience. Establish and maintain insight into brand strategy and lead purposeful discussions to understand successes and challenges/opportunities, influence resource decision‐making, sharing best practices, roadmap (or pipeline) solutions or helping to translate gaps into effective business and technical requirements for solutions to be pursued, and ensure engagement of the right resources from Business Services, IT, AD Group, SMEs, vendors, and the brands. Advocate for the ADUSA brands in the global arena to meet brand needs and the timely delivery of solutions. Ensure quality and delivery of results and solutions as identified and assigned, with an eye on continuous improvement, evolution, and innovation of services. Responsibilities Develop and maintain strong relationships with brand customers, Business Services, IT, and AD Group partners, serving as primary U.S. point of contact for assigned projects. Manage Project Specialists and the U.S. Pipeline process, planning, scheduling, stakeholder alignment, and resource allocation, establish performance metrics, mitigate risks, and provide leadership with insights for decision‑making. Oversee a portfolio of projects, ensuring alignment of strategy, timing, and resources; coordinate project timelines and deliverables, and ensure leadership and stakeholder transparency/awareness of project status. Proactively identify and assess opportunities and create compelling business cases that clearly identify problems, risks, and value of proposed solutions; provide actionable insights and recommendations based on data analysis. Create and manage effective and timely project plans, including communications and change management for projects, engaging brand resources, Business Services, and IT or other SMEs as appropriate. Manage post‑deployment knowledge transfer for domain leads and impact evaluation of delivered solutions. Lead process review for innovation optimization; recommend and implement continuous improvement and standardization of project management methodologies/tools to reduce project cycle times and increase efficiency. Understand brand objectives and provide strategic guidance to help achieve their goals through existing technology solutions, serving as a "good steward" for SuccessFactors, and leveraging data, expertise, and roadmap insights to influence product and process decisions. Actively participate in U.S.-/global driven initiatives intended to enhance the associate experience, leverage data and expertise to make autonomous decisions. Represent and advocate for U.S. brands in AD Group evaluation of priorities, solutions, and vendor engagement. Manage vendor relationships for U.S.-specific processes outside of - or crossing multiple - formal product groups (examples: Benevity, skills ontology project). Build a community of resources to stay informed about industry trends in HR technology and associate experiences, offer insights into market demands, and ongoing evaluation of existing services and new features/improvements in technology solutions. Requirements Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and related work experience. Master’s degree in human resources, information systems, data/analytics preferred. SAP certification in EC, Recruiting, Onboarding, Learning, Talent/Performance, Payroll; 7+ years of HRBP or HR systems management experience. 5+ years of experience with consulting or client management, preferably within HR technology or recruiting and onboarding solutions. Leadership and collaboration; strong ability to build relationships, and partner with and influence leaders throughout the organization. High degree of self‑initiative with strong analytical skills, business acumen, and decision making. Insatiable curiosity and desire to learn/understand; willingness to explore new ideas; persistent drive to seek knowledge and create new customer experiences. Attention to detail. Negotiating and vendor management skills. Strong project and program management experience. Demonstrated competency in MS Office suite, especially intermediate/advanced skills with Excel and PowerPoint; intermediate/advanced skills with SAP SuccessFactors (certification preferred), PowerBI, Power Automate, ServiceNow. Exceptional communication and presentation skills. Strong organizational, time management and listening skills. #J-18808-Ljbffr